Using social media to disseminate hand surgery research boosts long-term citations

Area of Science:

• Bibliometrics and Altmetrics
• Scientific Communication
• Digital Scholarship

Background:

• Social media (SoMe) is increasingly utilized for research promotion and dissemination.
• While classic bibliometrics measure long-term impact (e.g., citations), altmetrics offer real-time insights into research reach and engagement across platforms.
• The long-term impact of SoMe promotion on research citations remains under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the long-term association between social media mentions and citation rates in hand surgery literature.
• To quantify the impact of SoMe activity on academic citations six years post-publication.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study analyzed 624 hand surgery articles published in 2017 across six journals.
• Altmetrics and citation data were collected six years post-publication using Altmetric Explorer.
• Negative binomial regression estimated the relationship between SoMe mentions and citation counts, reporting incident rate ratios with 95% confidence intervals.

Main Results:

• Social media mentions in 2017 were independently associated with a 2% increase in citation rate six years later (CI 1-3%).
• Evidence synthesis studies received significantly more citations (p < 0.001).
• Articles in the Journal of Hand Surgery showed higher citation counts compared to other hand surgery journals (p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• Utilizing social media for promoting hand surgery literature is linked to sustained, long-term citation advantages.
• This study underscores the value of social media in enhancing research visibility and impact.
• Further research into social media's influence on bibliometrics is crucial for adapting to digital trends in academia.