Only one-fifth of case reports containing medical images mention a radiologist as the co-author, while these are also lower in quality, according to research published online Sept. 20 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
“As radiologists, we want to be visible, so that colleagues and patients recognize our important role in diagnostic and therapeutic management. Being mentioned as co-author in case reports is one way of increasing visibility,” lead author Eliza Luyckx, MD, of the department of radiology at Antwerp University Hospital in Belgium, and colleagues.
For their analysis, the researchers examined a total of 218 case reports containing radiological images, including conventional x-rays, ultrasound, CT, MRI and nuclear medicine imaging (PET, scintigraphy, etc.).
The images were then scored by a radiology resident and blinded staffers from the Antwerp University Hospital’s radiology and nuclear medicine departments based on the following criteria:
- First author and medical specialty of the first, second and last author.
- Journal title and date of publication.
- Number of images per modality.
- Number of radiological and nuclear medicine images.
- Number of figures (with and without images).
- Presence or absence of a radiologist as co-author.
- Ranking of those in the list of (co-)authors.
- Total number of authors.
- Mention of a radiologist in the acknowledgments.
Of the 218 case reports, only 21 percent included a radiologist as a co-author. Additionally, 3 percent did not mention a radiologist as co-author but did in the acknowledgements section. In 76 percent of all articles, no radiologist was mentioned as a co-author or in the acknowledgements.
The researchers also found that each group significantly differed in quality, with the median quality scores in case reports with and without a co-author and with a radiologist in the acknowledgments being 74 percent, 50 percent and 50 percent.
“Whenever a diagnostic process includes imaging, radiologists make an important contribution. It could be argued that, in and of itself, this does not warrant authorship,” the researchers wrote. “However, if they make a substantial contribution to the composition of the report, for example, by selecting appropriate images and writing captions for the purpose of publication, they contribute to the publication as much as anyone who provides (part of) the text.”
A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.