Publication rates in U.S. schools and colleges of pharmacy, 1976-1992

To establish publication rates of U.S. schools and colleges of pharmacy (SCOP) for 1976-1992, we obtained data from the Science Citation Index (SCI) Corporate Index. The SCI data base covers the top 4500 journals in the technical and scientific fields. Citations were counted without regard to publication type (letter, abstract, review, etc.). Duplicative publications were eliminated. Faculty counts were obtained from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Roster of Faculty and Staff for the inclusive years. Total publications for all schools increased over 100% from 1976 to 1992, and the number of faculty members increased by 40% during that time. However, only 12 (16%) of the SCOP averaged 50 or more publications/year, whereas 43 (59%) averaged fewer than 20. Data were also normalized by full-time faculty members. Only 13 (18%) SCOP averaged 1.0 or more publication/faculty/year, and 38 (52%) averaged fewer than 0.5. Publication rates were greater for medical center-based than for nonmedical center-based SCOP (p < 0.05), and for public than for private SCOP (p < 0.05). These data suggest that over half of the existing SCOP are minimally productive, generating less than 20 publications/year or 0.5 publication/faculty/year.