An analysis of thirty years of contributions to the British anaesthetic literature (1953-1982).

A thirty-year review of the two major British anaesthetic journals, Anaesthesia and the British Journal of Anaesthesia, was undertaken. Overseas contributors accounted for 30% of the total articles published, with North America providing the greatest proportion. The remainder of the contributions came from the United Kingdom. The British contributions were analysed for content and origin. The North West Thames Region with 9%, contributed the single largest percentage of the British articles. There was a marked difference in the Regional contributions, not invariably linked to the size of the Authority or the number of University Departments. Over the thirty-year period there was a progressive increase in the number of published articles and an increase in the proportion of overseas contributors.