Cause of 2017 Shift in Non‑U.S. Funding Reporting in PubMed

Determine the cause of the sharp 2017 increase in PubMed records indicating non‑U.S. public funding, specifically ascertaining whether it resulted from changes in author disclosure practices, journal reporting requirements, or PubMed’s data construction process.

Background

In analyzing public funding linked to clinical trial publications, the authors restrict attention to U.S.-based funding because they observe a discontinuity in non-U.S. funding reporting starting in 2017. The total number of publications linked to public funding rises by about 50 percent from 2016 to 2017, while other related trends remain smooth.

This unexplained jump potentially stems from changes in disclosure norms by authors, alterations in journal reporting requirements, or modifications in PubMed’s data construction. The uncertainty about the source of the shift leads the authors to limit their funding analysis to U.S. data, highlighting the need to identify the underlying cause to ensure robust cross-country comparisons.