Geographic Trends in Publications and Submissions in Radiology Journals: Decade Report (2010 - 2020)

The Radiology Research Alliance (RRA) of the Association of University Radiologists (AUR) organized a task force to quantify geographic changes in submissions to and publications within radiology journals over time.

Twenty journals were selected: 7 US-based general, 4 European-based general, and 9 subspecialty radiology journals. Journals were solicited for submissions and publications based on country of origin from 2010 -2020. Regression models assessed changes over time across countries, and by continent, with an emphasis on the US and China, for each journal category.

There were 104,679 publications and 92,446 submissions from 149 countries. Overall, there were significant increases in numbers of publications from Asia (R² = 0.66, p <0.01), and specifically, China (R² = 0.87, p <0.01). For US journals, there were increased numbers of publications from Asia (R² = 0.72, p <0.01) and China (R² = 0.98, p <0.01), but decreased numbers from North America (R² = 0.41, p = 0.03). For European journals, there were increased numbers of publications from Asia (R² = 0.79, p <0.01), North America (R² = 0.75, p <0.01), and China (R² = 0.82, p <0.01). For subspecialty journals, there were increased numbers of publications from North America (R² = 0.38, p = 0.04) and China (R² = 0.73, p <0.01). There was an acute COVID spike in submissions during 2020, with a continuous increase most notable in China (R² = 0.96, p <0.01).

In the last decade, the numbers of submissions to and publications within general and subspecialty US and European radiology journals have generally increased around the world, with the largest growth in Asia and in particular China.