Question regarding research projects/publications/abstracts for fellowship apps

[ghostbaby]

Is a publication worth more if there are less authors on it (e.g. 2-3 co-authors instead of like 5 co-authors)?

I was thinking that one might interpret that each individual put in more work and therefore more value per person, if that makes sense?
Otherwise you could get like a few others (med students, residents, etc.) to help you with a case report or retrospective study and it’d be done a lot quicker.

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[GoSpursGo]

It really doesn’t matter. If you do good science and it’s in a journal with a good impact factor, it’s good.

What matters more than the number of authors is author placement. It is generally understood that first author did the most and wrote the paper, last author is senior and oversaw the design. Those are the most important spots. Second author is also notable as they usually wrote a substantial piece. Then basically everyone else is “middle author” and it’s seen more or less equally; third author should have done more than 4th who did more than 5th, but the difference is generally assumed to be negligible.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

For fellowship applications, considering many/most applicants don't have any Pubmed indexed publications, then no, it doesn't matter. Afterwards, meaning after fellowship in getting a job and getting promoted, yes, the position and the number of other authors says a lot about contributions.