Research Persistence: A Comparative Study of Core and Peripheral Journal Authors in Five Medical Research Topics

Research persistence, the sustained scholarly engagement of authors in specific fields, offers key insights into scientific advancement. This study examines differences in persistence between authors publishing in core versus peripheral journals across five medical topics: acoustic neuroma, craniosynostosis, psoriatic arthritis, shoulder instability, and sickle cell disease. Journals were classified using Bradford’s law, and persistence was defined as continued publication within a three-year window following a base year. Results reveal that authors in core journals are 1.26 to 1.98 times more likely to continue publishing on the same topic compared to peripheral journal authors. They also publish subsequent papers at a higher rate, with mean differences of up to 2.31 times across topics. These findings underscore the role of core journals in fostering sustained research engagement, with implications for publishing, funding priorities, and career development. Limitations of the Bradford procedure are noted, and directions for future research are proposed.