Influence of physician years on urological journal publication productivity among Japanese urologists

PURPOSE To evaluate the urological journal publication productivity of Japanese urologists based on their physician years. METHODS All original articles written by Japanese urologists and published from Japanese institutions in 6 primary urological journals between 2010 and 2014 were reviewed (N = 529 articles). RESULTS The median post-graduate years of the first and corresponding authors of all articles were 16 and 21 years, respectively. The publication productivities of the first and corresponding authors peaked from 11 to 15 and both 16-20 and 21-25 post-graduate years, respectively. In 187 publications in which the first and corresponding authors were different, first and corresponding author publication productivities peaked from 11 to 15 and 21-25 post-graduate years, respectively. In 342 publications in which the first author served as the corresponding author, first author publication productivity peaked from 16 to 20 post-graduate years. Of all articles examined, 130 (24.6%) were written by young urologists who had obtained their national medical license not less than 11 years ago. Only 0.9% (5/529) of all articles were written by female Japanese urologists, who account for 5.0% (332/6,649) of all Japanese Board Certified Urologists. CONCLUSIONS The present study revealed that from 11 to 15 post-graduate years was the most productive time for Japanese urologists as the first author of urological publications and also that the role in manuscript preparation changed with increases in physician years. These results provide an insight into reconstructing future post-graduate training and educational urological programs in Japan.