Honorary authorship in biomedical journals: how common is it and why does it exist?

BACKGROUND: The number of coauthors in the medical literature has increased over the past 50 years as authorship continues to have important academic, social and financial implications. AIM AND METHOD: The study aim was to determine the prevalence of honorary authorship in biomedical publications and identify the factors that lead to its existence. An email with a survey link was sent anonymously to 9283 corresponding authors of PubMed articles published within 1 year of contact. RESULTS: A completed survey was obtained from 1246 corresponding authors, a response rate of 15.75%. One-third (33.4%) admitted that they had added authors who did not deserve authorship credit. Origin of the study from Europe and Asia (p ≤ 0.001 and 0.005, respectively), study type as case report/case series (p=0.036) and increasing number of coauthors were found to be the associated factors on multivariate analysis. Journal impact factor was also found to be associated with honorary authorship (mean journal impact factor was 4.82 (SD 6.32) for those who self-reported honorary authorship and 5.60 (SD 7.13) for those who did not report unjust authorship, p=0.05). In retrospect, 75% of the authors indicated that they would remove unjustified names from the authorship list. Reasons for adding honorary authors were complimentary (39.4%), to avoid conflict at work (16.1%), to facilitate article acceptance (7.2%), and other (3.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Honorary authorship is relatively common in biomedical publications. Researchers should comply with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors' criteria for authorship.

Risk factors for wound complication in pilonidal sinus procedures.

BACKGROUND: Pilonidal disease is a common condition among young people. Complicated pilonidal surgical wounds are associated with considerable morbidity, including chronic sacral wound, loss of work time, and lifestyle limitation. The aim of our study is to report our experience with Karydakis procedure and explore the risk factors associated with infection and poor healing in pilonidal operation. STUDY DESIGN: A 3-year experience of a Joint-Commission International accredited tertiary center in patients with pilonidal sinus operations is reported. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of unselected patients with pilonidal sinus who underwent excision and primary closure on elective basis in terms of wound healing, surgical site infection, and return to work. Variables predictive of surgical site infection and disruption were assessed by multiple logistic analyses. RESULTS: From January 2004 to December 2006, 94 patients with pilonidal disease underwent excision and primary closure on elective basis. Incidence of surgical site infection was 12.8%. No recurrence was observed after median followup of 6 months, with interquartile range of 4 to 9 months. Smoking (p = 0.027) and obesity (p = 0.047) were independent risk factors for wound infections. CONCLUSIONS: Excision and primary closure is an acceptable modality of treatment in nonobese and nonsmoker patients with pilonidal sinus disease. Infection rate in obese patients and smokers is unacceptably high, and active preoperative weight loss and smoking cessation or simple laid open procedure is recommended in these patients.

Cervical radiculopathy secondary to Hodgkin's lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord/root compression is a rare complication of HL and usually seen in the setting of progressive, advanced disease. It is extremely rare to occur as an initial presentation of HL. We report a case of HL presented with bilateral cervical radiculopathy. METHODS: A case report of a 42-year-old woman who presented with C8 cervical radiculopathy and paraspinal mass with extradural extension in C7-T1. Biopsy revealed HL. This case report represents a case of HL presenting with epidural disease, with nerve root compression as the only apparent site of clinical involvement. A review of the literature of patients with HL presenting with spinal cord/root compression is presented. RESULT: Our patient received chemotherapy and external beam radiation therapy. She achieved good recovery of her symptoms and complete response by radiologic criteria. Based on a review of the literature, Hodgkin's disease involving the spinal epidural space is very responsive to chemoradiotherapy with good prognosis for both functional recovery and complete response. CONCLUSION: Chemoradiotherapy is a successful treatment for Hodgkin's disease presenting with spinal root compression. Surgery should be reserved for urgent decompression, if needed; palliation; and maintenance of function and stability.