Editorial Self-Publication in Plastic Surgery Journals.

[BACKGROUND] The general practice of journal editors publishing original articles in their own journals has been examined in several reviews. No such study has been reported for plastic surgery journals. This study analyzes editorial publication practice in plastic surgery journals over an 8-year period.

[METHODS] A retrospective analysis of twelve PubMed indexed journals, including Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (PRS), Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open (PRS-GO), Annals of Plastic Surgery, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery (JPRAS), Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive, & Aesthetic Surgery Open (JPRAS-Open), The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, Archives of Plastic Surgery, the Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery, Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery, Microsurgery, and Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery. We reviewed all articles between 2014 and 2021 to identify articles published by the journal's editor. Editorials and articles appearing in supplements were excluded from this analysis.

[RESULTS] The proportion of editor authorship ranged from 0% to 5.88%. We found that editors of PRS and Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery had a significantly greater authorship proportion than the other journals reviewed.

[CONCLUSION] This study found that almost all the studied journals had original articles published by their respective editors. Two journals: PRS and the Journal of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery had higher rates of editor article publication compared to the other journals.