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Alphabetic order of authors in scholarly publications: a bibliometric study for 27 scientific fields

Author

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  • João M. Fernandes

    (University of Minho)

  • Paulo Cortez

    (University of Minho)

Abstract

Paper authorship and author placement have significant consequences for accountability and assignment of credit. Moreover, authors in different scientific fields tend to follow distinct approaches towards their ordering in scholarly publications. This manuscript presents a bibliometric study aiming to characterize the trends in the adoption of alphabetically ordered lists of authors in scholarly publications for 27 scientific fields. The study is supported by two different datasets (with 83 and 32 thousand papers that have two or more authors) and uses two indicators that measure the degree of order of the authors list of a set of articles. The main results show that three fields (Economics; Mathematics; and Business, Management and Accounting) have a strong alphabetic ordering usage, while other five scientific areas present some tendency to use lists of authors in alphabetic order.

Suggested Citation

  • João M. Fernandes & Paulo Cortez, 2020. "Alphabetic order of authors in scholarly publications: a bibliometric study for 27 scientific fields," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2773-2792, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:125:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-020-03686-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-020-03686-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kerri Betts & Louise Creechan & Rosemarie Cawkwell & Isabelle Finn‐Kelcey & C. J. Griffin & Alice Hagopian & David Hartley & Marie Adrienne R. Manalili & Inika Murkumbi & Sarinah O’Donoghue & Cassandr, 2023. "Neurodiversity, Networks, and Narratives: Exploring Intimacy and Expressive Freedom in the Time of Covid‐19," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 60-71.
    2. João M. Fernandes & António Costa & Paulo Cortez, 2022. "Author placement in Computer Science: a study based on the careers of ACM Fellows," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 351-368, January.
    3. Ali Barış Öz, 2024. "Overcoming alphabetical disadvantage: factors influencing the use of surname initial techniques and their impact on citation rates in the four major disciplines of social sciences," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(8), pages 4885-4908, August.
    4. Zhang, Lin & Qi, Fan & Sivertsen, Gunnar & Liang, Liming & Campbell, David, 2023. "Gender differences in the patterns and consequences of changing specialization in scientific careers," SocArXiv ep5bx, Center for Open Science.

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