Publication Metrics and Record of Pharmacy Practice Chairs

Abstract

Background: Scholarship is an essential component of academic pharmacy. Department chairs are considered role models and mentors to junior faculty, but their publication record has not been documented. Objective: To quantify publication patterns of pharmacy practice chairs in general and, specifically, at health sciences center (HSC)-based versus non–HSC-based and public versus private colleges of pharmacy. Methods: Pharmacy practice chairs were identified using the 2006–2007 roster of faculty from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Of the 89 colleges of pharmacy in the roster, 11 listed no pharmacy practice chair and 5 listed more than one. Data were collected on the remaining 73 schools by searching each chair's name on PubMed and Web of Science (WoS). Data on total publications, publications per year, total citations, citations per article, h-index, and m quotient were collected. Results: A total of 2394 papers published by 73 pharmacy practice chairs were found in a search of PubMed. The mean number of total publications per chair was 33 (95% CI 21 to 44). The mean number of publications per year was 1.4 using PubMed and 1.6 using WoS. Mean h-index was 8.0 (95% CI 6.3 to 9.6). Mean number of total citations was 410 (95% CI 252 to 568). Thirty-three percent (n = 24) had less than 10 lifetime publications and 18% had more than 50 lifetime publications, HSC-based chairs averaged 51.3 papers while non–HSC-based chairs averaged 19.1 (p < 0.01). Similar data were found for total citations (HSC = 673 vs non-HSC = 216; p < 0.001). Public school chairs had an average of 41.5 articles cited on PubMed, versus 15 for private school chairs (p<0.01). Public school chairs had an average h-index of 9.7 versus 4.4 for private school chairs (p < 0.001), and an average of 9.2 citations per article compared with 5.2 for private school chairs (p < 0.001). Conclusions: These data provide a normative pattern of publication metrics and record for pharmacy practice chairs and demonstrate marked variability in scholarly productivity.