Background Scientific publications by editorial board members in their own journals raise questions about potential biases in the peer-review process. This study investigates the prevalence of self-publishing in high-impact factor foot and ankle focused journals.

Methods A review was performed of the highest impact factor foot and ankle focused journals/: Foot and Ankle International, Foot and Ankle Surgery y Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery. In January 2023, the editorial board members were identified, and their names, roles, academic backgrounds, and regions were obtained. For each board member, the number of total published articles listed in PubMed and those for each corresponding journal over their entire history, during the last 5 years and during the last 3 years were compiled. Descriptive statistics analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics v26.0.

Results The study included 196 editorial board members from the 3 selected journals. Editorial board members have published 1694 articles in their own journals (9.17% of all the articles published in those 3 journals). Editorial board members published 23.4% (SD 23.6) of their overall production in their affiliated journals. Of that production, 39.0% (SD 38.6) have been published in the last 5 years, considering this 5-year period as the baseline for their role on the editorial board in question. Some 10% of editorial board members have published more than 50% of their scientific production in their own affiliated journal in the last 5 years. European editors (51%) have published more in their own journal over the last 5-year period than North Americans (29%) (p<0.001). Being a surgeon is related to greater publication rates in one’s own affiliated journal when compared to other specialist profiles (p=0.003).

Conclusion The publication scientific articles by editorial board members as authors in journals with which they are affiliated is a present-day phenomenon in the highest impact factor journals with a focus on the foot & ankle. Knowledge of this data could be the key to understanding the prevalence of this phenomenon, and lead to making this data more accessible.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

Level of evidence: IV

Declarations of interest: None

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.