Co–First Authors and Co–Corresponding Authors in the Chinese Medical Journal and JAMA

Ting Gao,¹ Xiuyuan Hao²

Objective

Authorship confers credit and has important academic, social, and financial implications.¹ Although certain journals, such as JAMA, enforce strict authorship policies, the recognition of equal contributions by 2 or more co–first and/or co–corresponding authors is increasingly common in biomedical publishing.^2,3 Both the Chinese Medical Journal (CMJ) and JAMA are peer-reviewed general medical journals covering all major medical disciplines. This study evaluated the prevalence of co–first and co–corresponding authors in CMJ and JAMA.

Design

From January 1 to January 21, 2025, we examined all articles published in CMJ and JAMA in 2024, excluding News, Editors’ Notes, Corrigendum/Correction, Humanities, and miscellaneous sections, to assess the frequency of co–first and co–corresponding authorship. Other characteristics examined included article type, subject, and geographic location of corresponding authors. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify characteristics associated with co–first or co–corresponding authors.

Results

Of the 473 articles published in CMJ in 2024, 233 (49.3%) included co–first authors and 180 (38.1%) included co–corresponding authors. JAMA published 1011 articles in 2024; among them, 42 (4.2%) had co–first authors and 18 (1.8%) had co–corresponding authors. Original articles most frequently featured co–first and co–corresponding authors in both journals (Table 25-0882). In CMJ, gastroenterology was the most frequent subject associated with both forms of shared authorship. In JAMA, public health had the highest number of co–first authors, while cardiology had the most co–first and co–corresponding authors. In CMJ, most corresponding authors of articles with co–first or co–corresponding authorship were based in China. Logistic regression analysis revealed that article type, subject, and corresponding author’s geographic location were not significantly associated with shared authorship status in CMJ. By contrast, in JAMA, article type was significantly associated with both co–first and co–corresponding authorship, and corresponding author’s geographic location was significantly associated with co–corresponding authorship. CMJ showed a higher prevalence of co–first (χ² = 431.3; P <.001) and co–corresponding (χ² = 363.6; P < .001) authorship than JAMA.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates a significant difference in the prevalence of co–first and co–corresponding authorship between CMJ and JAMA. China and the United States are among the leading countries in scientific output. Compared with US-based authors, Chinese authors were more likely to designate co–first and co–corresponding authors. This trend may reflect the academic, social, and economic significance of shared authorship roles within the Chinese research evaluation system. While journals such as JAMA impose restrictions on shared authorship, increasing multidisciplinary collaborations and the rise of team science have led others, such as CMJ, to adopt more flexible policies. Establishing a standardized framework for managing co–first and co–corresponding authorship is needed.

References

1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals. Updated May 2023. Accessed January 18, 2025. https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

2. Aakhus E, Mitra N, Lautenbach E, Joffe S. Gender and byline placement of co-first authors in clinical and basic science journals with high impact factors. JAMA. 2018;319(6): 610-611. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.18672

3. Hosseini M. Equal co-authorship practices: Review and recommendations. Sci Eng Ethics. 2020;26(3):1133-1148. doi:10.1007/s11948-020-00183-8

¹Editorial Department, Chinese Medical Journal, Chinese Medical Association Publishing House, Beijing, China; ²Editorial Department, Chinese Medical Journal, Chinese Medical Association Publishing House, Beijing, China, haoxiuyuan@163.com.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures

None reported.