The researchers also looked at the origin of authors who published papers between 2000-02. Only 14 per cent were from poor countries. The proportion of papers generated 'exclusively' by authors from poor nations was just 1.7 per cent in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and 7.7 per cent in the Leprosy Review.
These findings are in contrast with the common occurrence of collaborations between scientists of rich and poor countries. The authors suggest a range of initiatives to redress the imbalance, including establishing regional offices for journals in tropical countries.
