title: Local and foreign authorship of maternal health interventional research in low- and middle-income countries: systematic mapping of publications 2000-2012.
abstract: Researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are under-represented in scientific literature. Mapping of authorship of articles can provide an assessment of data ownership and research capacity in LMICs over time and identify variations between different settings.
  
  
  
  Systematic mapping of maternal health interventional research in LMICs from 2000 to 2012, comparing country of study and of affiliation of first authors. Studies on health systems or promotion; community-based activities; and haemorrhage, hypertension, HIV/STIs and malaria were included. Following review of 35,078 titles and abstracts, 2292 full-text publications were included. Data ownership was measured by the proportion of articles with an LMIC lead author (author affiliated with an LMIC institution).
  
  
  
  The total number of papers led by an LMIC author rose from 45.0/year in 2000-2003 to 98.0/year in 2004-2007, but increased only slightly thereafter to 113.1/year in 2008-2012. In the same periods, the proportion of papers led by a local author was 58.4 %, 60.8 % and 60.1 %, respectively. Data ownership varies markedly between countries. A quarter of countries led more than 75 % of their research; while in 10 countries, under 25 % of publications had a local first author. Researchers at LMIC institutions led 56.6 % (1297) of all papers, but only 26.8 % of systematic reviews (65/243), 29.9 % of modelling studies (44/147), and 33.2 % of articles in journals with an Impact Factor ≥5 (61/184). Sub-Saharan Africa authors led 54.2 % (538/993) of studies in the region, while 73.4 % did in Latin America and the Caribbean (223/304). Authors affiliated with United States (561) and United Kingdom (207) institutions together account for a third of publications. Around two thirds of USAID and European Union funded studies had high-income country leads, twice as many as that of Wellcome Trust and Rockefeller Foundation.
  
  
  
  There are marked gaps in data ownership and these have not diminished over time. Increased locally-led publications, however, does suggest a growing capacity in LMIC institutions to analyse and articulate research findings. Differences in author attribution between funders might signal important variations in funders' expectations of authorship and discrepancies in how funders understand collaboration. More stringent authorship oversight and reconsideration of authorship guidelines could facilitate growth in LMIC leadership. Left unaddressed, deficiencies in research ownership will continue to hinder alignment between the research undertaken and knowledge needs of LMICs.
authors.affiliation: Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. matthew.chersich@wits.ac.za.|Centre for Health Policy/MRC Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. matthew.chersich@wits.ac.za.|International Centre for Reproductive Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. matthew.chersich@wits.ac.za.
authors.forename: Matthew F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Chersich
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Policy/MRC Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Duane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blaauw
authors.affiliation: Independent Consultant, Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.|Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Society, Gender and Health Unit, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dumbaugh
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Policy/MRC Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.|Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Loveday
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Penn-Kekana
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Policy/MRC Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Ashar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dhana
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Policy/MRC Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Siphiwe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thwala
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences (RIHS), Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bijlmakers
authors.affiliation: Innovation in Public Health Department, National Institute of Health, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.|Centre for Health Systems Research/National Institute of Public Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública), Cuernavaca, México.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Policy/MRC Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Elinor
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kern
authors.affiliation: Pan American Health Organization, Washington, D.C., USA.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Becerra-Posada
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Policy/MRC Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Josephine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kavanagh
authors.affiliation: Centre for International Health, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Priya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mannava
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Policy/MRC Health Policy Research Group, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.|Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Society, Gender and Health Unit, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Langelihle
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mlotshwa
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Systems Research/National Institute of Public Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública), Cuernavaca, México.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Becerril-Montekio
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Katharine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Footman
authors.affiliation: Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.|London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rees
mesh_terms: D001319:Authorship; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D000068097:Maternal Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D012106:Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*
keywords: Authorship; LMICs; Maternal health; Research governance; Systematic review