Increasing Utilization and Cost of Open Access Publishing in Plastic Surgery

Open access publishing models are common in plastic surgery. We aim to quantify the financial investment required to support open access publishing for plastic surgery students during both medical school and residency training.

Peer-reviewed PubMed journal articles from plastic and reconstructive surgery-related journals published by current PGY-2 through PGY-6 integrated plastic surgery residents were divided into publications during medical school and publications during. Article-processing charges (APCs) for analyzed articles were collected online. Subgroup analyses by institutional NIH funding were conducted.

A total of 2904 unique publications published by 606 PGY-2-PGY-6 integrated plastic surgery residents during medical school and 1109 publications from 245 PGY-5 and PGY-6 residents during residency were extracted. For medical school publications, each individual had a median (interquartile range [IQR]) of 4 (2-7) publications; 20.4% of their publications had a mandatory APC with a mean (SD) APC of $2140 (727) per project. The percent APC increased over time (correlation = 0.09). For residency publications, each student had a median (IQR) of 3 (2-7) publications; 23.6% of each resident's publications required an APC, with an average APC of $2140 ± $765 (mean ± SD) per project. Publications affiliated with a top 25 NIH-funded medical institution had a lower rate of open access publishing with an APC (17.8% vs 22.9%) but higher average impact factor (1.86 vs 2.03).

Students publishing in plastic surgery journals require financial investment for open access fees. Institutions should ensure that they have adequate resources to support trainee publishing.