Surgical research in Colombia part 3: Authorship and publications of Colombian medical students in surgery in Colombian medical journals—cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Research training, scientific activity and publications are cornerstones of academic surgery. Knowing the activity and trends of medical students aspiring to become surgeons it allows to identify gaps and skills to be strengthened. Currently, there is no data on the authorship and scientific activity of medical students in surgery in Latin America and Colombia. Methods: A bibliometric cross-sectional study was carried out, in which the Colombian medical journals were reviewed from 2010 to 2020. The articles with topics in general surgery and subspecialties where the authorship of medical students could be identified, were selected. Data on the sociodemographic and scientific characteristics of the authors and their publications were extracted and analyzed. Results: A total of 14 383 articles from 34 Colombian medical journals were reviewed. From 2010 to 2020, 807 articles related to surgery were published in Colombia. The most frequent typology of these articles was original articles (n=298; 37%), followed by case reports (n=222; 28.2%) and reviews (n=137; 17.3%). A total of 132 medical students and 141 authorships and were found, specifically in 9.9% (n=80/807) of these publications, with a higher frequency in original articles (n=32; 40%) and case reports (n=29; 36.2%). Collaboration of students with professors or surgeons was evidenced in 97.5% of the publications. Conclusions: The authorship of Colombian medical students in scientific publications in surgery in Colombian medical journals was low. From 2010 to 2020, student authors were found in 1 out of every 10 publications, mainly in original articles and clinical cases.

Disparities of Female Authorship in Colombia: A 5-year Cross-sectional Analysis

“…The distribution of authors in academic publications is highly dependent on the region and field of study. According to a study conducted in Colombia, only 12 of the 32 territorial departments demonstrated a significant volume of academic publications in the field of surgery with students as authors (12).…”

Investigación latinoamericana en falla cardiaca: análisis visual y bibliométrico de los últimos 20 años

“…Este estudio revela un panorama atractivo, original y relevante en la investigación en falla cardíaca, que puede ser utilizado por investigadores, grupos de investigación, instituciones estatales, universidades y sociedades científicas interesadas en evaluar lo que se ha investigado y lo que se debe investigar sobre la falla cardíaca. Considerando las brechas y el pluralismo en el conocimiento, así como las posibles colaboraciones basadas en instituciones e investigadores líderes en la región, el uso de recursos bibliométricos (33)(34)(35)(36) , es fundamental para diseñar una hoja de ruta basada en evidencia que considere la inversión, la producción y los resultados de indicadores en salud y ciencia.…”

“…La bibliometría es una herramienta esencial para cuantificar y describir el comportamiento de la investigación científica, ampliamente utilizada en ciencias biomédicas (11) . Esta permite calcular el impacto de la producción científica y visualizar las redes de colaboración y la forma en que se realiza y publica la investigación, lo cual se debe correlacionar con la calidad y sistematización de la evidencia, para valorar brechas, pluralismo y relevancia en investigación médica (12)(13)(14) .…”

Meta-investigación quirúrgica: un novedoso campo de investigación en cirugía

“…En Colombia, se describió el panorama de la investigación quirúrgica nacional 9,10 , no obstante, la aplicación de la meta-investigación quirúrgica para valorar objetivamente la calidad metodológica, de reporte o reproducibilidad de estudios en cirugía, es un nicho novedoso del que se desconoce mucho. Es interesante y pertinente, la creación de líneas o grupos de investigación dedicados a este campo, que sirvan como apoyo para complementar y evaluar constantemente la calidad de los estudios en cirugía que se realizan en el país.…”