title: Author-paper affiliation network architecture influences the methodological quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of psoriasis.
abstract: Moderate-to-severe psoriasis is associated with significant comorbidity, an impaired quality of life, and increased medical costs, including those associated with treatments. Systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) of randomized clinical trials are considered two of the best approaches to the summarization of high-quality evidence. However, methodological bias can reduce the validity of conclusions from these types of studies and subsequently impair the quality of decision making. As co-authorship is among the most well-documented forms of research collaboration, the present study aimed to explore whether authors' collaboration methods might influence the methodological quality of SRs and MAs of psoriasis. Methodological quality was assessed by two raters who extracted information from full articles. After calculating total and per-item Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) scores, reviews were classified as low (0-4), medium (5-8), or high (9-11) quality. Article metadata and journal-related bibliometric indices were also obtained. A total of 741 authors from 520 different institutions and 32 countries published 220 reviews that were classified as high (17.2%), moderate (55%), or low (27.7%) methodological quality. The high methodological quality subnetwork was larger but had a lower connection density than the low and moderate methodological quality subnetworks; specifically, the former contained relatively fewer nodes (authors and reviews), reviews by authors, and collaborators per author. Furthermore, the high methodological quality subnetwork was highly compartmentalized, with several modules representing few poorly interconnected communities. In conclusion, structural differences in author-paper affiliation network may influence the methodological quality of SRs and MAs on psoriasis. As the author-paper affiliation network structure affects study quality in this research field, authors who maintain an appropriate balance between scientific quality and productivity are more likely to develop higher quality reviews.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sanz-Cabanillas
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0286-4107
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruano
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gomez-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.|School of Medicine, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alcalde-Mellado
authors.affiliation: Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gay-Mimbrera
authors.affiliation: Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Macarena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Luque
authors.affiliation: Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.|School of Medicine, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maestre-Lopez
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Marcelino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Padilla
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Carmona-Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.|Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Velez Garcia-Nieto
authors.affiliation: Instituto Maimonides de Investigacion Biomedica de Cordoba (IMIBIC)/Reina Sofia University Hospital/University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.|Department of Pharmacy, Reina Sofia University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Isla-Tejera
mesh_terms: D001319:Authorship; D015982:Bias; D015706:Bibliometrics; D000068598:Data Accuracy; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000628:therapy*; D012196:Review Literature as Topic