Exploring the publishing patterns and journal use of Graduate Medical Education (GME) residents in a large medical school

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Graduate Medical Education residents are often encouraged or required to publish their scholarship, and librarians are asked for assistance during that process. We investigated the publication patterns of residents and the journals they cite in their publications. This knowledge will help librarians better instruct residents and inform collection development efforts that support resident publishing.

METHODS: Residents who completed their training between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, were searched in Scopus. Included in this analysis were case studies/series, original research, or review articles authored by residents affiliated with our institution and published from one year after the trainee start date to 18 months after the trainee termination date. The analysis included journals in which residents published, number of publications, number of residents publishing, number of citations per publication, distribution of publishing among programs, journals cited within publications, months from start date to first publication, and subject area impact of journals in which residents published.

RESULTS: Of 266 residents analyzed, 34% published at least one article. The 291 articles included in the study appeared in 188 different journals. The surgery department had the most publications and citations. Urology and Otolaryngology tied for most publications per resident with 8.33. Otolaryngology had the most citations per resident with 110.7. The top 20 journals cited in resident publications were cited 50 times or more. The median time to publication of residents' first article was 38.6 months. 48% of journals in which residents published ranked in the top 50% of their category by JIF.

CONCLUSIONS: GME residents publish in a wide variety of journals, and almost half of residents' articles are published in high-impact journals (Q1 & Q2) in their subject area. A majority of residents published between 2-4 years after their start date. Libraries might provide guidance about publishing original research to support their scholarly publishing. Further, libraries can evaluate if their collections meet their residents’ research needs by examining journals cited in residents’ publications.