[Publications of French dermatology professors from 1996 to 1998]

The number and level of the publications reflect the scientific activity of physicians. The assessment of this activity is required for nomination and for the internal promotion of University Professors--Hospital Practitioners (UP-HP). We present the results of such an assessment.

The list of the individual publications of 62 UP-HP was established from research on the Medline on the PubMed website. We eliminated the journals without an Impact Factor and the articles of continued medical training. A score was obtained for each of the authors on each of their publications. This was calculated by multiplying the rank coefficient of the author by the coefficient of the type of publication (letter, clinical case or article) and by the coefficient of the journal (ranging from 1 to 4). The global score of a UP-HP was the sum of the scores per publication. The mean score of each UP-HP was assessed by dividing their global score by the number of their publications.

One thousand thirty-one scientific publications in 3 years was divided into 502 articles, 316 clinical cases and 213 letters. The yearly number of publications per UP-HP was a mean of 5.5 (+/- 4.2) ranging from 0 to 17.3. The publications were mainly written in English (p=10(-2)). There were more articles than clinical case reports and letters (p=10(-1)). The yearly number of publications was greatest among those aged 46-55. No difference was noted in gender, function (head of a department or not) or the size of the town. The UP-HP working in a team including other UPs had written a greater number of publications (p=10(-2)). The global scores did not significantly differ between the 3 age ranges considered; conversely, the mean score decreased significantly with age (p=0.04). The UP-HP working in teams including several UPs had significantly higher global score (p=0.03).

These results show the heterogeneity of the "publishing" activity. The method used in this study for the scientific assessment could be subject to improvement; its principle is indisputable, but its methods of use remain to be specified. The best "publication structure" of young UP-HP may be related to age, demonstrating a decline in scientific activity during the working life, or a cohort-effect--i.e., the progressive improvement in recruitment conditions and scientific activity over the past 20 years. The better performance of the UP-HP working in a team including several UP-HP must be interpreted with care; however, it may help to define a geographical policy of Dermatology.