Authorship trends and collaboration patterns in hospitality and tourism research

Analyze patterns of co-authorship in hospitality and tourism (HT the percentage of articles were the most relevant author signs in the first, middle or last position; and the position of the corresponding author in the by-line.,First, the collaborative nature of HT almost 80% of articles in the sample are co-authored. Second, over the past 30 years, the alphabetized signature model has been in decline in this field. Today, about 20% of articles indexed in JCR journals are signed alphabetically. Third, the first author’s placement is less consistent than that of the corresponding author.,This work provides relevant information on researchers’ authorship habits that may help evaluators assign credit and accountability and avoid malpractice in the authorial assignment.,This study explores the habits of researchers who collaborate to improve their productivity, impact and reputation. This is often linked to facilitating access to research funding and obtaining recognition from incentive systems. Yet, no research specifically examines trends in signature order or the corresponding author’s role in the H&T field.