[Steady production of scientific papers from medical and pharmaceutical Ph.D. graduates from 1993 to 2000].

INTRODUCTION

According to international standards, Denmark's production of scientific papers is high, but is slowly losing ground. The reformed research education was intended to strengthen Denmark's position, but some fear that it will have the opposite effect.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Based on the Registry of Ph.D. students and data from the Central Office of Civil Registration, we conducted a survey among 1170 persons previously enrolled in a Ph.D. program. Data on published papers were stratified according to gender, age, master degree, institution, year and length of enrolment. The response rate was 46%.

RESULTS

A total of 6-7 papers, including 3 first authorships, were published during the Ph.D. study and the first three years thereafter. Only about 10% did not publish in these periods. Over a 10-year time span, the number of publications before, during and three years after the Ph.D. degree was stable. Women and men published the same number of papers based on the Ph.D. project; however the total number of research publications was higher for men.

CONCLUSION

As measured by the number of publications, the Danish Ph.D. education is solid and independent of gender, age, and time. However, in order to strengthen the overall Danish biomedical research production additional public funding and time allocated to clinical research is necessary.