{"paper_id":"48350cec-7e47-4b83-9cbe-adb4bd69a7c4","body_text":"1 \n \nPr efe re nt ial Pub li ca t ion Bi as i n Ne p al’s Me d ic al J our nals  \n \nDipen dra  P r a s ad P a nt, B i kr a m Ach ary a*, Mu kunda Ra j  K a tte l 1  \n \n \n \nAbstra ct  \n \nThe a r tic le ha s  e xplored the preferent ial  publica tion bia s  o f Nep al’s m e dica l  journals. To this  \nend, it ha s  revie wed the frequenc y and propor tion o f pre ferential publis hing and e dito ria l  \ninvolvement in endoge n ous p ublic ation  pr a ctice s  in six n ationa l m edica l jour n als r e gis te r e d in t he  \nScopus data b as e  s y s tem . F or the a n a lysis of  the  data, socia l net work a n al ysis applica tion –  \nVOS vie wer for  g r a phical v is u a lis a tion has  be en used. Editorial e ng ag e ment in self- publi s hing a nd \npreferential publishing i s found  to be c ommon in all journals. T he study s ug gests  that as long as \nthe tr e nd o f p r e f e r e ntial and s e questered publication continues, the inte grity and validity  \nge nerated and dis seminate d by the jou rnals risks  losing trust  by the com mun ity conce r ne d a nd \nthe chanc es  of these non-m a ins trea m  journals c on tributing  to mainstr e am j our na ls  being s l im .  \nAnd,  by w ay  of r ecom mend atory con cl us ions, i t  off e r s t he  fo llowi ng four que s tions a nd a r e as  \nfor  further invest ig ation to arr ive at the cla r ity  and unders ta nding of  some of t he is sues that h a ve \nbee n f la gged in the fin dings and d iscus s ions: (a) Why do ed it o rs engag e in exces s self- p romotion  \nusing the out l e t they are suppos e d to  objec tively  and t ransparently man age ?  ( b ) W h a t  i s th e  \nmotiv ating f a ctor for  a uthor s to rely  on a p art i cular journal t o get published des pi t e  having  \nmultiple outle t s  to pic k and choose fr o m? (c )  W hy s hould the e di t ors  a nd r e viewe r s of scie nti f i c  \ncontributions  mainta in t he  networking s il o to incl ude a few in the loop and exclude others from  \nit?  \nKeywords : Preferential  publ is hing;  self-publishing;  Medica l J ourn al s ; N epa l ; p ublic ation bias  \n  \n                                                           \n1  DP Pant (dpa n t@ p ri . go v . n p ) , B Ac har ya (B. Achar ya bac h a rya@ p r i. go v .np) ,  MR Ka ttel (mr katte l @ pr i . g o v. np)| \nPo l ic y Rese arc h  I nstit ute, Kath mandu N e p a l  \n* Corre sp o n di n g  A u th ors  \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \nNOTE: This preprint reports new research that has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice.\n\n2 \n \nIntro d uc tion   \nIdeall y, s ci entific jour na l pa pers  s hould be fr e e f rom a ny kinds  of bia s e s . In  practic e, ho we ve r , \npublica tion bia s e s  g et reflecte d in v a r ious f orms  and deg r ees. So me  studies g et n e v er publis he d \ndue t o “ f i le-dr a wer problem” – a situation whe r e b y co mple t e d s tudie s  a r e  nev e r  p ubl is hed . \nGene r a lly, s tudie s  that a r e  statisti cally  significa nt (Nair, 20 1 9), that e xplore n ew and immedi ate  \nsocial is sues into the academic di s cus sion,  and those with positive r e s ults ge t published w ith \np r i o ri t i e s ( M l i n a r i ć  e t  a l . , 2017 ) .  T ri a l s w i th  p o s i t i v e  r e s u l t s a r e  p u b l i s h e d  s ooner tha n  other trials \n(Hopewe ll et al. , 2 00 1). Tim e-la g bia s , s pec if i cally  in the case of hea lth and clinic al studies, r e s ult s  \nin due to v arious reas ons s uc h as  the n a t ure of res ul t s of the  studies and the pro c ess  duration of \nregula to ry and s c r utiny  author i t i es .   \nIndividual pape r s a r e  g en erally  be lie ved to be f ree  from public ation bias e s  a s t he y are polis he d \nthro u gh edi t orial  vetting, re view s  and  s c r utiny . The proce s s m a k es  the p a pe rs  mor e  scientific,  \nless biased and trust w or thy  than t hose t ha t a v o i d or esc a pe such s c r utiny  ( Childe , 2 00 6). For  \nsuch qu alitie s , editors serve both as  qu a lity controllers  a n d ga teke e pers . They , in principle , work \ntowards avoiding all for ms o f biases  via  the applic ation o f established ed itoria l norms, such as \nfairness , objec tivity, tr a ns p a r e n c y,  and rigour. Howev e r , som e  j our n a ls  m ay n ot f oll ow r igorous  \nprocess e s  of publica tion pr a ctice,  ultim ately allowing  a s i t ua tion whereby p ubl ication bia s es cree p  \ninto due to omiss ion s, lapses  a nd une t hic al practic es  on the part of  edito rs  and publishers. T he  \njournals that publi s h m a nus cripts without a  rigorous  proce s s of scrutiny risk endorsing wh a t \nAnde r son a nd Rainie  (2 017) call a doc tored narr a tive, whic h poses a  serious  threat to scie nti f ic  \ninquiries and thei r  outc o me s . In suc h a case , the jour n a ls  c annot pl ay  a  significa nt  role  in  \nadvancing scie ntif i c knowle dge r ather they  become  t he  platfor m for unve rified o r doubt f u l \nscientif ic know ledge.  \nEdi t or-authors hip is  one of the  for m s of  publica tion bi a s  as editor -a ut hors e xert undue \ninfluenc es  on their c ol leag ues to sym pathetic ally  re view  their submiss ions and cle a r  them for \npublica tion (Luty e t  al ., 2 0 09).  Such  c ontr i but ion s a r e , ho wever,  hig hly selective,  p urpos efully  \ninvited and str a t e gica lly ai me d. C ontr ibuting  multiple  full-leng t h article s  regula r ly  by  the  e dit ors  \nha vi ng a n exec utive  role in the  p u blic ation proce s ses of jour na l a r tic les contradic t s t he  \nestablished editorial norms (Luty et al., 2 00 9;  Mani et a l.,  20 1 3), whic h s hould not be bre ac hed to  \nkee p the  integrity and s tanding  of the journals.  S u ch  a t e n d en cy  c o m p r o m i s e s  t h e i n t e g r i t y  o f \njournals, bre a ches the trus t of contr i b u t ors, promot e s  s e lf- a dulation and, c o ns e quently, does a \nh u g e  d i ss e r v i c e  to  s c i e n ti fi c  e n q u i r y  ( Bo šn j a k  e t  a l. ,  2 01 1;  T e ix e i ra  d a S i l va ,  2017 ) .  \nAs a networ k of author s, co-authors hip is one o f  the mea s ures to  a nalyse an indi vidual scholar’s \nabil it y  to c ollabor ate with others and  explore knowledg e from  different per spective s  within a \nsimilar cros s-dis c ipl ine domain of scientific e nquir y . Authors ' fie ld of  a c ade mic  st udy , the leve l of  \npress ure to ge t  published, r a n ks  in ac ademia  and  the p u r suit of qu ality are p rob a ble f actors  to \nbring authors  toge t he r  for co-authors hi ps ( P ie t te  & R os s , 19 92). Scholars contr ibuting  t o  speci fic  \nresearch a r eas  a nd thos e w or king  in  diff e r e n t  g eographic a l loca t ions tend to participate  in \nspecific c o- a ut horship ne tworks  (Uddin et al. ,  201 2), which pro vide a  platf orm f or differen t sets  \nof tale n t to jo int l y o r colle ct ively  pro du ce a  res earch output (Kum ar, 2 01 5). Co- authorsh i p, \nhowever, is not always w elcom e  as i t  m ay  do d is ervic e to ethica l public atio n als o constitut i ng  \nsom e times  to publi c ation bias. Th e  net rela tions hip betwe en the  o utputs  attributable to \nindividua l author  a f ter discounting f or the numb e r  of authors  and the co- aut hors hip is ne gative  \n(Hollis, 2 0 01).  A ls o, unjustified and pr olific  c o- a utho rship simply works a s  o ne of the w a ys for  \ninflation o f s ci entometr i c indic es that  do not  nece s s arily fur ther refle ct the tr ue  q uali t y  of a n  \nindividua l’s rese a r c h outp u t  (Masic &  J an kovi c , 2 02 1 ) . \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n3 \n \nEdi t ors a nd publishers ma y  also c r e ate  publica tion bias  by preferring t he  w or k of only one  or  a \nfew auth ors, allowi n g  t o publish in th e  jour na ls  they  edit and s i m il ar othe r  ways. I f eve r y  journal \nin specific  national c ont e xts  a llows  biased co- a ut horship, editor- a utho r ship or unus ua l \npreference  to a  single  author such pr actic es could  quali f y  a public a t i on  bias thereby  pos ing a  \nserious  problem t o the national  scie nt i f ic  i nquir ie s  and studies. The practice  ultimately be co mes \none o f the  r e asons  for  national  publica t i ons  of no t e xcell ing international l y a n d  m aintaining  \ninternational  s tanda r ds.  \nIn this ba ckground,  this  article  e xplore s  the st a tus  of Nep a l’s  journ als vis -à- vis  m aintaining  a nd \nac hie ving inte r na t iona l qu ality standard s. F or the purpos e, w e explore the ex t ent of  edi torial  a nd  \npublishers ’ practice s  s pe cifica lly the preferentia l public ation bias e s  of Nep a l’ s medic al jour nals ,  \nwhic h ex is t t o s e r v e Ne pal’s m edic al f i eld of  r e s ea r c h a n d inquiries c onf ine d in  s mal l \ncomm unities of prac t i ce. This  article , therefor e , i s  belie ved to contr ibute  to st irring contr ibut ors  \nand p u b l is he r s of Nepali  journ a ls  to r e ach out to i nt e r na tional communit ie s  of p rac t ic e for  \nqu al ity research  and public a t i o n besides contributing t o br i dging n a tional r es ea r c hers  with the  \ninternal prac t i ce a nd co m munities.  \nM ethod olo gy  \nFor  thi s pa per, w e an a lysed f ull - le ngth a r tic les publ is hed in the Nep al i me dic al journ als indexe d \nin the Scopus datab a s e:  the  Journal of N e p al Medic al Ass oci ation ( JNMA), the J ournal of Nep al \nPaedi atr i c Society  ( JNPS), K athm andu Unive r sity Medica l J o urnal  ( KUMJ), th e J ournal  of Nep al \nHea lth Research Coun c il (JNHR C ), N e pal M e dical C ollege  Journ al ( NMCJ) and N e pal J ourn al \nof Ophthalmology  (NJO) .  The jour na ls  are amon g t he  238 journals i n de xed by Nepal Jo urnal \nOnline (NepJol), the only academic  jou r na l dat abase in Nep a l m an aged by T ribhuv a n U niv ers ity  \nCe ntr a l Libr a r y. The six journ als a r e the only  Nep a lese journ als ev er inde xe d in the Scopus \ndata b as e  ( tw o of them ha ve now been r e mo ved fr om the indexing ) .  How ever , we  used the dat a \nof the remov ed journal of until the date  t he y w e r e  active under the Scop us dat ab a s e .   \nTable 1: N e p al’s Medica l J ourn al s  Indexed by  S copus Dat ab ase  \nNam e o f Journa l Qu arti le \npe r f o r m a nc e   \nDiscipli n e  Publi sh\ner  \nH-\nIn d e\nx o f \njo u rn\nals \nNum\nber o f  \nartic le\ns \nindex\ned in \nSc o pu\ns \nData b\nase  \nRem arks  \nJournal  of t h e Ne p al M e d i cal Assoc iation \n( h t tps:/ / www.scima go jr.c om/journa lsearch. p\nhp ?q =15831&ti p=si d &c l e an =0  ) \n19 9 9 (Q3), 20 0 0 -\n20 0 5 ( non i n c l u d e d), \n20 0 6 (Q4), 20 0 7 -\n20 1 5 (Q3), 20 1 6 -\n20 2 0 (Q4 ) \nM e di c i ne  \n(Misce llan\neous)  \nNe p al \nMe d i c al  \nAssocia\ntion  \n19 13 3 8 Cu rrently  \nindex e d \nin S copus \nJournal  of Ne p al Hea l t h Res earch Counc il \n( h t tps:/ / www.scima go jr.c om/journa lsearch. p\nhp ?q =2110019 7 340&tip =sid&cl ean=0  ) \n20 1 1 (Q4), 20 1 2 -\n2 0 16 ( Q 3 ) , 20 17  \n( Q 4 ) ,  20 18 - 2 02 0  \n(Q3) \nM e di c i ne  \n(Misce llan\neous)  \nNe p al \nHe alth \nRese arc\nh \nCounci l \n13 72 0  Cu rrently  \nIn d e xe d  \nin S copus \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n4 \n \nKathmand u  Un iversi ty Me dica l J ournal \n( h t tps:/ / www.scima go jr.c om/journa lsearch. p\nhp ?q =4000148 1 03&ti p=si d &c l e an =0  ) \n2 00 4 ( Q3 ) ,  20 05 ( Q 4)  \n20 0 5-2 0 1 9(Q 3 ) , 20 2 0 \n(Q4) \nM e di c i ne  \n(miscel lan e\nou s )  \nKa t hma\nnd u  \nUnivers\nity ( In  \nassociat\nion with  \nme d ica l \ncol l e ges \naffili a te\nd with  \nKa t hma\nnd u  \nUnivers\nity )  \n25 13 6 1 Cu rrently  \nindex e d \nin S copus \nJournal  of Nepal Paediatr ic S o c iety  \n( h t tps:/ / www.scima go jr.c om/journa lsearch. p\nhp ?q =1970017 4 963&tip =sid&cl ean=0  ) \n2 0 09 - 2 01 0 ( Q4 ),  \n20 1 1-2 0 1 4 (Q3),  \n2 0 15 - 2 02 0 ( Q4 ) \nPediatr ics, \nPerin a to l o\ngy a n d  \nC h ild  \nHea l th  \nNe p al \nPaediat r\nic \nSo c i et y \n8 25 7  Cu rrently  \nindex e d \nin S copus \nNe p al M ed i cal Co lleg e j o u rn al: NM C J \n( h t tps:/ / www.scima go jr.c om/journa lsearch. p\nhp ?q =145147&tip =sid&c lean=0  ) \n2 0 04 - 2 00 5 ( Q4 ),  \n20 0 6-2 0 1 7 (Q3)  \nM e di c i ne  \n(miscel lan e\nou s )  \nNe p al \nMe d i c al  \nColleg e  \n21 44 4  Disconti\nnued in  \nSc o p u s  \nJournal O f T he  Nepal  O p h th a lmic S o c iety  \n( h t tps:/ / www.scima go jr.c om/journa lsearch. p\nhp ?q =1990019 1 831&tip =sid&cl ean=0  ) \n20 1 0-2 0 1 1 (Q4)  \n2 0 12 - 2 01 6 ( Q3 ) \n20 1 7 (Q4 ) \n20 1 8 (Q3 ) \n20 1 9 (Q4 ) \nM e di c i ne  \nM e di c i ne  \n(miscel lan e\nou s )  \nNe p al \nOphtha\nlmic \nSo c i et y \n13 92 Disconti\nnued   \n \nThe Sc opus  dat ab ase is  one the larges t bibl i o me tr ic  data b as e  m ainta ined b y  El s ev ier and has \nmore tha n 2 2,0 00 activ e  titles  bes i des so me  1 3 , 0 00 in active  one s . We  used Scopus da tab ase as  \nthe s ource  b e ca u s e of its  global rec o g nition a s  one of the qua lity indexing syst e ms . The Scopus  \ndata b as e  publicly  provide s  journal articl es  rela ted in for mation and a llows  downloading  the  \narticle s  wi t h the hel p o f a specif ied scri pt via an inbuilt search engi ne. In d exe d unde r  i t, journals  \nge t  mor e  visible, enjoy m ore pos sibilities of a v ailing  thems e lves in t he  library datab ases a nd, \nreac h o ut to a  br oa der ac a de mic audience . I t, how e ver, does not me an th at ge tting indexe d under \nScopus is t he  ultimate  a chiev e m ent, as there are  other index ing d atab a s e s .  \nTo search the data for  the study, we  used the s ea r c h c ode “AFFI LCOUN TR Y (N e pal)” in t he  \nScopus s e arch engine , collec ted the n a me of the Nep al i j our na ls  index ed and used the individua l \nsearch code  fo r ea ch journal w it h E XA C T SRCTI TLE (\" Name o f  Nep alese J ourna l \") A N D (L IM I T-\nTO  (DOCTYPE, \"ar\").   T he complete  sea r c h  c ode for  particular journ al  i s  ( AFF ILCOUNTR Y \n( nepal )  A N D  ( ( P U B Y E AR  >  19 8 0 )  AN D   ( P UBY EAR  <  20 22 )  ) )  AND   ( L IMI T-\nTO  ( S R C T Y P E  ,  \"j\"  ) )  AN D  ( LIMIT -T O ( DOC T Y P E  ,  \" ar \"  ) )  AND  ( LIMI T-T O  (  \nEXACTSR C T ITL E  ,   \" J ournal Of Nepal He a lth  Research C o u n c il \" ) ). T he method resulted i n  \nthe number of art i cles indexe d under the  jour na l title. For  the  purpose o f this  s tudy , we e xclude d \nthe ‘review  a r tic les’ a nd ‘e ditor ia ls ’ as editors may be obliged to w r i t e  such articles t o promot e  \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n5 \n \nand p av e  the  direc tion of the jour na ls .  In ge neral editorial practice , editorials do not unde r g o a \npee r  review pr oc ess  but t he  o the r  article  categ or ie s  such as ‘ f ull-le ngth a r tic le’  (Scopus identi fies  \nit as “ ar”) and ‘ r eview a r tic le’ (Sc o p u s  ide n tif ie s  as “re”) should be pe e r -review ed. \nFor  the an a lysis  of the data, we us e d s ocia l networ k an aly s is a pplic a t i ons . V OSvie w er w as us e d \nto visuali s e the a uthor s w ho  contribu ted to  t he  journals. Si nce t he  Sc opus da tab ase identifies  \nauthors  by sur name (as  the firs t name) followed by the in itials o f  the f ir s t and m i ddle names, it \nposed a pr oble m of multip le authors  b eing  c ounted as a  s ingle  author . To av oid th is  po ss ib ili ty , \nwe  us e d t he  Scopus author  ide n tific ation numbers  – the  unique  numbers  assigned to ea ch author \n- be lieving that identifying authors  by  Scopus  identif ica tion numbers is more ac c ur ate t ha n by \nthe authors’ l ast  names and initials.   \nResu lts  \nPr edomi n an ce  of S ele ct  A u th or s \nO v e r  t he  y ea rs ,  d o w n to  2021 ,  s om e  of  t h e  s i x  j o u rn a l s a na l y s e d  ha ve  i n c re a se d  th e  n u m be r o f  \npublished a r tic les ex ponentially . JNM A  w a s  est a blish e d in 19 6 3 but  got inde xed in Sc opus  in \n20 05  only whe n  it publi s hed 28  articles. T he n umb er inc r eased by 82 5 pe r  cent to rea c h 25 9 \narticle s  in 20 2 1. Al o ng  with the inc r e ase in the nu mbe r  of article s , t he  j ournal provided a  \nsignificant percentag e of public ation s pace  to selec tive a uthor s only.  For  e xa mple , an author  \npublished s e ven article s  (2. 7 per cent o f the  to tal a r tic les)  in 20 21 ,  a noth e r  seve n (2 . 8 9 p e r  c ent) \nin 202 0 and f i ve a r tic les  (4.1 3 p e r  ce nt) in 201 9 . In 2 007 , it ha d pr ovi ded  8. 57 per c ent of \npublica tion s pa c e to an indiv idu al a ut h or.  \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n6 \n \nTable 2  Predominance of Sele ct author s  in a  s el ected Ne p ali Medic al Jour n a ls  \n Year  NH R C  KUM J  NMC J  J NP S N J O J NMA  \n  \nTo tal  \nArti cle\ns \nMax i m u\nm no of \narti c l e s \nby  s i ng le  \nautho r  \nPerce n\nt \nTo tal  \nArtic l e\ns \nMa xi mu\nm n o  o f \nar t i c l e s \nby sin g le  \nau t h o r \nin \nPercen\nt \nTo t a l  \nArt i cle\ns \nMa x i m u\nm no  o f  \nartic les \nby s i ng le  \nau th or  \nP e rcen\nt \nTotal \nArti cle\ns \nMa ximu\nm n o of  \nartic les \nby sing le  \nau th or  \nin  \nPerc en\nt \nTo tal  \nArti cle\ns \nmax i m u\nm no  o f  \na r t i cl es  \nby  s i ng l e  \nautho r  \nPercen\nt \nTo t a l  \nArticle\ns \nma x i m u\nm  no  of  \nar t ic les \nby singl e  \nau th or  \n \nPe r c e n\nt \n20 2 1 13 1  8 6.1 1%  57 4  7.02 %   -   -   -  5 0  3 6 . 0 0%  -   -   -  259 7  2.70% \n20 2 0 14 3  15  \n10 .4 9\n%  11 6  9  7.76 %   -   -   -  4 4  3 6 . 8 2%  -   -   -  242 7  2.89% \n20 1 9 10 5  8 7.6 2%  72 6  8.33 %   -   -   -  3 5  2 5 . 7 1%  -   -   -  121 5  4.13% \n20 1 8 68 7 \n10 .2 9\n%  79 4  5.06 %   -   -   -  5 7  3 5 . 2 6%  -   -   -  103 4  3.88% \n20 1 7 37 2 5.4 1%  82 5  6.10 %   -   -   -  4 0  2 5 . 0 0%  -   -   -  71  4  5.63% \n20 1 6 41 3 7.3 2%  92 5  5.43 %   -   -   -  7 0  2 2 . 8 6% 27 2 7.41 %  42  2  4.76% \n20 1 5 45 9 \n20 .0 0\n%  58 5  8.62 %   -   -   -  6 2  3 4 . 8 4% 16 4 \n25 . 00\n% 77  3  3.90% \n20 1 4 45 2 4.4 4%  73 4  5.48 %  48  4  8.33% 5 4  3 5 . 5 6% 17 4 \n23 . 53\n% 63  2  3.17% \n20 1 3 63 6 9.5 2%  72 1 0  \n13 . 89\n% 38  3  7.89% 6 1  3 4 . 9 2% 51 2 3.92 %  83  3  3.61% \n20 1 2 33 2 6.0 6%  79 6  7.59 %  82  8  9.76% 5 7  2 3 . 5 1% 55 3 5.45 %  40  3  7.50% \n20 1 1 41 4 9.7 6%  65 4  6.15 %  80  9  \n11.2 5\n%  38  3  7. 89 %  3 7  4  \n10 . 81\n% 33  2  6.06% \n20 1 0 28 2 7.1 4%  71 4  5.63 %  66  3  4.55% 2 1  2 9 . 5 2% 24 5 \n20 . 83\n% 71  3  4.23% \n20 0 9  -   -   -  75 3  4.00 %  75  5  6.67% 1 8  4 \n22 . 2 2\n%  22 4 \n18 . 18\n% 72  3  4.17% \n20 0 8  -   -   -  84 3  3.57 %  62  6  9.68% 1 6  3 \n18 . 7 5\n%   -   -   -  54  3  5.56% \n20 0 7  -   -   -  10 4  5  4.81 %  67  6  8.96%  -   -   -   -   -   -  35  3  8.57% \n20 0 6  -   -   -  94 5  5.32 %  75  4  5.33%  -   -   -   -   -   -  41  3  7.32% \n20 0 5  -   -   -  86 5  5.81 %  41  3  \n7.32% \n \n -   -   -   -   -   -  28  2  7.14% \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n7 \n \n \n20 0 4  -   -   -  62 5  8.06 %  39  5  \n12.8 2\n%  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  \n20 0 3  -   -   -  55 1 0  \n18 . 18\n% 33  4  \n12.1 2\n%  -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -  \n \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n8 \n \n \nJNP S publi s hed 16  art i cles in 20 0 8 – the numbe r  inc r eased by over 21 2 pe r  c e nt to 50 in the ye ar \n2 02 1 – allowed a s ing le a uthor  to publ is h four  article s  (occupy ing 22 . 22 per cent of  the annual \npublica tion s pac e) in 2 00 9 . Like w is e , K UMJ  published 55 articl es  in 2 0 0 3 , whi ch inc r e as e d to  5 7 \nin the year 20 2 1.  It provided  13. 8 9 per cent of t he  jour na l s p ac e  for  a s ingle  a uthor  to publish in \n2 01 3, all owing an a ut hor to publis h 1 0 out o f 72  published art i cles. In 2 01 0, NHRC  h ad 2 8 \narticle s , whic h rea ched 1 3 1 in 2 0 2 1, w ith an i ncrease of  368 per c ent. I n 20 1 5, a s i ngle author  \npublished nine ( 20  per cent) out of  4 5  a r tic les in the N HRC journal and 1 5 (  10. 4 9  per cent )  \narticle s  out of  143 p ublished articl es  by a  single  author  in 20 2 0. NJO, which wa s  re mo ve d from \nScopus indexing in 2 01 6,  published 2 2  article s  in 20 0 9. Se ve n years do w n the line , in 2 01 6, the \nnumber decre a s e d to 1 6. In 201 5,  it a l s o al lowed a single author to  publish f our articles (2 5 per  \nce nt ) of t he  t ota l a r tic les. N M C J , anot he r  journal remo ved from  the S c opus  registr a t i on, \npublished 33 articles in 200 3. It  w as  in de xed in Scopus unti l 2014 w hen it publ is hed 48 a r tic les. \nIn 20 04 , it pro v ided 12. 8 2 pe r  c ent of  t he space  f or a single author  al lowing them to publis h five  \narticle s .  \nC o - a u tho r s hi p  N e tw o r k s  \nCo- a ut horship information reveale d  tha t  thos e  w or k ing as  nod al  c o - a utho rs w ere also found to  \nbe the e ditors o f journals. Ac r oss all journals  of our s tudy , 10 9 a uthors  were f ound to  have \npublished article s  in the journals as editor s. Twenty-two edi t orial  b oa r d memb ers  hav e  publis he d  \nat le as t one  art i cle be t w een 2 017 and 2 0 21 a nd the highest number of  a r t ic les by  a single e dito r ia l \nboard me mbe r  of the NHR C jour na l  during that pe r i o d is  4 0. Simil a r ly , six editorial board \nmemb ers of KUMJ  ha v e publish e d at l east o ne  art i cle betwe en 20 1 7 a n d 202 1, with the highest  \nnumber of single - a utho r art i cles be ing 2 2. In  the JNMA  journ al , 2 1 editorial b o a r d m emb ers \nha ve  publis he d at le a s t one article  dur ing  2 01 7 – 20 2 1, w ith an individu a l a uthor i n g  as  hig h as  1 1 \narticle s . E ight editor ial board memb e r s of  NMCJ journal ha d p ubl is hed  a t least one article  dur i n g  \n2 01 0 to 20 1 4 (la s t f ive ye ars  before it  was delist e d), with  one member publishe d 2 4 a r tic les. T he \nJNP S journal  p ubl is hes a  sm all nu mber  of articles co mp ared to other journ als annu ally ,  how ever, \nit also follows simila r  trends of e ditori a l invol v ement. I n our da tas e t, w e f oun d  that one edi tor  \npublished four article s  f rom 20 17 to 2 02 1 . T h e  NJO is not an exc e ption. Four te en e dito r ia l \nm e m be r s  h a d  p u b l i sh e d  a t  l e a s t  o n e  a r t i c l e  f ro m  2 0 12  t o  2016  ( f i v e  years  before it was delisted )  \nand one  o f the m published six article s  during that pe r iod. \n \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\nCo-autho r  n et work of  th e most contr i b uti n g author in a jou rna l  who \npu bli shed  1 5 article s in tha t journal (a)  \nCo-author network  of t h e  most contri bu ting au t h or w ho  p ubli sh ed 45 articl es  \nin t h a t journ al  (b)  \n \n \nCo-autho r  n etwork  of the  mos t  con t r ibuting auth or who  p ubli sh ed  42 \narticles  in t h at  (c  )\n \nCo-author network  of t h e  most contri bu ting au t h or w ho  p ubli sh ed 37 articl es  \nin t h a t journ al  (d)  \n \nFigure 1 Co- a uth orsh ip net w ork  o f  maj or n ode  ( a ,  b,  c are edi t o r  o f t h e  j ourna l , d i s  not )  \n \nTable 1 Ma x imum Perc entage of  art ic l es  w h ere  th e ind i vidu al  edi tor a ppeared as  a c o- a uthor each  year  \nYear   JNMA  NHRC KUMJ N M CJ  JNPS  N J O \n2 021  1.54% 6 .1 1% 7.02%  - 4.00%  - \n2 020  2.48% 10 . 49%  6.90%  - 2.27%  - \n2 019  1.65% 7 .6 2% 8.33%  - 2.86%  - \n2 018  3.88% 10 . 29%  3.80%  - 0  - \n2 017  2.82% 5 .4 1% 2.44%  - 0  - \n2 016  2.38% 7 .3 2% 5.43%  - 0 7.4 1 %  \n2 015  3.90% 20 . 00%  8.62%  - 0 6.2 5 %  \n2 014  3.17% 4 .4 4% 5.48% 8.3 3 % 0 11 . 76%  \n2 013  2.41% 4 .7 6% 13. 8 9%  5.2 6 % 1.64% 3.9 2 %  \n2 012  2.50% 3 .0 3% 7.59% 9.7 6 % 0 3.6 4 %  \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n10 \n \n2011 0 9.76% 4 .6 2% 11. 2 5%  2 .6 3% 5.41% \n2010 2. 8 2% 3.57% 4 .2 3% 3.03% 4 .7 6% 12. 5 0%  \n2009 2. 7 8%  - 1 .3 3% 6.67% 0 18. 1 8%  \n2008 3. 7 0%  - 1 .1 9% 9.68% 6 .2 5%  - \n2007 2. 8 6%  - 0 .9 6% 2.99%  -  - \n2006 4. 8 8%  - 3 .1 9% 5.33%  -  - \n2005 0  - 2 .3 3% 4.88%  -  - \n2004  -  - 8 .0 6% 12. 8 2%   -  - \n2003  -  - 5 .4 5% 12. 1 2%   -  - \n \nD i s c us s i o n  a n d C o nc l u s i on  \nJour na ls  in a s m a ll scientific commu nity serve an  i m portant education al  f unc tion, and they \nprovide outlets  for  researchers to learn r e s e arch r e p orting and r e por t  s pe cif i c local  kno w ledge. \nBecaus e of the function, a s m al ler nu mber of  authors  are  exp e cted to  publish more articles in \njournals. T his m ay not be  tr ue  for t he  e ditor i al board members  as t he y  ar e the qu al ity contr ol ler \nof the journals a nd a ls o s e r ve  a s  the  k nowledg e bridge  be t ween m ainstr e am  ac a de mic journ als \nand nation al jour na ls .  Ho wever, it i s  i m portant to diffe r e n tia te be t w een the public ations  in a  \njournal by e ditor s ha ving a de cision- m a king r ole , a nd the others  with  othe r functions  such as \nrevie wing and w r i t i n g  articles. Th e  conf lict of interes t  of the de cisi on- making e ditor s  dif fers  f rom \nthat of the  other  researche r s involve d in a journal.  T hi s  i s w hy the r e  are standa r ds a nd best \npractic es  to de al with the c onf lic t  of  in t erest of  de cision- ma king editors ,  s uch as  W AME polici es . \nIt enc our a ges rese arch on  the pr inc iples a n d  pr actic e of m e dic a l edi t ing  (see w ww.w a me.or g ), \na mong others.  \nThe domina nc e of a fe w authors  is a  fea t ure that cuts  ac r oss  all the medic a l  journal s  we h a ve  \nrevie w ed. A n e ditor  w ho publi s hed 5 7  art i cles w as found to publish as m any as  45  a r ticl es  in one  \nof the  journals he edited. A  large nu m be r  of a r tic les by  a single  aut hor in the  journals o ver the  \nye ars  m ay  not  be  a pr obl em, pr ovi ded that the author a ls o c ont ributes with th eir articles in o ther  \ninternational  journals. Multiple r e s e arc h publi cations by a  s c h ol ar in any jou r na l indic ate th e ir \nproductivity and,  a s  s uch,  should not  be  a n is sue ( Abbasi et al., 2 0 11).  Th e f i t ,  qu a lity, a n d  spee d  \no f  p u b l i c a t i o n  d e t e r m i n e  a u t h o r s’  c h o ic e  o f  a  j o u r na l  ( S o l o m o n  & B j ö r k , 2012 ) .  W e  f o u n d  tha t  \nsom e  c ont ributors have  exclusively  c o nt ributed  to the journals w hereas the re  ex is t many other \nwith s i m i lar a ims  and s c opes.  It pr ovide s  a  ground to doubt tha t  the y  m ay h av e bee n  \npreferentially  tr e ated. The a ut hors do not c ontribute to o ther local  journa ls  e ith e r .  Hence, \nall owing unus u a l publ is hing space  for a  single au t hor in Ne pali medic a l jour na ls  is w or rying.  I t  \nreflec t s the  biased closeness of the comm unity in qu e s tion and promotes sc ientif ic inbreeding  \nwhe r e by a  ce r ta in groups  of  p r ofes s i o na ls  ha ve  exc lus ively pr omoted the ms e lves, b arring the  \nother c ont ributo rs  from using the out le t s to s ha r e  their k no w ledge  products, or for the o ther \ncontributor s the  cl os e-comm unity  is an a lien s pa c e. T his r e ality r a is e s  the q uest i on  of e dit o ria l  \ntrans pa r e ncy and pr ovide s  enough s pace to sus pe ct w h y  a  particula r  a uthor de cides a  speci f i c  \njournal to publish m ultiple research wo rks in the sa me  year.  \nWe  f ound that two of  the journals we st udi ed were deli s ted fr om the  Scopus datab a s e . \nPr e s uma bly, f ailure to comply w it h the Sc opus  st a ndard could be the reason f or getting de l is te d.  \nIf  the c ur rent tr e nd of  preferen tial  a nd  s equ es te r e d publi c ation continue s , other jour na ls  too run  \nthe ris k of being  de l is te d f rom Scopus. Als o,  unl es s we p ay due a tt e ntion to minimizi n g  \npreferential p u b l ication bia s e s , it w il l  be di f ficu lt f o r the o ther journals t o get li sted in the  \ninternational  qu ality  indexing  s y s tem. I f that ha p pe ns , t he  cha n ces of the s e  non-m a ins tream  \njournals contributing to hy br id  knowle dge a s  tr usted pa r tners of mainstr e a m journ als w ill be \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n11 \n \nover. T he de list ing  a ls o questions  the v alidi t y , qu ality and s ta ndard of the kn owledg e gener ate d \nand diss e minated to d ate thereby  posing a serious  q uestion – w h at will be  the fate a nd future of  \nthe other medi cal j o u r nal s  o f Nepa l that s how case Ne p al’s m edica l educa tion? Keeping  on  \nenjoy ing the s ta t us-quo a nd failing to comply  with t he  established editor i al prac t i ce will be a  \nworris ome situation for t he  s e ctor .      \nThe six journals a r e  the fr ont f a ce of Ne p al’s medi c al education and resea r ch. The qu ality  a nd  \nrigour they  m a intain uphold the ir  profe s sional integrity and ele v ate them as a  trus te d source of \nscientif ic know ledge , which m ai n stream journals can use without a doubt. They ca n , thus , be  the  \nmedium to bridge the gap b etwe en loc al and glob a l kno wle dge,  a nd also an indica tor  that N ep a l’s  \nmedic al e duc a t ion is  on par w ith  the  rest  of  the world. A ll  it  requires i s f or the ed itors a nd  \nm anagers  of the journals to ta ke  a  bold s te p  to ove r haul the editorial a nd m an a ge ment pr actice s .  \nTechnic al  journals,  s uc h  a s  thos e  we  h ave re viewed, a ls o contribute – or  ‘should’ contribute – to \npolici es  that relate  to the eve r y day live s  of the people at la r ge . T o ris e  to thes e expe ct ations a nd \ndisciplina r y  pr omises, they should not operate in silos  a nd be under the  c ont rol of a few  \nindividua ls  w h ateve r  o utstanding track  rec or d the y m aintain.  I dea s  – a nd pieces  of knowle dge for \nthat matter – a r e  cre ated  and co-cre a ted colle ctivel y in participa tion of  a s  ma ny people  as \nposs ible , both  experts a n d  novic es ,  to  address  outstanding  ga ps  betwe en r e s e arch and p ractice, \nw h i c h  a re  a s  g l a r i n g  i n  t h e  m e d i c a l  fi e l d  a s i n  o th e r s  ( L a n g l e y  e t  a l . ,  2018 ) ,  m o re  s o  i n  N e p a l,  \ngive n a limited focus and inv e s tment in res e arch . By w a y  of conclusion, we su gge s t the following  \nfour  a r eas for f urther investigation in o rder to arrive at the clarity and unders ta nding of  some of \nthe iss ue s  w e h a ve  f lagge d in our  findings and discuss ions.  \na.\n Sel f -promo tion by editors vi a e ditor -a uthors hip is one of  the rec ur ring f e atures in the  \njournals investiga t e d. Ho wever, w hy  it h a s  happened w as not the  qu estion we  \ninvestiga t e d, we  re com mend un d ert ak ing a  focus e d st udy  to expl o re the f actors  t ha t \nunderlie  exce s s s e lf -public ation and its cons e quences , both shor t-term and lon g-term.  \nb.  The relia nc e of  authors  on a p a r tic ular journ al is  another. The  a uthor s ha v e multiple \noutlets to  pick and c h oose fr om. W hy th e y, however, do rely  on one p articula r  outlet is  \nan out standing is sue f or further res e arch a nd e x plor a t i o n.  We  le ave it, too,  for other  \nresearche r s to ex a mine .   \nc.\n Wh a t motiv a t e s  the e xc lus iv e  networ king of  authors  – who actu a lly ben e f it when going \nbroad, inc lus iv e and p art i cipatory – is  y et another que s tion that we think  s hould be  \ncritica lly e x amined .   \n \nConflic t  of interes t: T he  author s dec lar e that there is no conflict of interest  of any  kind.   \n \nReference s \n \nAbb a s i, A . , Altm ann, J ., & Hoss a in, L.  (2 01 1). Identifying the e f fec ts  of co-authors hip netw or ks \non the perfor ma nc e of s c holars : A  corr e lation and re g r e s sion an al ys is of perf orman c e \nme a s ures and social n e twork  analy s is m ea s ures.  Jo urn a l of I nfo rmetr i cs , 5 (4), 5 94–6 07 . \nhttps :// doi.org/10 . 10 1 6/j.joi. 2011 .05 . 007 \nA n d e rs o n ,  J. ,  & Ra i n i e ,  L.  ( 2017 ,  Oc t ob e r  19 ) .  T h e F u t ure o f Trut h a n d  Misinforma tio n  O nlin e . P e w  \nRes e arch Center. htt ps://ww w .pew r e s earch.org/internet/20 1 7/10/1 9/the-fut ure-of-tr uth-\nand-misinf ormation-online/ \nBoš njak, L ., P ul ja k,  L.,  Vu kojević, K. , & Maruš ić ,  A. ( 20 11). An aly s is of a n u mber and type  of  \npublica tions  that e dito rs publis h in the i r  own j o urn a ls : Case st udy  of  schola r ly  journ a ls  i n \nCroati a . Scientom etrics, 86(1),  2 2 7–2 3 3 .  h tt ps:// doi.org/10. 100 7/s 11 19 2- 0 10 - 0207 - 7 \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n12 \n \nC h i l d e ,  S . J .  ( 2006 ) .  W ha t  i s  th e  ro l e  o f a  re se a r c h  j ou r n a l ?  Pr odu c tio n  P l a nning & C ontrol , 17(5 ) ,  \n4 39– 439 . http s://doi.org/10.10 8 0/ 0953 7 2806 008 8 8862 \nHollis, A.  (2 00 1 ) .  Co- a uthors hip and the  o u t put of a cademic  econo mists . Labo ur Econom ics, 8 (4), \n5 03– 530 . http s://doi.org/10.10 1 6/S0 9 27- 5 37 1(0 1)0 0 04 1- 0  \nHopew ell,  S., C l ar ke ,  M .,  St ew a r t, L.,  &  Tierney,  J . (2 001).  T ime t o publication for  results o f \ncli nical trials. Co chra ne D a t a b ase of Sy stema tic R eviews . \nh t t p s: / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 .1 002 / 146 5 1858 .m r 00 0011  \nKu m ar, S . (2 0 15). Co - authors hip ne t w or ks: a re v ie w of the lite r a t ure. A sli b  Jo u r n a l of I nfor mation \nMa n a g em ent, 67 (1), 5 5–73.  http s://doi.o rg/10 .11 0 8/AJIM -09 - 2014 - 011 6 \nLangle y , J.,  Wol s tenholme,  D ., &  Coo k e , J . ( 201 8). ‘ C o l lective  m aking ’ as  k n o w ledge  \nmobilisation: the contribution of pa r tic ipatory design in the c o- c r eation of kno wledg e in \nhea lthc are. BMC  He alth Serv ices Research , 18(1) ,  5 8 5.  https ://do i. or g/10 . 1 1 86/s 1 29 1 3- 01 8-\n33 97 - y  \nLuty, J.,  Aroki ada s s, S. M. R. , E a s ow , J.  M., &  A napr e ddy,  J. R. ( 20 0 9). Pr e fere ntial public ation \nof editorial board me mbers in m edica l s pe cial t y  journ a ls . J ournal o f Me dical E thi c s , 35(3), 2 0 0–\n2 02 . https://doi.org/10. 11 36/jme .2 0 08 .0 2 67 4 0 \nMani, J.,  Ma k a r ević, J ., Ju enge l, E., Ac k e r m a nn, H.,  N elson, K .,  B arts ch,  G . , H aferk a mp, A., & \nBlaheta, R . A. (2 0 13).  I pub l is h in i e dit?  - Do editorial board m emb e r s of ur ologi c journals \npreferentially  publis h the ir  ow n s ci entifi c work?  PL oS  O N E , 8 (1 2). \nh t t p s: / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 .1 371 / j o u r n a l . p o ne .00 8370 9 \nM a s i c ,  I . ,  &  Ja nk o v i c ,  S . M .  ( 2021 ) .  I n fl a t e d  C o- a u th o r s h i p  In t r o d u c e s  Bi a s t o  C u rr e n t  \nSci entometr ic  I ndic es. M ed ica l Archives ( Sarajevo , Bosnia an d Herzego vina ) , 75 (4),  2 4 8–2 5 5 . \nh t t p s: / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 .5 455 / m e da rh . 20 21.75 . 2 48 -255 \nMlinarić, A., Horv at, M. , &  Smolčić, V.  Š. (2 01 7). De ali ng with the posit i ve p u blic ation bias: \nWhy you should r eally  p ublis h y o u r  negative  results. B i o che mia Medica , 27 (3). \nh t t p s: / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 .1 1613 / B M . 20 17. 030 2 01 \nN air, A.  ( 2 0 1 9). Public ation bia s  -  Imp or tanc e of s tudie s  with ne g ative results!  I n di a n  Jo urnal of \nA n ae s t he s i a , 63 (6), 5 05– 507 . https ://doi .org/1 0.41 0 3/ija .I JA_ 1 4 2 _19 \nP i e t t e ,  M .  J . ,  &  R o ss ,  K .  L.  ( 1992 ) .  A n  A na l y s i s  of  t h e  D e te rm i na n t s o f  C o -a u th o r sh i p  i n  \nEc onom i cs .  T h e  Journa l  o f E c onomic Educ a tio n , 23 ( 3), 27 7– 283.  \nh t t p s: / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 .1 080 / 002 2 0485 .19 92 .10 844 7 62 \nSolomon, D. J ., & Björ k ,  B .-C .  ( 2 0 1 2). Publication fee s  in ope n acc es s publishing: Sourc es of \nfunding and fac to rs influencing c hoice of journal. Journ al o f th e  American  Society  f o r Infor mation \nScience and Te ch nolo gy , 63 (1),  9 8– 10 7. ht tps://doi.org/10. 100 2/asi. 2 16 6 0 \nTeixei r a  d a Sil v a , J . A. ( 2 01 7). Th e ethics  of pee r  a nd editorial requests  for s e lf - ci t a tion of  their \nwork and journ al .  M e di c a l  J o ur n a l  A r m e d F o r c es  I n di a , 73 ( 2) ,  18 1– 18 3 . \nh t t p s: / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 .1 016 / j . m ja fi . 2016 .11 .00 8 \nUddin, S., Hos sain , L. , Abb a s i,  A. , &  Rasm u s sen, K. ( 20 1 2). Trend and e f fici ency  an aly s is of co-\nauthors hip ne twor k. Sciento metric s , 90 (2),  6 8 7–6 9 9.  h ttps://doi.org/10. 1 007/s 1 11 92- 0 1 1-\n05 11 -x \n \n \n \n \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n13 \n \n \n \n \nAp p en dix A : M ost Article s b y  a  single author  i n Nep a l i M ed ic al  Journa l (Tot al n um b e r of a r ticles in  Sco pus by a u thor  i s  capt ured by s ea r ch co d e  (A U -I D (  \nA u t h or S c o p u s I D  )   A ND   PU BY E A R  <   2022  )  \nTot a l \nArticle s  \nin \nScopus \nby autho r \nTotal \nar t i cl e  i n \nNe p alese \nJournal \ni ndexed \nin  \nS copus  \nJ NMA  KUMJ  NHR C NM C J  J NPS NJ O \nV alus is 1  if t he  a uthor is  E dito r to the journal \nJ NMA  KUMJ  NHR C NM C J  J NPS NJ O \n85 5 9 6 11 42 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 \n57 4 8 1 45 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 \n54 4 4 5 37 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n56 3 3 11 12 1 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n32 3 0 7 18 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n32 2 9 11 12 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n40 2 8 1 25 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n34 2 7 1 23 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 \n27 2 5 6 16 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n33 2 5 5 18 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n28 2 5 0 23 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 \n30 2 4 3 20 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n36 2 4 2 5 2 1 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n23 2 3 12 8 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n29 2 3 3 3 8 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n36 2 2 2 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n23 2 2 1 19 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n14 \n \n25 2 1 1 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n36 2 1 2 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n40 2 1 2 16 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n26 2 1 1 17 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n39 2 1 0 0 0 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n22 2 1 6 9 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n26 2 1 3 8 1 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n22 2 0 6 8 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n24 2 0 1 18 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n20 2 0 0 18 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n39 2 0 0 12 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n31 2 0 4 3 1 11 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 \n22 1 8 11 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n19 1 8 2 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n23 1 8 2 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n23 1 8 1 13 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n19 1 8 7 7 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n32 1 8 12 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n22 1 8 0 10 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n19 1 7 2 3 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n22 1 7 1 12 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 \n19 1 7 0 15 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n20 1 7 2 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n27 1 7 11 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n32 1 7 1 6 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n27 1 7 2 5 1 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n33 1 7 4 0 2 3 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n24 1 6 4 0 12 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 \n17 1 6 1 12 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n15 \n \n24 1 6 1 14 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n18 1 6 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n22 1 6 1 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n28 1 6 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n26 1 6 5 8 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n18 1 6 3 10 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n24 1 6 7 3 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n26 1 5 7 1 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n15 1 5 11 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n17 1 5 9 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n15 1 5 9 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n18 1 5 0 11 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n19 1 5 6 5 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n18 1 5 10 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n24 1 5 6 6 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n21 1 5 7 6 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n16 1 5 6 4 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n21 1 5 3 1 1 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n16 1 5 1 11 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n20 1 5 0 11 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n23 1 5 3 4 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n15 1 4 0 2 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n15 1 4 0 2 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n14 1 4 0 3 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n23 1 4 2 5 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n17 1 4 10 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n19 1 4 5 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n15 1 4 5 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n14 1 4 7 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n16 \n \n14 1 4 2 7 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 \n14 1 4 3 1 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 \n14 1 3 1 12 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 \n14 1 3 0 1 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 \n16 1 1 1 10 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 \n11 1 0 9 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n13 1 0 1 4 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 \n10 1 0 0 5 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 \n10 1 0 1 1 0 7 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 \n13 1 0 0 2 0 1 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 \n19 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 \n16 9  1 7 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 \n12 8  4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 \n8 8  5 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n11 8  0 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 \n9 8  2 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n11 7  1 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 \n8 7  6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n11 7  2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 \n7 7  7 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n10 6  5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n6 6  6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n7 6  6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n6 6  6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n7 6  3 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 \n \n \n \n \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n17 \n \nAp pendix  B: C o-au t hor  n e tw ork fo rmed fro m  the article pub lished  in  the particu l a r  journ al.  The Vo S  View er s oftw are w as used to dr aw  th e co-au thor  n e t w\nedge  represents the article pub lish e d  i n a j o u r nal  b y  a t least tw o  authors .  \n \n \nC o -a utho r ship n etwork of J o urn al of N ep al  \nM ed i c a l Ass o c i atio n ( J N M A ) ( 2 021- 2 00 5 )(1 4 35  \nartic les)  ( a )  \n \nC o -a uthorship n e tw o r k  o f J o urna l of N e p a l Pe d iatri c \nSo c i et y  ( 2 0 2 1- 20 08 ) ( 6 23 a rti c l e s ) (b)  \nw o rk w here the \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint \n\n18 \n \n \nC o -a utho r ship n etwork o f K a th m a nd u  \nU n iv e r s i ty  M e dic al  J o u r na l  (2 02 1 -20 03 ) ( 147 6 \nartic les)  ( c)  \n \nC o -a uthorship n e twork of N e p al H ealth Re s e ar c h \nC o un cil Jo urna l  \n(2 02 1-20 10) (78 0 artic l e s) (d)  \n \nC o -a utho r ship n etwork of N e pal J o urn al of  \nOp hthalm ol og y ( 2 01 6- 20 09) ( 2 49 a rti c l e s ) ( e)  \n \nC o -a uthorship ne tw o r k  o f N ep a l M ed i cal Co ll e g e  \nJ o urna l ( 201 4 -20 03 ) ( 7 06 a rt i c l e s ) (f)  \n \nFigure 2 N et w ork  formed by th e c o-au t h ors w ho pub l is hed th ei r art icles  i n  th e corre s p onding Journa l  \n . CC-BY 4.0 International licenseIt is made available under a \n is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. (which was not certified by peer review)\nThe copyright holder for this preprint this version posted August 17, 2022. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.15.22278758doi: medRxiv preprint","source_license":"CC-BY-4.0","license_restricted":false}