title: How do scientists perceive the current publication culture? A qualitative focus group interview study among Dutch biomedical researchers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the biomedical scientist's perception of the prevailing publication culture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative focus group interview study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four university medical centres in the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three randomly selected groups of biomedical scientists (PhD, postdoctoral staff members and full professors).
  
  
  METHODS
  Main themes for discussion were selected by participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Frequently perceived detrimental effects of contemporary publication culture were the strong focus on citation measures (like the Journal Impact Factor and the H-index), gift and ghost authorships and the order of authors, the peer review process, competition, the funding system and publication bias. These themes were generally associated with detrimental and undesirable effects on publication practices and on the validity of reported results. Furthermore, senior scientists tended to display a more cynical perception of the publication culture than their junior colleagues. However, even among the PhD students and the postdoctoral fellows, the sentiment was quite negative. Positive perceptions of specific features of contemporary scientific and publication culture were rare.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that the current publication culture leads to negative sentiments, counterproductive stress levels and, most importantly, to questionable research practices among junior and senior biomedical scientists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Psychiatry, Tergooi Hospital, Hilversum, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J K
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1826-2274
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Tijdink
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Humanities, VU University Medical Center, EMGO+ Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schipper
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Faculty of Humanities, Department of Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bouter
authors.affiliation: Rathenau Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maclaine Pont
authors.affiliation: Rathenau Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Jonge
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Smulders
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D009426:Netherlands; D015279:Organizational Culture; D017594:Publication Bias; D011643:Publishing; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: EDUCATION & TRAINING (see Medical Education & Training); MEDICAL ETHICS; QUALITATIVE RESEARCH