Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to analyze bibliometric data and trends of author contributions to the Journal of Physician Assistant Education (JPAE) from 2011-2020. METHODS: Author data were collected from JPAE research articles published from 2011-2020. Publication history and h-index were obtained from Scopus. Data collected included first authors, last authors, and PA authors as well as trends in publications in JPAE . Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were completed. RESULTS: From 2011-2020, 200 research articles were published in JPAE; the volume was constant. Of 698 authors listed, 374 were physician assistants (PAs). Overall, contributing authors had a mean publication number of 19.6 (1-327) compared to 12.1 (1-163) for PAs. First and last PA authors had mean publication numbers of 13.2 and 16.1, respectively, and an average h-index of 3.2 and 4.4, respectively. The overall author h-index was 5.2. The mean number of publications for non-PA last authors was 32.9. Publication to h-index proportion was similar between PAs and other authors. The top 25 th percentile of PA authors published > 9 indexed documents, 3 times the number published by those in the 1-75 th percentile. DISCUSSION: PA author articles in JPAE from 2011 to 2020 were fewer than those by non-PAs but were as likely to have a proportionate h-index. PAs listed as first and last author were highly published. Trends suggest that when PA first authors work with PA last authors, there may be a more egalitarian relationship, and mentorship patterns may also exist within these groups. Increasing publication numbers from 2011 to 2020 for PA first and last authors indicates increasing academic contribution.
Bouton et al. (Tue,) studied this question.