Relationship between European postgraduate programme accreditation and national research output: The case of the Network of Erasmus‐Based European Orthodontic Postgraduate Programmes (NEBEOP) in orthodontics. A bibliometric study

Abstract

Aims To assess in each European country the correlation between the number of Network of Erasmus‐Based European Orthodontic Postgraduate Programmes (NEBEOP) members and orthodontic research activity. Secondary objectives were to describe and quantify Europe's orthodontic research. Materials and methods Articles published between 2014 and 2018 in 4 major orthodontic journals (American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, European Journal of Orthodontics, The Angle Orthodontist, Orthodontics and Craniofacial Research) and oral presentation abstracts of five European Orthodontic Society (EOS) congresses were analysed. For each European country, the total number of orthodontic programmes and NEBEOP memberships were collected. Descriptive statistics were performed, and Spearman correlation coefficients and risk ratios were calculated. Results 2039 articles and 261 oral presentation abstracts were included. Correlation coefficients between national number of publications, oral presentations, sum of these, all adjusted for population, and number of NEBEOP members in each country were 0.64, 0.65 and 0.62, respectively. Risk ratios were all above 1 and statistically significant for number of NEBEOP memberships per country, indicating positive associations with national orthodontic research productivity. Europe accounted for 30.5% of publications and 68.6% of oral presentations at EOS congresses during this period. European orthodontic research was not evenly distributed, since 9 countries were responsible for around 80% of the output. Conclusions A positive association was found between number of NEBEOP programmes and national research activity. These results could be an additional argument to support similar pan‐European initiatives and guidelines for postgraduate education, not only in orthodontics but in all other dental specialties.

Is there a common pattern of dental specialties in the world? Orthodontics, the constant element

“…The availability to make a master's degree affects not only the quality of education and research as has been reported [ 8 ], but the stability of the dental market and the number of people in a particular specialty. The chosen institutions (Universities, Health Ministry, official colleges and councils, etc.)…”

“…There is a need for specialized dental care for various reasons, especially to improve the quality of treatment and patient safety [ 7 ]. Postgraduate education is also associated with higher research activity [ 8 ]. However, it is necessary to expand dental specialist training to conform with common standards for specialist education [ 9 ].…”

International trends of orthodontic publications: A bibliometric observational study of the last decade (2011-2020)

“… 6 The favorable effects of specialty program accreditations like the Network of Erasmus‐Based European Orthodontic Postgraduate Programs could also elucidate the high number of orthodontic studies produced by academic institutions. 25 …”