Table 1. Baseline: editorial boards of the five leading spine journals.
| The Spine Journal (n = 108)† | Spine (n = 271)† | European Spine Journal (n = 235)† | Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine (n = 13)† | Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques (n = 89)† | Total Editorial Board Members (n = 716) | Total unique individuals (n = 595) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impact Factor, 2012* | 3.355 | 2.159 | 2.133 | 1.978 | 1.767 | n/a | n/a |
| Proportion of editorial board members appearing in at least on of the other spine journals | 50 (46%) | 80 (30%) | 36 (15%) | 10 (77%) | 43 (48%) | 98 (14%) | 98 (16%) |
| Degree | n = 107‡ | n = 270‡ | n = 231‡ | n = 13 | n = 89 | n = 710‡ | n = 589‡ |
| Doctor of Medicine degree (MD) | 92 (86%) | 223 (83%) | 191 (83%) | 13 (100%) | 86 (97%) | 605 (85%) | 499 (85%) |
| Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) | 22 (21%) | 87 (33%) | 120 (52%) | 1 (7.7%) | 13 (15%) | 243 (34%) | 213 (36%) |
| Continent of residence | n = 108 | n = 271 | n = 235 | n = 13 | n = 89 | n = 716 | n = 595 |
| North America | 99 (92%) | 194 (72%) | 33 (14%) | 12 (93%) | 77 (87%) | 415 (58%) | 322 (54%) |
| Europe | 0 (0%) | 44 (16%) | 174 (74%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (5.6%) | 223 (31%) | 207 (35%) |
| Asia | 3 (2.8%) | 25 (9.2%) | 14 (6.0%) | 1 (7.7%) | 6 (6.7%) | 49 (6.8%) | 42 (7.1%) |
| Australia | 1 (0.93%) | 7 (2.6%) | 5 (2.1%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (1.1%) | 14 (2.0%) | 13 (2.2%) |
| South America | 5 (4.6%) | 1 (0.37%) | 6 (2.6%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 12 (1.7%) | 8 (1.3%) |
| Africa | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (1.3%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (0.04%) | 3 (0.50%) |
| Primary job function | n = 100‡ | n = 263‡ | n = 219‡ | n = 13 | n = 88‡ | n = 683‡ | n = 564‡ |
| Spine surgeon | 73 (73%) | 186 (71%) | 160 (73%) | 13 (100%) | 82 (93%) | 514 (75%) | 416 (74%) |
| Other medical specialist | 14 (14%) | 28 (11%) | 16 (7.3%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (3.4%) | 61 (8.9%) | 56 (9.9%) |
| Non-physician healthcare provider | 1 (1.0%) | 12 (4.6%) | 8 (3.7%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 21 (3.1%) | 20 (3.5%) |
| Researcher/Investigator | 12 (12%) | 31 (12%) | 34 (15%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (3.4%) | 80 (12%) | 65 (12%) |
| Other | 0 (0%) | 6 (2.3%) | 1 (0.46%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 7 (1.0%) | 7 (1.2%) |