Do financial factors such as author page charges and industry funding impact on the nature of published research in infectious diseases?
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Date
2006Author
Surabhi, S. Liyanage
Raina, Maclntyret
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objectives: The question of who pays for research to be conducted and published
is an important one as it may result in publication bias. The traditional
model of medical publishing has relied on subscriptions for funding. There has
been increasing interest in making the results of scientific research freely available.
One proposed mechanism is an author-pays system, which shifts cost
from subscribers to authors. We investigated the impact of author page charges
on the nature and type of published research, and the association of industry
funding with types of published research.
Me thods: Four infectious diseases journals with comparable scope were studiedtwo
with page charges and two without. Variables included type of research study,
area of research, author demographics, study setting and industry funding. The
differences between a subscription model vs. a mixed model (author page
charges and subscription charges) were studied. We also investigated changes
within the same journal once it had moved from a subscription model to a
mixed model.
Results: Authors from developing countries were significantly less likely
to be published in the mixed-model journals (OR 0.2S, 9S% CI 0.IS-0.41,
P < 0.001). Clinical trials published in any type of journal were significantly
more likely to be industry funded than any other type of research (OR 12.7,
9S% CI 7.0-22.9, P < 0.001). Industry-funded research was significantly less
likely to be about diseases affecting predominantly the developing world
(OR 0.47, 9S% CI 0.2S-0.89, P < O.OS).
Conclusion: There is clearly a relationship between industry funding and
certain types of published research. The model of funding of journal publishing
can also affect the nature of published research. Shifting publishing costs to
authors favours well-funded organizations, industry sponsored research and
wealthy countries. Such potential for publication bias must be considered when
planning for open access models.
Publisher
University of Nairobii