PUBLICATION TRENDS OF PAPERS ON SCHIZOPHRENIA - A 15-YEAR ANALYSIS OF3 GENERAL PSYCHIATRIC JOURNALS

Background We assessed the publication trends of papers on schizophren ia through an analysis of the articles published by three general psyc hiatric journals (Archives of General Psychiatry (AGP), the British Jo urnal of Psychiatry (BJP), and the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry (ANZJP) from three continents. Method For each of the jo urnals, we covered the period between 1980 and 1994. We carried out bo th a quantitative analysis, assessing the trends over time in the publ ication of papers on schizophrenia, and a qualitative analysis, classi fying the articles into eight scientific fields. Results During the st udy period a total of 943 articles dealing with schizophrenia were pub lished in the three journals evaluated; the proportion of papers focus ing on schizophrenia was higher in the AGP and in the BJP (18 and 15%) as compared with the ANZJP (5.6%). A substantially higher proportion of basic science articles was published in the AGP as compared with th e BJP and the ANZJP whereby a somewhat larger representation of epidem iological and psychosocial research was found in the latter journals. Conclusions Given the importance of schizophrenia in psychiatric resea rch and practice, it will be useful to regularly monitor the research trends in-this specific field.