Ten-year analysis of publications by Quebec hospital pharmacists

Scientific publication by pharmacists enhances professional practices, disseminates knowledge, and fosters academic development. The main objective was to describe a 10-year analysis of scientific publications by hospital pharmacists from Quebec.

Eligible publications included articles in indexed or non-indexed journals, abstracts presented at conferences, and books. The publications were identified through various sources, such as the directors of pharmacy departments and a provincial website. Publications were described according to various parameters, and trends per year were evaluated. A Student's t-test was used for comparison.

A total of 2656 publications were identified, consisting of 1349 articles, 1260 abstracts, and 47 books. Two-thirds (836/1349) of publications were published in indexed journals. Most publications were from a university-affiliated institution (94.7%; 2515/2656) and conducted in a hospital setting (89.0%; 950/1068). Most consisted of evaluative research (66.6%; 1769/2656). Infectious diseases were the most frequent theme (20.6%; 323/1569). The mean number of authors per publication increased from 5.1 ± 3.2 to 7.3 ± 4.5 and was higher in indexed journals (7.4 ± 5.1) compared with non-indexed journals (4.3 ± 3.1) (p < 0.0001). The total number of publications per year was constant.

Most publications were affiliated with a university and relevant to a hospital setting. Future work will be done to facilitate the identification of publications by pharmacists in other settings.

This structured longitudinal review of publications by pharmacists in Quebec revealed that publication activity remained constant over a 10-year period. Hospital pharmacy practice research needs to be further facilitated outside of an academic setting.