Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42008412›Full record

ArticlePLoS biology2026

We need to correct the wide-spread omission of equal contribution in article indexing.

Wenying Shou

Abstract readEditorial
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Wenying ShouDepartment of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, University College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5693-381X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

As team science grows, so do 'equal contribution' designations, yet this information is routinely hidden or lost, creating inequity in recognition and crediting. We must fix this problem, now.

Identifiers

PMID42008412
PMCPMC13095005

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.