International representation in psychiatric literature: Survey of six leading journals

Background
Despite the growing recognition of the global burden of psychiatric disease, there are questions about the strength of the evidence base from non-Western societies.

Aims
To compare the contribution of Euro-American countries and the rest of the world (RoW) to psychiatric literature.

Method
Survey of the country of origin of papers submitted to and published in six leading psychiatric journals over a 3-year period (1996–1998).

Results
Only 6% of the literature is published from regions of the world that account for over 90% of global population. The three journals published in Europe had a significantly higher proportion of international articles when compared to the three American journals. Less than 1% of all published articles described mental health interventions in the RoW. Acceptance rates were significantly lower for papers submitted from the RoW.

Conclusions
There is a gross under-representation of research from the RoW. This has implications for the development of a truly international psychiatry.