Surgical research publication in a selection of research and surgical specialty journals

A prior study revealed a paucity of surgical research in the 5 top-rated general surgery journals for 1998. The hypothesis of the current study was that a large amount of surgical research was published in other journals.

In all, 15 research journals and 9 surgery specialty journals were reviewed for basic research, funded clinical studies, randomized clinical trials, and drug trials. The funding sources and the surgeon's role were recorded. The findings were compared with research published in the previously studied 5 journals in 1998 and 2005.

Of 6,016 papers in the research and surgery specialty journals, 19% were research, of which 76% were basic research. Funding from 1,101 sources was provided to 825 studies (70%). Seventy-four percent of funded studies were basic research. Government was the source for 46% of grants, private for 41%, and industry for 13%. A surgeon was the sole or senior author in 72% of studies. A total of 1,172 research articles were published in the research and surgery specialty journals in 1998. In comparison, 369 research papers were published in the general surgery journals in 1998 and 306 papers were published in 2005. With respect to the type of research, there were 896 basic research papers in the research and specialty journals in 1998, 200 such papers in the general surgery journals in 1998, and 164 in 2005. There were 87 randomized trials in the research and the surgery specialty journals in 1998, 46 such papers in the general surgery journals in 1998, and 29 in 2005.

A 3-fold greater volume of surgical research and more than a 4-fold greater volume of basic research was found in the research and the surgical specialty journals than in the general surgical journals in 1998, and this margin is increased when compared with the data for 2005. Consideration of only the general surgical journals greatly underestimates the surgical research being conducted.