Publication practices in various sciences

From a study of Papers published in 1990 in major journals in eight sciences (astrophysics, biology, chemistry, geophysics, mathematics, physics, psychiatry, and radiology) we learn the following. The median numbers of authors per paper range from 1.0 (in mathematics) to 3.7 (in the medical fields). Only a few percent (0–5%) of the papers have more than eight authors. Nearly half (30–55%) of the papers in American journals are partly or totally from abroad, except in the medicinal fields (10%). The fractions of papers with authors from two or more countries are as high as 26% (in astrophysics and geophysics). Mean paper lengths range from 4.6 1000-word pages in the medical fields to 8–13 pages in the observational sciences (astrophysics, biology, geophysics) and mathematics. The fraction of papers revised range from 8% in mathematics to 100% in geophysics. The mean publication times (submission to publication) range from 200 days in physics to 600 days in mathematics.