Geographic variation in the number of authors on scientific abstracts.

OBJECTIVE To determine if there was statistically significant geographic variation in the number of authors on abstracts of the 1999 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Scientific Assembly. METHODS Information on type of presentation, number of authors listed in each presentation and country of origin was obtained for 2450 abstracts from the 1999 RSNA Scientific Assembly (1292 for scientific sessions, 1158 for scientific exhibitions). RESULTS In scientific sessions, there were significantly more multiauthor (> 6 authors) presentations from Japan (32%, p < 0.001) and Germany (19%, p = 0.004) than there were from North America (United States and Canada) (11%). There were also significantly more multiauthor scientific exhibitions from Japan (29%, p < 0.001) than from North America (9%). Overall, the percentages of multiauthor presentations from Japan (30%, p < 0.001) and Germany (18%, p < 0.001) were significantly higher than those from North America (10%). CONCLUSION There seems to be significant geographic variation in the number of authors credited on scientific presentations.