Publication Rates Vary Across Orthopaedic Subspecialties: A Longitudinal Analysis of AAOS Abstracts

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Academic Research
• Publication Trends

Background:

• Research dissemination through national meetings and publications is crucial for orthopaedic surgeons.
• Academic pressures and research landscapes vary significantly across orthopaedic subspecialties.
• Understanding these differences is key to advancing academic careers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify differences in research publication rates across orthopaedic subspecialties.
• To analyze the factors influencing the likelihood of abstract publication.
• To assess the impact of subspecialty on journal impact factor and time to publication.

Main Methods:

• Review of 1805 abstracts from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meetings (2016-2017).
• Categorization of abstracts by subspecialty and identification of subsequent publications via PubMed and Google Scholar.
• Multivariate binary logistic regression to determine predictors of publication.

Main Results:

• Overall publication rate was 71.6%, with significant variations across subspecialties (p<0.001).
• Sports Medicine demonstrated the highest publication rate (83.2%) and impact factor (3.98).
• Hand and Wrist had the lowest publication rate (53.3%) and impact factor (1.41). International authorship decreased publication likelihood (OR: 0.75), while basic science increased it (OR: 1.52).

Conclusions:

• Significant disparities exist in publication rates and journal impact factors among orthopaedic subspecialties.
• Sports Medicine research appears to have a higher propensity for timely publication in high-impact journals.
• Awareness of these publication dynamics is essential for orthopaedic researchers to navigate academic advancement effectively.