Analysis of original contributions in three dermatology journals.

In a cross-sectional analysis, the three top ranking dermatology journals ( Archives of Dermatology , British Journal of Dermatology , and the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology ) were evaluated for their scientific content, the characteristics of their authors, and funding aspects in 2002. A flood of scientific papers are published each year covering a broad variety of dermatologic topics. Aside from the actual content, a scientific article provides information about the number of authors, their nationality and affiliations, and, with some limitation, about previous presentations and funding. The present study analyzes this situation in dermatology by evaluating the content in the three top dermatologic journals.