Introduction: Since 1991, the Danish Junior Doctors' Association has carried out annual investigations among its members in regard to education. In 2001, the questionnaire included a special section about scientific activities.
Materials and methods: The investigation included approximately 70 questions which were sent to all members of the Danish Junior Doctors' Association. A total of 76.2% answered the questionnaire. The age of the junior doctors and the year of graduating are comparable in the investigations from 1993 to 2001.
Results: 52.7% of the junior doctors make research in their spare time, and 47.1% have published at least once as primary researcher. The comparison of the investigations from 1993 to 2001 shows a significant fall in the average publications per doctor and in the number of doctors with at least one published paper. From 1999, there were 7% doctors less with one published paper (chi 2 = 53.4; p < 0.001). The average number of published articles per primary researcher has declined from 6.69/doctor in 1993 to 2.48/doctor in 2001 (t = -25.04, p < 0.001). As a whole, 11.9% of all junior doctors had a PhD-degree and 3.0% had a doctor's degree. 7.6% were in the process of a PhD-study. The number of junior doctors with a PhD is significantly rising. The number of doctors seeking positions at universities is less than 2%, the rest seek clinical education and work.
Discussion: The publication rate has declined over the past ten years, which has many reasons. One reason is the increasing number of PhD-degrees and an increase in the impact factor, which means qualitative research improvement. A changed procedure in the postgraduate education is a factor as well. The low recruitment of junior doctors for pregraduate education seems to be a constant problem.