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Higher Author Fees in Gastroenterology Journals Are Not Associated with Faster Processing Times or Higher Impact

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Abstract

Background

Publications are an important component of academic careers.

Aims

We investigated the financial costs to authors for submitting and publishing manuscripts in gastroenterology (GI) journals in the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), and elsewhere.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study carried out from 11/1/2020 to 12/31/2020. We used the SCImago Journal and Country Rankings site to compile a list of gastroenterology and hepatology journals to analyze. We gathered information on the journals’ Hirsch indices (h indices), SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), Impact Factor (IF), and base countries as of 2019, processing and publication fees, open access fees, time to first decision, and time from acceptance to publication. We used t-testing and linear regression modeling to evaluate the effect of geography and journal quality metrics on processing fees and times.

Results

We analyzed 97 GI journals, of which 51/97 (52.6%) were based in the US/UK while the other 46/97 (47.4%) were based elsewhere. The mean IF (5.67 vs 3.53, p = 0.08), h index (90.5 vs 41.8, p < 0.001), and SJR (1.82 vs 0.83, p < 0.001) for the US/UK journals were higher than those for non-US/UK journals. We also found that 11/51 (21.6%) of US/UK journals and 15/46 (32.6%) of non-US/UK journals had mandatory processing and publication fees. These tended to be significantly larger in the US/UK group than in the non-US/UK group (USD 2380 vs USD 1470, p = 0.04).

Conclusions

Publication-related fees may preclude authors from smaller or socioeconomically disadvantaged institutions and countries from publishing and disseminating their work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stony Brook Medicine, 101 Nicolls Road, HSC T17-060, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Daniel S. Jamorabo & Jonathan M. Buscaglia

  2. Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, 10467, USA

    Vasilios Koulouris

  3. Department of Biostatistics, New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, 11215, USA

    William M. Briggs

  4. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Benjamin D. Renelus

Authors
  1. Daniel S. Jamorabo
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  2. Vasilios Koulouris
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  3. William M. Briggs
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  4. Jonathan M. Buscaglia
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Correspondence to Daniel S. Jamorabo.

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Jamorabo, D.S., Koulouris, V., Briggs, W.M. et al. Higher Author Fees in Gastroenterology Journals Are Not Associated with Faster Processing Times or Higher Impact. Dig Dis Sci 67, 3562–3567 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-021-07247-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-021-07247-0

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