bims-evares Biomed News
on Evaluation of research
Issue of 2021–08–01
forty-four papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society



  1. Mindfulness (N Y). 2021 Jul 16. 1-18
       Objectives: This study aimed to identify historical developments, active research areas, and emerging trends within scientific literature on mindfulness published so far, using bibliometric methods. We also aimed to identify prominent journals, authors, organizations, and countries in the field of mindfulness.
    Methods: Articles or reviews which mention mindfulness in the title, abstract, or keywords were identified using the Web of Science. A descriptive summary of the literature was obtained from the Web of Science Analysis tool. Country collaboration, co-authorship, and keyword co-occurrence networks were visualized using VOSviewer. CiteSpace, which uses document co-citation analysis, was used to identify emerging trends and transient patterns in the literature.
    Results: From 1966 to 2021, 16,581 publications on mindfulness were identified. There has been an exponential growth of publications since 2006. Almost half (47%) of the publications were in psychology and about one-fifth (20.8%) in psychiatry. The most prolific journal was Mindfulness (contributing 7% of all publications) and the most prolific author was Eric L. Garland. The vast majority of publications originated from Western countries but representation from Asian countries has increased. The most frequently co-occurring keywords were meditation, depression, stress, and anxiety. Co-citation analysis of the early period (1966-2015) revealed how scholarly work on spiritual themes has inspired early mindfulness research. Recent trends (2016-2021) revealed a rising interest in mechanisms and moderators, long-term meditation, neuroscientific studies, and smartphone/online delivery of interventions.
    Conclusions: This comprehensive bibliometric study summarized and visualized 55 years of mindfulness research, revealing pivotal points, active research areas, and emerging trends.
    Keywords:  Bibliometrics; Co-citation analysis; Mindfulness; Patterns; Trends
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01681-x
  2. Int J Low Extrem Wounds. 2021 Jul 26. 15347346211034388
      The aim of this study was to determine the top-cited articles in the field of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) research. A cross-sectional bibliometric analysis was conducted in January 2021 by using Boolean search terms in the Scopus and the Web of Science databases. The 50 top-cited articles that met the inclusion criteria were ranked and evaluated for several characteristics, including year of publication, country of origin, authorship, publishing journal, topic categories, publishing type, and level of evidence. The median number of citations per article in the list was 442 (interquartile range [IQR], 320-520), with a median of 21.8 citations (IQR, 16.5-34.5) per year since publication. The publication years ranged from 1986 to 2017, with 1998 accounting for the greatest number of studies (n = 7). The citation classics were published in 20 journals and originated from institutions in 9 countries. The majority of the studies were clinical, of which expert opinion/review with Level V evidence and clinical studies with Levels I and II evidence comprised the greater proportion in the list. This study provides useful insights into the history and development of DFU research. The top-cited list may serve as a quick reference for education curriculums and clinical practice, in addition to providing a foundation for further studies on this topic.
    Keywords:  analysis; bibliometric; citation; diabetic foot ulcers; lower extremity wound; top-cited articles
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/15347346211034388
  3. J Pain Res. 2021 ;14 2239-2247
       Purpose: Aging populations and increasing quality of life requirements have attracted growing efforts to study chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP). However, a diverse range of factors are involved in CPSP development, which complicates efforts to predict and treat this disease. To advance research in this field, our study aimed to use bibliometric analysis to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate CPSP research and predict research hot spots over the last 10 years.
    Methods: Relevant publications between 2011 and 2020 were extracted from the Web of Science Core Collection database. CiteSpace software (v5.7.R2) and the Online Analysis Platform of Literature Metrology were used to analyze research attributes including countries and authors, keywords and co-occurrence, and burst detection to predict trends and hot spots.
    Results: A total of 2493 publications were collected with the number of annual publications showing nearly threefold increase over the past decade. Articles were the primary publication type with the United States as the leading country and the center of national collaboration. Johns Hopkins University provided the leading influence within the CPSP field. Postoperative pain, multimodal analgesia, quality of life, opioid, microglia, cesarean delivery, inguinal hernia, chronification, genetic polymorphism, and lidocaine were the top 10 clusters in co-occurrence cluster analysis. Moreover, burst detection was shown that epidural analgesia, nerve injury, total hip arthroplasty were the new hot spots within the CPSP field.
    Conclusion: Bibliometric mapping not only defined the overall structure of CPSP-related research but its collective information provides crucial assistance to direct ongoing research efforts. The prominent keywords including "risk factor" and "multimodal analgesia" indicate that CPSP prevention and new treatment methods remain hot spots. Nonetheless, the recognition that CPSP is complex and changeable, proposes comprehensive biopsychosocial approaches are needed, and these will be essential to improve CPSP interventions and outcomes.
    Keywords:  CiteSpace; bibliometric analysis; burst detection with keywords; chronic postsurgical pain; co-citation analysis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S300744
  4. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2021 Jul 26.
       PURPOSE: The publication activity of 38 German general/visceral surgery university departments, documented by first or last authorship from staff surgeons (chief and consultants), was evaluated.
    METHODS: The observation period extended from 2007 to 2017 and all PubMed-listed publications were considered. Impact factor (IF) was evaluated through the publishing journal's 5-year IF in 2016, as was the IF for each individual publication. Ranking was expressed in quartiles.
    RESULTS: The staff surgeons of the 38 departments comprised 442 surgeons, of which only 351 (79.4%) were active as first or last authors. Four thousand six hundred and ninety-nine publications published in 702 journals were recorded. The four leading departments in publication number published as much as the last 20 departments (1330 vs. 1336 publications, respectively). The mean of the first (most active) department quartile was 19.6 publications, the second 15.4, the third 11.0, and the last quartile 7.6 per publishing surgeon. The total cumulative impact factor was 14,130. When examining the mean number of publications per publishing surgeons per the 10 year period, the mean of the first quartile was 57.9 cumulative IF, the second 45.0, the third 29.5, and the fourth quartile 17.1. With 352 (7.5%) publications, the most frequently used journal was Chirurg, followed by Langenbeck's Archives of Surgery with 274 (5.8%) publications. Pancreas-related topics led in terms of publication number and IF generated per individual publication.
    CONCLUSION: A significant difference in publication performance of individual departments was apparent that cannot be explained by staff number. This indicates that there are as yet unknown factors responsible for minor publication activity in many university departments.
    Keywords:  Abdominal surgery; General surgery; Impact factor; Publication; University
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-021-02241-6
  5. Ann Palliat Med. 2021 Jul 30. pii: apm-21-981. [Epub ahead of print]
       BACKGROUND: Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) has become one of the most common and serious adverse drug reactions owing to its high morbidity and leading cause of hepatic failures, which had attracted great attentions worldwide in the past two decades. A need therefore exists to conduct a bibliometric and visualized analysis of the global research trends on DILI with the aim of identifying the status of current research and prioritize the future research areas.
    METHODS: Publications related to DILI from 1999 to 2019 were extracted through an electronic search of the Web of Science (WoS) and PubMed databases. VOSviewer software was used to perform visualized analysis of bibliographic coupling, co-authorship, co-citation and co-occurrence, and to assess the global trends.
    RESULTS: Totally of 6,563 publications were identified based on the inclusion criteria. It is noted that the global trends of literatures on DILI showed a significant increase over time and more importantly predict the relevant publications will rise continuously in the coming decades. The United States led in terms of publication numbers with the most citations (the highest h-index). Hepatology made great contributions to the highest h-index and the most citations of publications. University of North Carolina was regarded as the most contributive institution. Notably, after conducting co-occurrence and cluster analysis of keywords and citation networks, it is shown that the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and risk factors of this field will become the most prominent research hotspots.
    CONCLUSIONS: The mapping results provides global development trends of publications on DILI from 1999 to 2019. Future studies focused on the diagnosis and predisposing factors of this field will be encouraged.
    Keywords:  Drug-induced liver injury (DILI); bibliometric analysis; global trends; visualized analysis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.21037/apm-21-981
  6. Int Ophthalmol. 2021 Jul 27.
       PURPOSE: To analyze the 100 most cited articles pertaining to endophthalmitis using bibliometric analysis.
    METHODS: An all-time Web of Science literature search and refined to peer-reviewed articles in the field of ophthalmology with the keyword "endophthalmitis" was completed. Total citation count of articles published pertaining to endophthalmitis, topic, incidence rate, publishing journals, year published, language, country of origin, number of authors, names of the first and last authors, study type, and number of patients/eyes studied.
    RESULTS: The top 100 most cited articles pertaining to endophthalmitis had a mean citation count of 362.92, with a range of 175 to 3583. They were published in 20 peer-reviewed journals, with Ophthalmology publishing the most (n = 42). Thirteen different countries were represented, with the majority (n = 77) originating from the USA. The most common study type was clinical experiences (n = 52), though eight of the top ten were clinical trials. The number of patients varied widely, represented by a mean of 9680, but with a median of only 229. The majority (n = 67) examined the incidence of endophthalmitis which included 24 articles after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections, 18 after ocular surgeries/procedures, 15 after intraocular steroid injections, eight after chemotoxic drug use, and three after ocular injuries.
    CONCLUSION: This bibliographic study serves as a unique historical analysis of the top 100 cited scholarly articles pertaining to endophthalmitis with many of the articles related to post-procedural endophthalmitis.
    Keywords:  Bibliographic review; Cataract surgery; Endophthalmitis; Intravitreal injection; Postoperative endophthalmitis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-01967-y
  7. Neural Plast. 2021 ;2021 5594512
       Background: Neuropathic pain has long been a very popular and productive field of clinical research. Neuropathic pain is difficult to cure radically because of its complicated etiology and uncertain pathogenesis. As pain worsens and persists, pain recovery techniques become more important, and medication alone is insufficient. No summary of bibliometric studies on neuropathic pain rehabilitation is yet available. The purpose of the present study is to analyze in a systematic manner the trends of neuropathic pain rehabilitation research over the period of 2000-2019.
    Methods: Studies related to neuropathic pain rehabilitation and published between January 2000 and December 2019 were obtained from the Science Citation Index-Expanded of Web of Science. No restrictions on language, literature type, or species were established. CiteSpace V and Microsoft Excel were used to capture basic information and highlights in the field.
    Results: Linear regression analysis showed that the number of publications on neuropathic pain rehabilitation significantly increased over time (P < 0.001). The United States showed absolute strength in terms of number of papers published, influence, and cooperation with other countries. Based on the subject categories of the Web of Science, "Rehabilitation" had the highest number of published papers (446), the highest number of citations (10,954), and the highest number of open-access papers (151); moreover, this category and "Clinical Neurology" had the same H-index (i.e., 52). "Randomized Controlled Trials" revealed the largest cluster in the cocitation map of references. The latest burst keywords included "Exercise" (2014-2019), "Functional Recovery" (2015-2019), and "Questionnaire" (2015-2019).
    Conclusion: This study provides valuable information for neuropathic pain rehabilitation researchers seeking fresh viewpoints related to collaborators, cooperative institutions, and popular topics in this field. Some new research trends are also highlighted.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5594512
  8. Front Pharmacol. 2021 ;12 717192
      Background: The management of various central nervous system (CNS) disorders has been challenging, due to highly compact blood-brain barrier (BBB) impedes the access of most pharmacological agents to the brain. Among multiple strategies proposed to circumvent this challenge, intranasal delivery route has sparked great interest for brain targeting in the past decades. The aim of this study was to apply scientometric method to estimate the current status and future trends of the field from a holistic perspective. Methods: All relevant publications during 1998-2020 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (SCIE, 1998-present). Two different scientometric software including VOS viewer and CiteSpace, and one online platform were used to conduct co-authorship, co-citation, and co-occurrence analysis of journals, countries, institutes, authors, references and keywords. Results: A total of 2,928 documents, including 2,456 original articles and 472 reviews, were retrieved. Our analysis revealed a significant increasing trend in the total number of scientific publications over the past 2 decades (R 2 = 0.98). The United States dominated the field, reflecting in the largest amount of publications (971), the highest H-index (99), and extensive international collaboration. Jamia Hamdard contributed to most publications. Frey WH and Illum L were key researchers with the highest number of publications and citations, respectively. The International Journal of Pharmaceutics was the most influential academic journal, and Pharmacology/Pharmacy and Neurosciences/Neurology were the hottest research categories in this field. Based on keywords occurrence analysis, four main topics were identified, and the current research focus of this field has shifted from cluster 4 (pathways and mechanisms of intranasal delivery) to cluster 2 (the study of nasal drug delivery systems), especially the nanostructured and nano-sized carrier systems. Keywords burst detection revealed that the research focus on oxidative stress, drug delivery, neuroinflammation, nanostructured lipid carrier, and formulation deserves our continued attention. Conclusion: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first scientometric analysis regarding intranasal delivery research. This study has demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge map, development landscape and future directions of intranasal delivery research, which provides a practical and valuable reference for scholars and policymakers in this field.
    Keywords:  CNS disorders; VOS viewer; blood-brain barrier; citespace; intranasal drug delivery; scientometric
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2021.717192
  9. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2021 Aug;68 102555
       Background: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, access to otolaryngology and head-and-neck surgery was limited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The pandemic has increased the burden on LMIC health systems by causing unanticipated expenses, delayed care, and changes in research activity. We aimed to assess the landscape of global ENT research during the pandemic.
    Materials and methods: The authors developed a search strategy composed of the following keywords: "otolaryngology," "head and neck surgery," and "low- and middle-income countries." Then, they searched eleven citation databases via the Web of Science from January 01, 2020, to May 03, 2021. They imported the result as metadata into VosViewer and ran bibliometric analyses to identify the most influential institutions, countries, and themes.
    Results: During the study period, 3077 articles were published. Two hundred eighty-nine articles (9%) mentioned COVID-19 explicitly. The second most common theme was pediatric ENT (223 articles, 7%). The United States had the most publications [1616 articles, 12,033 citations, and 2986 total link strength (TLS)], followed by China (336 articles, 10,981 citations, and 571 TLS). South Africa, the first African country, was fourth (302 articles, 699 citations, and 908 TLS), while Brazil, the first South American country, was seventh (158 articles, 582 citations, and 376 TLS). The most prolific institution was the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (186 articles, 1110 citations, and 674 TLS).
    Conclusion: COVID-19 was the most common research theme during the pandemic, surpassing pediatric ENT.
    Keywords:  Bibliometrics; COVID-19; Global otolaryngology; Global surgery
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2021.102555
  10. J Craniofac Surg. 2021 Jul 23.
       ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to examine the cited-references in the articles published in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery between 1995 and 2020. On February 20, 2021, all articles published before January 1, 2021, in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery were listed using advanced search in the Web of Science database. The journal's ISSN and e-ISSN numbers were used to perform this search. All information about these articles has been marked and exported to Tab-delimited (Win) format. It was then analyzed with the VOSviewer software. In the Web of Science database, it was investigated that a total of 11,888 articles were published in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery between 1995 and 2020. A total of 137,829 different cited-references were used in these 11,888 articles. The top 15 most cited-references were identified. It was found that the first 3 most cited journals were Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (n: 21,700; 15.74%), Journal of Craniofacial Surgery (n: 12,199; 8.85%), and Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (n: 9383, 6.81%), respectively. As far as we know, the present study is the first study to analyze the cited-references in the field of craniofacial surgery. The authors think that the publications determined in this study are fundamental building blocks for both the field of craniofacial surgery and the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1097/SCS.0000000000008025
  11. Tissue Eng Part B Rev. 2021 Jul 26.
      Dental stem cells (DSCs) are mesenchymal stem-cell-like populations with self-renewal and multidifferentiation potential. These cells have been studied in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Despite rapid progress in the past two decades, there has been no bibliometric analysis of DSC research. Here, we performed a comparative study using bibliometric methods for DSCs. A total of 5498 articles were included. Our results showed that the United States was the leader in international cooperation and numbers of citations, and was the largest contributor. The Journal of Endodontics published the largest number of papers. The author with the greatest contribution was Shi Songtao. The keywords were mainly related to the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Relative research interest and the number of publications increased yearly worldwide. The hotspots of DSC research were transiting from basic research to clinical regenerative medicine.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1089/ten.TEB.2021.0080
  12. Front Public Health. 2021 ;9 654481
      Background: Twitter, representing a big social media network, is broadly used for the communication of health-related information. In this work, we aimed to identify and analyze the scientific literature on Twitter use in context of health by utilizing a bibliometric approach, in order to obtain quantitative information on dominant research topics, trending themes, key publications, scientific institutions, and prolific researchers who contributed to this scientific area. Methods: Web of Science electronic database was searched to identify relevant papers on Twitter and health. Basic bibliographic data was obtained utilizing the "Analyze" function of the database. Full records and cited references were exported to VOSviewer, a dedicated bibliometric software, for further analysis. A term map and a keyword map were synthesized to visualize recurring words within titles, abstracts and keywords. Results: The analysis was based on the data from 2,582 papers. The first papers were published in 2009, and the publication count increased rapidly since 2015. Original articles and reviews were published in a ratio of 10.6:1. The Journal of Medical Internet Research was the top journal, and the United States had contributions to over half (52%) of these publications, being the home-country of eight of the top ten most productive institutions. Keyword analysis identified six topically defined clusters, with professional education in healthcare being the top theme cluster (consisting of 66 keywords). The identified papers often investigated Twitter together with other social media, such as YouTube and Facebook. Conclusions: A great diversity of themes was found in the identified papers, including: professional education in healthcare, big data and sentiment analysis, social marketing and substance use, physical and emotional well-being of young adults, and public health and health communication. Our quantitative analysis outlines Twitter as both, an increasingly popular data source, and a highly versatile tool for health-related research.
    Keywords:  bibliometric; dissemination; health; knowledge exchange; social media; twitter
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.654481
  13. BMJ Open Ophthalmol. 2021 ;6(1): e000823
      The 100 most-cited papers on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) were analysed using a bibliographic study. The bibliographic databases of the Institute for Scientific Information Web of Knowledge were searched, limited to research articles published between 1965 and 2020 in peer-reviewed journals. The papers were ranked in order of number of citations since publication. Five of the top 10 (and 3 of the top 4) papers reported randomised clinical trial results for either anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents or nutritional supplements. Four of the top 10 papers reported genotype-phenotype associations between AMD and variants in Complement Factor H. This bibliographic study provides perspective and insight into many of the most influential contributions in the understanding and management of AMD and its evolution over time.
    Keywords:  degeneration; macula; neovascularisation; retina; treatment lasers
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjophth-2021-000823
  14. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2021 Jul 26.
       BACKGROUND: As rhinology fellowship positions outpace the availability of academic rhinology jobs, it is increasingly important to identify characteristics that are associated with academic placement after fellowship completion. In this study, we evaluated the association of academic characteristics during training with current job placement and posttraining scholarly impact.
    METHODS: Previous rhinology fellows were identified using publicly available data. Bibliometric indices, training institutions, graduate degrees, and job placement data were used in bivariate and multivariable regression analyses to assess for association with predictors and academic trajectory.
    RESULTS: Data from 265 rhinologists, all graduating between 1991 and 2020, were included. Most surgeons (n = 185, 70%) held an academic position and 80 (30%) surgeons worked in a nonacademic setting; 93.2% had a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree and 80.3% were male. Multivariable logistic regression indicated that a designation of MD, compared with Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO; odds ratio [OR], 5.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.97-21.9), number of publications during fellowship (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.02-1.41), and h-index during training (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.07-1.49]) were independently predictive of academic job placement. Meanwhile, number of primary authorships during fellowship (β = 1.47; 95% CI, 1.07-1.88]), h-index during training (β = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.25-0.71), and PhD (β = 4.16; 95% CI, 1.57-6.76) were associated with posttraining h-index. Medical school ranking; graduate degrees, including Master of Science (MS), Master of Business Administration (MBA), and Master of Public Health (MPH); and research metrics before residency were not associated with either academic placement or posttraining h-index.
    CONCLUSION: The predictors of academic job placement in rhinology are unclear, but h-index during training, and research productivity during fellowship may serve as indicators of an academic career.
    Keywords:  bibliometrics; education; fellowships and scholarships; internship and residency; medical; schools; surgeons
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/alr.22873
  15. JACC Case Rep. 2020 Feb;2(2): 333-334
      
    Keywords:  Altmetrics; impact factor; journals; social media
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccas.2020.01.002
  16. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Jul 28. 23(7): e26378
       BACKGROUND: Medical journals use Twitter to engage and disseminate their research articles and implement a range of strategies to maximize reach and impact.
    OBJECTIVE: This study aims to systematically review the literature to synthesize and describe the different Twitter strategies used by medical journals and their effectiveness on journal impact and readership metrics.
    METHODS: A systematic search of the literature before February 2020 in four electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and ScienceDirect) was conducted. Articles were reviewed using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines.
    RESULTS: The search identified 44 original research studies that evaluated Twitter strategies implemented by medical journals and analyzed the relationship between Twitter metrics and alternative and citation-based metrics. The key findings suggest that promoting publications on Twitter improves citation-based and alternative metrics for academic medical journals. Moreover, implementing different Twitter strategies maximizes the amount of attention that publications and journals receive. The four key Twitter strategies implemented by many medical journals are tweeting the title and link of the article, infographics, podcasts, and hosting monthly internet-based journal clubs. Each strategy was successful in promoting the publications. However, different metrics were used to measure success.
    CONCLUSIONS: Four key Twitter strategies are implemented by medical journals: tweeting the title and link of the article, infographics, podcasts, and hosting monthly internet-based journal clubs. In this review, each strategy was successful in promoting publications but used different metrics to measure success. Thus, it is difficult to conclude which strategy is most effective. In addition, the four strategies have different costs and effects on dissemination and readership. We recommend that journals and researchers incorporate a combination of Twitter strategies to maximize research impact and capture audiences with a variety of learning methods.
    Keywords:  Twitter; impact; medical journals; social media
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.2196/26378
  17. Proc ACM/IEEE Joint Conf Digit Libr. 2020 Aug;2020 217-226
      Scientific digital libraries speed dissemination of scientific publications, but also the propagation of invalid or unreliable knowledge. Although many papers with known validity problems are highly cited, no auditing process is currently available to determine whether a citing paper's findings fundamentally depend on invalid or unreliable knowledge. To address this, we introduce a new framework, the keystone framework, designed to identify when and how citing unreliable findings impacts a paper, using argumentation theory and citation context analysis. Through two pilot case studies, we demonstrate how the keystone framework can be applied to knowledge maintenance tasks for digital libraries, including addressing citations of a non-reproducible paper and identifying statements most needing validation in a high-impact paper. We identify roles for librarians, database maintainers, knowledgebase curators, and research software engineers in applying the framework to scientific digital libraries.
    Keywords:  Knowledge maintenance; argument retrieval; argumentation theory; citation; citation contexts; citation of retracted papers; knowledge claims; retraction of research; scientific literature
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1145/3383583.3398514
  18. Mil Med. 2021 Jul 31. pii: usab317. [Epub ahead of print]
       INTRODUCTION: There has been external criticism of the compliance of military health personnel with internationally agreed principles in military medical ethics (MME). In response, a number of authors have called for clarity on the principles and topics within the domain of MME. This complements an increased acknowledgment of the need for education in MME for military health personnel. Our paper utilizes bibliometric techniques to identify key themes in MME to inform the development of a curriculum for this subject.
    MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed a search strategy to find publications over the period January 1, 2000-December 31, 2020 in the domain of MME from the three databases, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, using the search string (ethic* OR bioethics* OR moral*) AND military AND (medic* OR health*). We obtained a total of 1,115 publications after duplication removal. After exclusion based on topic, year, and study design, we analyzed a total of 633 publications using Scopus's embedded analysis tool and the software VOSViewer. We generated a co-occurrence word map from the abstracts of each of the publications. We deduced themes of MME based on the clusters shown in the word map, and we categorized each publication into one of these themes to analyze the change of themes over time.
    RESULTS: We observed a 10-fold increase in annual publications on MME between 2000 and 2020. The majority of papers were written by U.S. (72%) and UK (13%) authors, although a total of 15 countries were represented. After using VOSViewer to identify co-occurring keywords in titles and abstracts from these publications, nine themes were identified: biomedical research, care to detained populations, disaster/triage, mental health, patient-focused foundations, technology, dual loyalty, education/training, and frameworks. The relative proportion of each of these themes changed over the study period, with mental health being dominant by the end.
    CONCLUSIONS: This study has identified key themes that might inform the development of a curriculum for teaching MME. It is noticeable that the majority of themes cover MME from the perspective of professional practice on military operations; noting, the research and technology themes also pertain to the generation of knowledge for military operations. There were a limited number of publications covering practice in the non-deployed or garrison settings, and these were codified under the themes of "framework" and "dual loyalty". The results are skewed toward English-speaking countries and exclude non-academic publications. Further work will search for other open-source information and non-English publications. To our knowledge, this exploratory bibliometric analysis on MME in the academic literature is the first of its kind. This article has demonstrated the use of bibliometric techniques to evaluate the evolution of knowledge in MME, including the identification of key themes. These will be used to support further work to develop a curriculum for the teaching of MME to military medical audiences.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usab317
  19. Nature. 2021 Jul 29.
      
    Keywords:  Careers; Medical research; Publishing
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02102-8
  20. Am J Emerg Med. 2021 Jul 21. pii: S0735-6757(21)00588-X. [Epub ahead of print]50 85-92
       BACKGROUND: Emergency medicine (EM) is a rapidly developing specialty worldwide. The scientific publications trend is one of the parameters to evaluate national EM developmental milestones. This study was performed to analyze the publication trends from emergency departments (EDs) of International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) full member countries from 2009 to 2018.
    METHODS: All data were retrieved from the SciVerse Scopus database. IFEM full member countries where EM was recognized as a specialty before 2009 and annual publication numbers exceeded 12 in 2018 were included. The EM journals list was adopted from the 2017 Journal Citation Reports. Publications with the first author affiliated with EDs were divided into EM or non-EM journal groups according to the publishing journal. The slope (β) of the linear regression was used to assess the trends of publication numbers. The correlation between the 2009 publication number and the trend of publication between 2009 and 2018 was measured by Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). The correlation between funding numbers and publication numbers was analyzed by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rs).
    RESULTS: We identified 30,130 publications with first authors from EDs in 19 countries. The numbers of publications in both EM and non-EM journals showed an increasing trend in 12 countries. Fifteen of the 19 countries had a greater increasing trend in non-EM journals than in EM journals. The 2009 publication numbers were positively correlated with the publication increasing trend between 2009 and 2018 in both EM and non-EM journals (r = 0.854 and 0.947, respectively, both p < 0.001). The funded publication number was positively correlated with the total national publication amount (rs = 0.748, p < 0.001).
    CONCLUSIONS: The research capacity of EDs has been increasingly recognized by other medical specialties. The national publication numbers from EDs may predict the academic publication increasing trends in the subsequent 10 years.
    Keywords:  Emergency department; IFEM; International Federation for Emergency Medicine; Publication
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2021.07.022
  21. BMJ Nutr Prev Health. 2021 ;4(1): 319-332
       Objective: Reviews on the relationship of low-energy sweeteners (LES) with body weight (BW) have reached widely differing conclusions. To assess possible citation bias, citation analysis was used to quantify the relevant characteristics of cited articles, and explore citation patterns in relation to review conclusions.
    Design: A systematic search identified reviews published from January 2010 to March 2020. Different characteristics (for example, type of review or research, journal impact factor, conclusions) were extracted from the reviews and cited articles. Logistic regression was used to estimate likelihood of articles with particular characteristics being cited in reviews. A qualitative network analysis linked reviews sub-grouped by conclusions with the types of articles they cited.
    Main outcome measures: (OR; 95% CI) for likelihood that articles with particular characteristics were cited as evidence in reviews.
    Results: From 33 reviews identified, 183 different articles were cited (including other reviews). Narrative reviews were 62% less likely to be cited than systematic reviews with meta-analysis (OR 0.38; 0.16 to 0.86; p=0.03). Likelihood of being cited was higher for evidence on children than adults (OR 2.27; 1.59 to 3.25; p<0.0001), and with increased journal impact factor (OR 1.15; 1.00 to 1.31; p=0.04). No other factors were statistically significant in the main analysis, and few factors were significant in subgroup analyses. Network analysis showed that reviews concluding a beneficial relationship of LES with BW cited mainly randomised controlled trials, whereas reviews concluding an adverse relationship cited mainly observational studies.
    Conclusions: Overall reference to the available evidence across reviews appears largely arbitrary, making citation bias likely. Differences in the conclusions of individual reviews map onto different types of evidence cited. Overall, inconsistent and selective use of the available evidence may account for the diversity of conclusions in reviews on LES and BW.
    Trial registration number: Prior to data analysis, the protocol was registered with the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/9ghws).
    Keywords:  nutritional treatment; weight management
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000210
  22. J Neuroendocrinol. 2021 Jul 13. e13014
      Our understanding of the oxytocin system has been built over the last 70 years by the work of hundreds of scientists, reported in thousands of papers. Here, we construct a map to that literature, using citation network analysis in conjunction with bibliometrics. The map identifies ten major 'clusters' of papers on oxytocin that differ in their particular research focus and that densely cite papers from the same cluster. We identify highly cited papers within each cluster and in each decade, not because citations are a good indicator of quality, but as a guide to recognising what questions were of wide interest at particular times. The clusters differ in their temporal profiles and bibliometric features; here, we attempt to understand the origins of these differences.
    Keywords:  bibliometrics; history; hypothalamus; neuropeptides
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/jne.13014
  23. J World Fed Orthod. 2021 Jul 21. pii: S2212-4438(21)00030-8. [Epub ahead of print]
       BACKGROUND: Scientific meetings provide a platform for disseminating new research. Abstracts presented at these meetings are frequently published as full-length papers in peer-reviewed journals. The primary aims of this study were to determine the publication rate and time to publication of abstracts presented at the European Orthodontic Society (EOS) and World Federation of Orthodontists (WFO) congresses in 2015. The secondary aim was to identify factors predicting the publication of abstracts.
    METHODS: The congress abstracts were identified from the congress report or organizers. Systematic searches of the PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were performed to identify papers based on the abstracts identified. Abstract titles, first and last authors' last name, and keywords were used to identify whether an abstract resulted in a publication. Abstracts published as full-length articles were then analyzed.
    RESULTS: In total, 208 abstracts were identified, of which 46.6% were published as full-length articles. The median time to publication was 17 months after the EOS congress, and 8.5 months after the WFO congress. Abstracts presented orally were more likely to be published than those presented as posters. Abstracts from Europe were more likely to result in publication. The subject and setting of the study were poor predictors of publication.
    CONCLUSIONS: Less than half of the abstracts presented at the EOS and WFO congresses in 2015 led to full publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The mode of presentation and the region of origin of the research were good predictors of publication.
    Keywords:  Abstract; Mode; Orthodontics; Publication
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejwf.2021.06.002
  24. J Orthop. 2021 Jul-Aug;26:26 107-110
       Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on orthopedic surgery practice, but there has been little investigation of the effects of COVID-19 on the orthopedic surgery literature. Additionally, because orthopedic research plays a vital role in physician education, changes to the characteristics and content of published literature can have lasting impacts on future teaching and learning. This paper represents the first known analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on peer-reviewed articles published in orthopedic surgery journals.
    Methods: The 20 orthopedic journals with the highest impact factors in 2019, according to the Journal Citation Reports, were included in this study. Using PubMed and COVID-19 related keywords as well as manual screening, a final count of 199 articles were assessed for this study and subsequently sorted by country of origin, orthopedic subspecialty, article type, and general theme. Kruskal Wallis and Pearson's Chi-squared tests were used to analyze continuous and categorical variables, respectively.
    Results: Fourteen journals published articles relating to COVID-19, representing 26 countries with the United States (37%) and United Kingdom (13%) publishing the greatest proportion of all COVID-19 articles. Sixty percent of publications discussed COVID-19's impact on the overall field of orthopedic surgery, with the remainder focusing on specific subspecialties. Forty-seven percent of publications were original research articles while 46% were editorials or commentaries. The median time to publication for all COVID-19 related articles was 24.5 days, compared to the 129 days reported for orthopedic journals prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (p < 0.001). In the first 100 articles published, 49% (n = 49) originated exclusively from United States institutions, whereas only 25% (n = 25) of the next ninety-nine articles had US-only institutions (p < 0.001).
    Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the characteristics, content, and time to publication of the orthopedic surgery literature. The data and ideas presented in this paper should help streamline future, formal analysis on the lasting implications of COVID-19 on orthopedic surgery practice, teaching, and learning.
    Keywords:  Bibliometric; COVID-19; Orthopedic surgery literature; Pandemic
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jor.2021.07.016
  25. Front Oncol. 2021 ;11 634913
       Background: Heavy ion radiotherapy (HIRT) has great advantages as tumor radiotherapy.
    Methods: Based on 1,558 literatures from core collections of Web of Science from 1980 to 2020, this study visually analyzes the evolution of HIRT research, and sorts out the hotspots and trends of HIRT research using CiteSpace software.
    Results: Research on HIRT has received more extensive attention over the last 40 years. The development of HIRT is not only closely related to radiation and oncology, but also closely related to the development of human society. In terms of citation frequency, "International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics" was the top journal. In terms of influence, "Radiotherapy and Oncology" was the top journal. "Radiation therapy" and "carbon ion radiotherapy" were the two most frequently used keywords in this field.
    Conclusion: The evolution of the HIRT research has occurred in approximately three stages, including technological exploration, safety and effectiveness research and technological breakthroughs. Finally, some suggestions for future research are put forward.
    Keywords:  Citespace; cancer; heavy ion radiotherapy; radiation; visualization research
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2021.634913
  26. World J Tradit Chin Med. 2020 ;6(2): 163-170
      The objectives of this study are to conduct a comprehensive literature search and bibliometric analysis to identify the breadth and volume of pharmacological and clinical studies on pine pollen (Pinus pollen) and to identify the potential effects and the use of pine pollen. Three Chinese electronic databases and two English electronic databases were searched for pharmacological and clinical studies on pine pollen. Data were extracted and analyzed and included publication year, authors, study type, pharmacological research topics or clinical diseases/conditions, usage and type of preparation, authors' conclusions, and adverse effects. Of 239 publications identified, 180 were pharmacological studies, 37 were clinical trials, and 22 were reviews. Numbers of publications increased particularly from 2004 onward. The top 10 most frequent topics in pharmacological studies were immune regulation, antisenility, antioxidation, liver protection, inhibiting prostate hyperplasia, inhibiting tumor cell proliferation, lowering blood glucose, lowering blood lipids, antifatigue, and improving intestinal function. The top 10 most frequent clinical diseases treated or where pine pollen was used as an adjuvant were bedsores, diaper dermatitis, hyperlipidemia, oral mucositis, eczema, hyperplasia of prostate, hypertension, prostatitis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and radiodermatitis. Eight trials reported no adverse events associated with pine pollen, one reported mild gastrointestinal reactions, but symptoms disappeared without special management. There have been an increasing number of publications on pine pollen during the past 20 years. Pharmacological studies have shown many potential benefits, and clinical studies have indicated some positive effects when it is either used as a single herb or as an adjuvant to treat disease. Its use as a topical agent, especially for skin diseases, was notable.
    Keywords:  Bibliometric analysis; Chinese herbal medicine; Pinus pollen; pine pollen; skin disease
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.4103/wjtcm.wjtcm_4_20
  27. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 08;69(8): 2202-2210
       Purpose: To analyze the trend of COVID-19-related publications in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO) and assess the specialty wise correlation, distribution, and citation trend during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Methods: A retrospective analysis of all COVID-19-related articles was performed from April 2020 to May 2021. The bibliographic records were obtained from the website of IJO, Editor IJO email, and PubMed. The data was then exported as XML into Microsoft access for scientometric analysis. The articles were segregated as Original, Review, Case Report/Series, Letter to the Editor/Commentary, Guest Editorial, PointCounterpoint, Consensus Criteria, Ophthalmic Images, Photo Essay, Surgical Techniques, and All India Ophthalmic Society Meeting Papers. The data was comprehensively analyzed for specialty-wise correlations, distribution, citation trend, and reasons for the same.
    Results: A total of 231 COVID-19-related articles were published during the study period. The maximum articles were [82 (35.49%)] letters to the editor, followed by [51 (22.08%)] original articles, [30 (12.99%)] commentaries, and [20 (8.66%)] editorials. The least were perspectives, consensus, images, and photo assay with [1 (0.43%)] each. The maximum publications were in July [44 (19.05%)] and least in April [1 (0.43%)]. Considering specialty, the maximum articles were related to general ophthalmology [124 (53.68%)] and least were in refractive surgery and community ophthalmology with [1 (0.43%)] each. The maximum citations were for original articles [352 (34.65%)], which was 2.3 times higher than review articles and letters to editor [150 (14.76%)]. General ophthalmology had 740 (72.83%) citations, which were nearly five times that of cornea [140 (13.78%)].
    Conclusion: The IJO showed a trough and crest pattern of COVID-19 publications month wise. Letter to editor and general ophthalmology COVID-19 articles had maximum publications with maximum citations for general ophthalmology owing to practice patterns and COVID-19 challenges.
    Keywords:  COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; Citation trend; Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO); scientometric analysis
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.4103/ijo.IJO_829_21
  28. Cureus. 2021 Jun;13(6): e15879
       OBJECTIVES: To determine the level of evidence in dermatology research over the last five years and to assess the frequency of publication in different journals in the field of dermatology in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, western region.
    METHODS: All published research were reviewed during the period of 2015 till 2020 using online research database through PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar. A list of all Saudi dermatologists who are registered by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties as consultants, and who worked in public institutions at Jeddah and Makkah was retrieved. The Oxford Level of Evidence Scale was utilized to determine the level of evidence of these studies. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the frequency of different study types and levels of evidence.
    RESULTS: A total of 125 articles were published in 62 different national and international journals. Majority of the published studies were level IV (76%). Case reports were the most common type of published research (56%) and meta-analysis studies accounted for (6.4%). Thirty-two articles were produced by academic institutions, compared to 68 published articles from governmental institutions, and 22 from military hospitals.
    CONCLUSION: Only a small percentage of publications in Saudi Arabia are considered high level clinical research. The number of publications during the past five years was high compared to the previous years and case reports constituted the majority. Authors should be encouraged to conduct higher-level studies to enhance patient care.
    Keywords:  clinical research; evidence-based medicine; level of evidence; research in dermatology; research in saudi arabia
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.15879
  29. J Patient Cent Res Rev. 2021 ;8(3): 248-254
       Purpose: Detrimental effects of using non-patient-centered language (nPCL) have been reported for diabetes, mental illness, and obesity, and both the American Medical Association (AMA) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommend using patient-centered language in medical literature. Heart failure is a common yet stigmatized disease, and nPCL may further propagate stigma. This study analyzed current use of nPCL in journals focused on heart failure research and also examined whether the journals steer authors to adhere to AMA or ICMJE guidelines regarding nPCL.
    Methods: Following systematic search of PubMed for heart failure-related articles published from May 1, 2018, to April 30, 2020, cross-sectional analysis was performed. Each selected article was inspected for an array of nPCL terms and frequency of nPCL usage. Chi-squared tests and multivariable logistic regressions were used to assess relationships between study characteristics and nPCL use.
    Results: Of the 195 articles fully analyzed, 108 (55.4%) contained a nPCL term, the most frequently used being "heart failure patient" (78.7%), "burden" (23.1%), and "suffer" (15.7%). Use of nPCL was disproportionately more common in original research articles (63.5%) and less common in case reports (18.2%). Articles that did not detail any treatment or intervention used the most nPCL (71.1%). No statistically significant association was found between a journal's impact factor and its adherence to AMA or ICMJE recommendations.
    Conclusions: nPCL is widely used in publications reporting on heart failure. We encourage authors and journals to reduce nPCL to help decrease the stigma patients with this disease often encounter.
    Keywords:  health research; heart failure; patient-centered language; publishing; stigma
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.17294/2330-0698.1821
  30. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2021 Jul 30.
       OBJECTIVE: Previous research indicated that the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors guidelines of prospective trial registration with clearly identified primary and secondary outcome measures are only adhered to in 14.4% of studies published in the top five psychiatry journals between 1 January 2009 and 31 July 2013. This study examined if adherence has improved.
    METHODS: The registration information, article information, primary outcome measures (POMs), participant numbers, and funding source were extracted from studies published in the same five psychiatry journals between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2019. Discrepancies between POMs in the articles and registry were tracked.
    RESULTS: Of the 7268 publications, 268 studies required registration. Three (1.1%) were unregistered, 107 (39.9%) were retrospectively registered, and 158 ( 58.9%) were prospectively registered. Of the 158 prospectively registered studies, 16 (10.1%) had unclear POMs in the article or registration, 22 (13.9%) had discrepancies between registered and published POMs, and 33 (20.9%) had no POM discrepancies but had retrospectively updated POMs in the registry. Of the 22 studies with discrepancies, nine (40.9%) were determined to favour statistically significant results. Overall, 87 (32.5%) of the 268 studies were prospectively registered with no discrepancies between registered and published POMs and no changes to registered POMs or timeframes.
    CONCLUSION: Although this rate of one third of published articles fully adhering to the guidelines is an improvement compared to previous research, further efforts still need to be made by both authors and journals to ensure full transparency in the reporting of studies in psychiatry.
    Keywords:  outcome assessment; psychiatry; publications; registration
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13353
  31. Laryngoscope. 2021 Jul 28.
       OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To identify the most influential publications in laryngology since 2000.
    STUDY DESIGN: Modified Delphi process.
    METHODS: Samples of laryngologists drawn from editors of leading journals, organization officers, and thought leaders were invited to participate in a modified Delphi identification of influential laryngology papers. Influential was defined as follows: yielding meaningful practice changes, catalyzing further work as a foundation for an important topic, altering traditional views, or demonstrating durability over time. Quality and validity were not among the selection criteria. Each participant nominated 5 to 10 papers in Round 1. These nominations, augmented with papers from bibliometric analysis, were narrowed further in Round 2 as participants identified their top 20. The 40 papers with the most Round 2 votes were discussed by video conference and then subjected to Round 3 voting, with each participant again selecting their top 20 most influential papers. Final results were collated by the number of Round 3 votes.
    RESULTS: Sixteen of 18 invited laryngologists participated overall (all 16 in Rounds 1 and 3; 14 in Round 2). Twenty-one papers were identified as most influential. One paper appeared on all 16 Round 3 lists; three papers with eight (50%) votes each were lasted to make the list. Eleven of these 21 focused on voice; three each related to cancer, airway, and swallowing; and one encompassed all of these clinical areas.
    CONCLUSIONS: This list of 21 influential laryngology papers serves to focus further research, provides perspective on recent advances within the field, and is an educational resource for trainees and practicing physicians.
    LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A Laryngoscope, 2021.
    Keywords:  Delphi technique; Laryngology; influential; otolaryngology; publications
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/lary.29781
  32. BMJ Open. 2021 Jul 29. 11(7): e052446
       OBJECTIVE: Extensive research and important discoveries on the microbiome have led to a growth in media coverage. This study explores how the microbiome has been portrayed in press sources popular among American and Canadian audiences.
    DESIGN: Content analysis.
    METHODS: Using the FACTIVA Database, we compiled a finalised data set of (N=830) articles from press sources popular among American and Canadian audiences which were published between 1 January 2018 and 11 October 2019 and which contained at least one of the following search terms: 'microbiome', 'microbiota', 'gut health', 'healthy gut', 'unhealthy gut', 'gut bacteria', 'probiotic' or 'probiotics.' We performed content analysis on the articles to determine how often ideas of the microbiome were presented as beneficial, in which health contexts, and whether actions could be taken to reap stated benefits. We compared this portrayal of benefits with critical portrayals of the microbiome.
    RESULTS: Almost all of the articles (94%) described health benefits associated with the microbiome with many (79%) describing actions which could be taken to reap stated benefits. Articles most often described health benefits in more broad, general context (34%) and most commonly outlined actions related to food/drug (45%) as well as probiotic (27%) intake. Only some articles (19%) provided microbiome-related critiques or limitations. Some of the articles (22%) were focused on highlighting specific research developments, and in these articles, critiques or limitations were more common.
    CONCLUSIONS: Articles discussing the microbiome published for American and Canadian audiences typically hype the microbiome's impact and popularise gut health trends while only offering a little in the way of communicating microbiome science. Lifestyle choices including nutrition, taking probiotics, stress management and exercise are often promoted as means of reaping the microbiome-related health benefits. The trend of actionable 'gut health' is foregrounded over more evidence-based descriptions of microbiome science.
    Keywords:  microbiology; public health; qualitative research
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052446
  33. PLoS Biol. 2021 Jul;19(7): e3001313
      Methods for data analysis in the biomedical, life, and social (BLS) sciences are developing at a rapid pace. At the same time, there is increasing concern that education in quantitative methods is failing to adequately prepare students for contemporary research. These trends have led to calls for educational reform to undergraduate and graduate quantitative research method curricula. We argue that such reform should be based on data-driven insights into within- and cross-disciplinary use of analytic methods. Our survey of peer-reviewed literature analyzed approximately 1.3 million openly available research articles to monitor the cross-disciplinary mentions of analytic methods in the past decade. We applied data-driven text mining analyses to the "Methods" and "Results" sections of a large subset of this corpus to identify trends in analytic method mentions shared across disciplines, as well as those unique to each discipline. We found that the t test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), linear regression, chi-squared test, and other classical statistical methods have been and remain the most mentioned analytic methods in biomedical, life science, and social science research articles. However, mentions of these methods have declined as a percentage of the published literature between 2009 and 2020. On the other hand, multivariate statistical and machine learning approaches, such as artificial neural networks (ANNs), have seen a significant increase in the total share of scientific publications. We also found unique groupings of analytic methods associated with each BLS science discipline, such as the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) in psychology, survival models in oncology, and manifold learning in ecology. We discuss the implications of these findings for education in statistics and research methods, as well as within- and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001313
  34. J Vasc Surg. 2021 Jul 26. pii: S0741-5214(21)01697-9. [Epub ahead of print]
       OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized a potential gender disparity within a regional society like the Southern Association of Vascular Surgery (SAVS) when compared to vascular surgery demographics in the region. To assess this, we analyzed meeting and membership participation at SAVS compared to regional data from the Society of Vascular Surgery (SVS) as well as Board certification in Vascular Surgery published by the American Board of Surgery (ABS).
    METHODS: The published programs from the SAVS Annual Meeting from 2012 to 2019 were analyzed for membership, presenter gender, type, topic, discussant gender, moderator gender, post graduate course presenter gender, as well as manuscript publication demographics. The ABS was petitioned and yearly Vascular Surgery diplomate (ABS-VS) gender from member states of the SAVS was examined for the same period. Fisher's Exact students t-test and Analysis of Covariance were utilized.
    RESULTS: There were 257 total presentations (184 podium, 71.6%; 73 poster, 28.4%). 61.4% (n=43) of presentations by females were podium presentations, compared to 75.4% (n=141) for males (p=0.03). Females were less likely to be published when compared to their male counterparts (41.8% vs. 58.7%, p=0.02). Percentage of female gendered presenters statistically increased over the time period examined compared to a decrease in male presenters (R2 = 0.61, m=1.27 vs. R2 = 0.08, m=-0.35, p=0.02). Females presenters had a female discussant 10.5% of the time compared to male presenters who had a male discussant 95.1% of the time (p<0.0001). Females comprised 3.8 ± 1.1% of SAVS yearly membership compared to 12.0 ± 4.6% ABS-VS diplomates among SAVS member states (p<0.0001). SAVS female membership significantly lagged behind the increase in ABS-VS female diplomate rate (p=0.001). Only 39.1% of SAVS members were cross listed in SVS membership rolls, with a total of 464 potential SAVS members, 11.2% or 52 of which are female.
    CONCLUSIONS: We found that female presenters at the SAVS annual meeting were less likely to be podium presenters, interface with other female discussants and publish manuscripts when compared to their male counterparts. Statistically, female members were underrepresented within the SAVS membership rolls when compared to known boarded female vascular surgeons among southern member states. This gender gap highlights a unique opportunity to enhance and potentially increase mentorship opportunities for female trainees who are presenting and/or attending this regional vascular surgery meeting.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2021.07.129
  35. Am J Emerg Med. 2021 Jul 04. pii: S0735-6757(21)00540-4. [Epub ahead of print]
      
    Keywords:  COVID-19; Gender; Journal authors; Publication
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2021.06.055
  36. Blood Adv. 2021 Jul 27. 5(14): 2919-2924
      The American Society of Hematology Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI) is a mentored training program for hematology fellows and junior faculty. Our objective was to determine whether the self-reported impact of CRTI on research retention, career development, and connectedness to hematology investigators was associated with academic success. A survey was distributed in January 2020 to alumni who participated in the program from 2003 to 2019. It focused on the impact of CRTI on retention in research, facilitation of career development, understanding of requirements to succeed, and feelings of connectedness to investigators. These questions were scored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Outcomes were grants, publications, and invited lectures; these were abstracted from a submitted curriculum vitae. Of 334 eligible alumni, 321 responded (response rate of 96.1%). Of these, 250 (77.9%) agreed that CRTI was instrumental to research retention, 268 (83.5%) agreed that CRTI facilitated career development, 296 (92.2%) agreed that CRTI allowed a better understanding of requirements to succeed in research, and 289 (90.0%) agreed that CRTI increased connectedness to hematology investigators. Those who agreed with these CRTI impacts had significantly more first-author publications. Those who agreed that CRTI was instrumental to retention, facilitated career development, and increased connectedness had significantly more protected time for research. Self-reported perception that CRTI had an impact on research retention, career development, and connectedness to hematology investigators was significantly associated with more publications and percent effort in research. Clinical research training programs should identify and implement approaches to enhance these characteristics.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2021004421
  37. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2021 Jul 24.
       Importance: The number of female speakers at American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) conferences should ideally be consistent with the number of women entering head and neck surgery fellowships to ensure gender equity in the field. Yet the presence of women speakers at the annual AHNS meetings, which is specific to the field of head and neck cancer, endocrine and microvascular reconstructive surgery, has yet to be studied.
    Objective: To determine whether the proportion of female speakers at the AHNS has increased in a manner consistent with the numbers of women entering fellowships since 2007.
    Design, Setting, and Participants: This qualitative study assessed 13 final meeting programs from AHNS national/international conferences from 2007 to 2019. The number of male and female participants in different roles throughout the meeting were retrospectively tracked. Participants were male and female speakers at AHNS national/international conferences who took part in the roles of scientific session presenter, scientific session moderator, expert panelist, miscellaneous moderator, and named lecturers/keynote speaker. Gender of the speaker was determined by searching names on the internet and using available published pronouns.
    Main Outcomes and Measures: Number of speaking opportunities for men and women in different roles from 2007 to 2019 as well as number of men and women entering AHNS fellowships since 2007 and new active AHNS members since 2012.
    Results: In this qualitative study, from 2007 to 2019, 4059 speakers were identified. Of these speakers, 902 (22%) were women and 3157 (78%) were men. Overall, there was a strong correlation between increasing years and number of women speakers from 2007 to 2019 (ρ = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.72-0.78). There were 2096 invited speaking roles that excluded research presentations, of which 400 were offered to female participants (19.1%) across the study period. There were 131 different women that made up all 400 of the opportunities that were offered to women in the years surveyed. There was a strong correlation in the proportion of women as presenters for oral abstracts, expert panelists, and miscellaneous moderators between the years but no correlation in scientific session moderators and named lecturers/keynote speakers. Of the 45 named lecturers/keynote speakers in the programs tracked, only 2 were women.
    Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, from 2007 to 2019, the presence of women at ANHS has increased overall, reflecting the changing demographic characteristics of those entering in head and neck oncology and microvascular surgery fellowships. However, a strong disparity continues to exist for preeminent speaking opportunities.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2021.1743
  38. Am J Surg. 2021 Jul 22. pii: S0002-9610(21)00403-7. [Epub ahead of print]
      We aimed to analyze the representativeness of women surgeons in academic and leadership positions in Brazil. We investigated women representativeness across surgical departments of 25 Brazilian universities (2020); across boards of 10 Brazilian surgical societies (2020), and, as speakers, in 281 surgical events (Jan-2014 to Dec-2020). From 383 individuals in university departments, 43 (11.2 %) were women (p < 0.001). Only three universities had women as department chairs. From 163 positions in surgical societies, only 14 positions (8.6 %) were held by women (p < 0.001). The underrepresentation is worse in prestigious positions (presidency and vice-presidency), in which only 1 (5 %) were women. In 281 surgical events, there were 6686 speakers, of which only 886 (13.3 %) of these were women (p < 0.001). Further studies are needed to elucidate the possible causes for the gender gap in these scenarios in Brazil, so as to implement effective strategies to improve gender representativeness in surgery in the country.
    Keywords:  Disparity; Gender; Leadership; Surgery; Women
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.07.023
  39. J Vasc Surg. 2021 Aug;pii: S0741-5214(21)00653-4. [Epub ahead of print]74(2S): 15S-20S
       OBJECTIVE: Medical schools and surgical residencies have seen an increase in the proportion of female matriculants, with 30% of current vascular surgery trainees being women over the past decade. There is widespread focus on increasing diversity in medicine and surgery in an effort to provide optimal quality of patient care and the advancement of science. The presence of gender diversity and opportunities to identify with women in leadership positions positively correlates with women choosing to enter traditionally male-dominated fields. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the representation of women in regional and national vascular surgical societies over the last 20 years.
    METHODS: A retrospective review of the meeting programs of vascular surgery societies was performed. Data were collected on abstract presenters, moderators, committee members and chairs, and officers (president, president-elect, vice president, secretary, and treasurer). The data were divided into early (1999-2009) and late (2010-2019) time periods.
    RESULTS: Five regional and five national societies' data were analyzed, including 139 meetings. The mean percentage of female abstract presenters increased significantly from 10.9% in the early period to 20.6% in the late period (P < .001). Female senior authors increased slightly from 8.7% to 11.5%, but this change was not statistically significant (P = .22). Female meeting moderators increased significantly from 7.8% to 17.2% (P < .001), as well as female committee members increased from 10.9% to 20.3% (P = .003). Female committee chairs increased slightly from 10.9% to 16.9%, but this difference was not statistically significant (P = .13). Female society officers increased considerably from 6.4% to 14.8%. (P = .002). Significant variation was noted between societies, with five societies (three regional and two national) having less than 10% women at the officer level in 2019. There was a wide variation noted between societies in the percentage of female abstract presenters (range, 7.6%-34.9%), senior authors (3.9%-17.9%), and meeting moderators (5.4%-40.7%).
    CONCLUSIONS: Over the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in the representation of women in vascular surgery societies among those presenting scientific work, serving as meeting moderators, and serving as committee members. However, the representation of women among committee chairs, senior authors, and society leadership has not kept up pace with the increase noted at other levels. Efforts to recruit women into the field of vascular surgery as well as to support the professional development of female vascular surgeons are facilitated by the presence of women in leadership roles. Increasing the representation of women in vascular society leadership positions may be a key strategy in promoting gender diversity in the vascular surgery field.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2021.03.056
  40. Cancer Causes Control. 2021 Jul 27.
       PURPOSE: To analyze communication-focused grants funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) between fiscal years 2013 and 2019 to provide insight into the characteristics of funded projects and identify promising areas for future research.
    METHODS: iSearch, a portfolio analysis tool, was queried to identify communication-related grants funded by NCI. Abstracts and specific aims were coded for key study characteristics. 344 unique competing grants with a substantial communication component were included in the final analysis. SAS version 9.4 was used to calculate code frequencies.
    RESULTS: Most communication grants focused on cancer prevention (n = 197), with fewer targeting diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, or end-of-life. Tobacco product use was the most frequently addressed topic (n = 128). Most grants targeted or measured outcomes at the individual (n = 332) or interpersonal level (n = 127). Cancer patients/survivors (n = 101) and healthcare providers (n = 63) were often the population of focus, while caregivers or those at increased risk for cancer received less attention. Studies were often based in healthcare settings (n = 125); few studies were based in schools or worksites. Many grants employed randomized controlled trials (n = 168), but more novel methods, like optimization trials, were uncommon.
    CONCLUSION: NCI's support of health communication research covers a diverse array of topics, populations, and methods. However, the current analysis also points to several promising opportunities for future research, including efforts focused on communication at later stages of the cancer control continuum and at multiple levels of influence, as well as studies that take advantage of a greater diversity of settings and leverage novel methodological approaches.
    Keywords:  Cancer control; Health communication; National Cancer Institute; Portfolio analysis; Research funding
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-021-01481-7