International publication trends of JABA authorship

The present study addressed international publication trends in JABA author ship between 1970 and 1999. First, we analyzed authorship patterns to ident ify trends in the appearance of new first authors, unfamiliar authors, and frequent contributors. Second, articles were assigned to either a North Ame rican or an international category. The data show a decline in the number o f articles by new authors and an increase in the publications of frequent c ontributors from North America. Trends are shown in comparison to those fro m the American Journal on Mental Retardation.