For a possibly interesting look at how papers (can) come out of a research lab, here are all the research (not review or methods) papers to come out of my old lab since its inception, by year. They're marked by first author (all the papers have at least two authors). P means the principal investigator, or prof in charge of the lab. All the letters denote graduate students. I'm E.
1997 - P
1998
1999 - A
1999 - A
2000 - B
2000 - A
2000 - C
2001 - D
2001 - A
2001 - D
2001 - A
2002 - B
2003
2004 - E
2005 - E
Another way to look at it:
1997 - P
1998
1999 - AA
2000 - ABC
2001 - AADD
2002 - B
2003
2004 - E
2005 - E