Article placement order in rheumatology journals: a content analysis.
OBJECTIVES
To analyse variables associated with article placement order in serial rheumatology journals.


DESIGN
Content analysis.


SETTING
Original articles published in seven rheumatology journals from 2013 to 2018.


PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES
The following data were extracted from 6787 articles: order number of article in issue, gender of first and last author, geographical region, industry funding, research design and disease category. Cumulative density function plots were used to determine whether article placement distribution was different from the expected distribution. ORs for articles published in the first three places of an issue compared with the last three places were calculated. Altmetric Score and downloads were meta-analysed.


RESULTS
Article placement order did not associate with author gender or geographical region but was associated with funding source and research design. In addition, articles about rheumatoid arthritis were more likely to be ordered at the front of issues (p<0.001). Articles about crystal arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis, pain syndromes and paediatric rheumatic diseases were more likely to be ordered at the end of issues (all p<0.001). Association of article placement order with disease category was observed only in journals with tables of contents grouped by disease. Articles ordered in the first three places had higher Altmetric and download rates, than articles in the last three places.


CONCLUSIONS
Author gender and geographical region do not influence article placement order in serial rheumatology journals. However, bias for certain disease categories is reflected in article placement order. Editorial decisions about article placement order can influence the prominence of diseases.
['Stewart|Sarah|S|0000-0002-9318-5627', 'Gamble|Greg|G|', 'Grey|Andrew|A|0000-0002-7803-0096', 'Dalbeth|Nicola|N|']
D015706:Bibliometrics D006801:Humans D010506:Periodicals as Topic D011643:Publishing D012219:Rheumatology
rheumatology bias publication