Email is the primary method of communication with authors of scientific publications. This study sought to measure the reliability, over time, of contact email addresses from biomedical publications, particularly depending on email type. Emails were written to randomly selected email addresses from publications in MEDLINE, and email bounce rates were modeled probabilistically. The use of personal email addresses was quantified and compared to the use of other types of email addresses. Eighteen percent of authors' contact email addresses in MEDLINE were estimated to be invalid. A steadily growing share of email addresses was personal: 32% of all new email addresses in MEDLINE in 2018 were of this kind. These email addresses were less likely to be invalid than email addresses from other types of providers. While the percentage of invalid email addresses was significant, it was lower than previously estimated. Personal email addresses are taking an increasingly more important role by supplying more reliable email addresses to scientists. To mitigate the problem of invalid email addresses, institutions should provide email forwarding, scientific directories should offer the possibility of contacting authors, or scientific authors should use more stable email addresses.

中文翻译：

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重新审视科学电子邮件地址的衰退

电子邮件是与科学出版物作者交流的主要方式。本研究试图衡量生物医学出版物中联系电子邮件地址的可靠性，尤其是根据电子邮件类型。电子邮件被写入从 MEDLINE 的出版物中随机选择的电子邮件地址，并以概率方式对电子邮件退回率进行建模。对个人电子邮件地址的使用进行了量化，并与其他类型的电子邮件地址的使用进行了比较。据估计，MEDLINE 中 18% 的作者联系电子邮件地址是无效的。个人电子邮件地址的份额稳步增长：2018 年 MEDLINE 中所有新电子邮件地址中有 32% 属于此类。与来自其他类型提供商的电子邮件地址相比，这些电子邮件地址无效的可能性较小。虽然无效电子邮件地址的百分比很大，但低于之前的估计。通过向科学家提供更可靠的电子邮件地址，个人电子邮件地址正在发挥越来越重要的作用。为了缓解无效电子邮件地址的问题，机构应该提供电子邮件转发，科学目录应该提供联系作者的可能性，或者科学作者应该使用更稳定的电子邮件地址。