Research Promotion Is Associated with Broader Influence and Higher Impact of Plastic Surgery Publications

Social media have altered the mechanisms by which published research is disseminated and accessed. The objective of this study was to measure the effect of promotion on research article dissemination, influence, and impact in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery .

All articles published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2018, were obtained and reviewed to determine inclusion/exclusion and for the Altmetric Attention Score, citations, relative citation rate, and 16 unique promotional tags (e.g., journal club, editor's pick, press release, patient safety, and so on) as indexed on the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery website. The analysis included 1502 articles. Statistical analysis was completed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and t tests where appropriate with a predetermined level of significance of p ≤ 0.05.

A total of 637 articles (42.4 percent) had a promotional tag, whereas 252 (16.8 percent) had multiple tags. Articles with promotional tags had a higher Altmetric Attention Score (30.35 versus 8.22; p < 0.001), more citations (11.96 versus 8.47; p < 0.001), and a higher relative citation rate (2.97 versus 2.06; p < 0.001) compared to articles without a tag. Articles with multiple tags had a higher Altmetric Attention Score (50.17 versus 17.39; p < 0.001), more citations (15.78 versus 9.47; p < 0.001), and a higher relative citation rate (3.67 versus 2.51; p < 0.001) compared to articles with only one tag. As the number of tags increased for an article, Altmetric Attention Score ( p < 0.001), citation count ( p < 0.001), and relative citation rate ( p < 0.001) likewise increased.

This analysis strongly suggests that promotion of research articles is associated with significantly wider dissemination, broader visibility, and more subsequent citations in the literature.