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Increasing Utilization and Cost of Open Access Publishing in Plastic Surgery
Jason Zhang1, Taylor G Hallman, Christian N Arcelona
1From the Division of Plastic Surgery, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, Chicago, IL.
Annals of Plastic Surgery
|December 26, 2025
Summary
Plastic surgery trainees incur significant open access fees for publications. Institutions must provide financial support for medical students and residents to cover these article-processing charges (APCs).
Area of Science:
- Plastic Surgery
- Academic Publishing
- Medical Education
Background:
- Open access publishing is prevalent in plastic surgery.
- Understanding the financial burden on trainees is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the financial investment for open access publishing among plastic surgery students.
- To assess costs during medical school and residency training.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed peer-reviewed articles by integrated plastic surgery residents (PGY-2 to PGY-6).
- Collected article-processing charges (APCs) for publications during medical school and residency.
- Conducted subgroup analyses based on institutional National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.
Main Results:
- 20.4% of medical school publications and 23.6% of residency publications incurred APCs.
- Average APC was approximately $2140 per project for both training periods.
- Institutions with top NIH funding showed a lower APC rate but higher impact factors.
Conclusions:
- Plastic surgery trainees face substantial financial requirements for open access publication fees.
- Academic institutions need to allocate resources to support trainee publishing endeavors.
