Knowledge of Pharmacists about Scientific Publications in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to assess pharmacists' knowledge about scientific publications in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, we analyzed pharmacists' knowledge about scientific publications in Saudi Arabia. We used a self-reported electronic survey questionnaire and distributed it to pharmacists from interns to consultants and specialists. The survey collected demographic information of the responders and their knowledge of selected research paper elements in a scientific journal. We used 5-point Likert response scale system with closeended questions to obtain responses. The data were collected through the Survey Monkey system and analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) and Jeffery's Amazing Statistics Program (JASP), and Microsoft Excel (version 16) software. Results: A total of 543 pharmacists responded to the questionnaire. Of them, more than one-quarter of the participants responded from the central region (155 (28.55%)), followed by the eastern region (133 (24.49%)), with statistically significant differences between all regions (p=0.000). Females responded more (321 (59.12%)) than that of males (222 (40.88%)). The majority of the responders were Saudi nationals (351 (64.64%)), followed by non-Saudi nationals (192 (35.36%)), with statistically significant differences between them (p=0.000). The average score for knowledge of pharmacists about writing a section in the research article was 4.07, with high scores obtained for the elements "knowledge of the abstract section" (4.51) and "knowledge of the Introduction section" (4.47), with statistically significant between all responses (p=0.000). The average score for knowledge of pharmacists about various study designs in the manuscript was 3.36, with high scores obtained for the elementary knowledge of cohort study (3.59), case series (3.59), observational study, and Letters to the editor (3.49), with statistically significant differences between responses (p=0.000). The average score for knowledge of pharmacists about journal indexing database was (3.17), with high scores obtained for the elementary knowledge of the Google Scholar (3.78), PubMed (3.60), and Index Medicus (3.43). The scores for the reliability analysis of McDonald's ω was (0.843), Cronbach's α was (0.847), Gutmann's λ2 was (0.888), Gutmann's was λ6 (0.985), and Greater Lower Bound was (0.994). Conclusion: Pharmacists' knowledge about writing research sections, study design, and journal indexing database for scientific publications in Saudi Arabia was varied. Therefore, we highly recommend improving pharmacists' training and education during graduation to improve patients' pharmaceutical care in Saudi Arabia.