A survey of interdisciplinary participation in medical and pharmaceutical literature

Abstract

Selected medical and pharmacy journals were reviewed for the years 1966 and 1976 to determine if pharmacists and physicians are publishing more frequently in each other's literature now than they were ten years ago. Three medical journals were reviewed: the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Annals of Internal Medicine. Two pharmacy journals were reviewed: the American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy and Drug Intelligence and Clinical Pharmacy. The total number of articles and letters listing at least one pharmacist as an author was determined for each of the medical journals and the number of articles and letters listing at least one physician as an author was determined for each of the pharmacy journals. In 1966, only one article from any of the three medical journals listed a pharmacist as an author. This number increased to 13 in 1976. The number of letters written in the medical journals by pharmacists increased from only two in 1966 to 31 in 1976. The number of physician-authored articles in the pharmacy journals increased from seven in 1966 to 35 in 1976. The number of letters from physicians remained about the same.