Impact of COVID-19 on Otolaryngology Literature

Yeshwant R Chillakuru; Eleanor F Gerhard; Timothy Shim; Samuel H Selesnick; Lawrence R Lustig; John H Krouse; Ehab Y Hanna; Timothy L Smith; Edward W Fisher; Joseph E Kerschner; Ashkan Monfared

doi:10.1002/lary.29902

Impact of COVID-19 on Otolaryngology Literature

Laryngoscope. 2022 Jul;132(7):1364-1373. doi: 10.1002/lary.29902. Epub 2021 Oct 15.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A.
² Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, U.S.A.
³ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, U.S.A.
⁴ School of Medicine, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas, U.S.A.
⁵ Department of Head and Neck Surgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
⁶ Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
⁷ Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
⁸ Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield, United Kingdom.
⁹ Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Abstract

Objectives/hypothesis: To understand the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volume, quality, and impact of otolaryngology publications.

Study design: Retrospective analysis.

Methods: Fifteen of the top peer-reviewed otolaryngology journals were queried on PubMed for COVID and non-COVID-related articles from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 (pandemic period) and pre-COVID articles from the year prior. Information on total number of submissions and rate of acceptance were collected from seven top-ranked journals.

Results: Our PubMed query returned 759 COVID articles, 4,885 non-COVID articles, and 4,200 pre-COVID articles, corresponding to a 34% increase in otolaryngology publications during the pandemic period. Meta-analysis/reviews and miscellaneous publication types made up a larger portion of COVID publications than that of non-COVID and pre-COVID publications. Compared to pre-COVID articles, citations per article 120 days after publication and Altmetric Attention Score were higher in both COVID articles (citations/article: 2.75 ± 0.45, P < .001; Altmetric Attention Score: 2.05 ± 0.60, P = .001) and non-COVID articles (citations/article: 0.03 ± 0.01, P = .002; Altmetric Attention Score: 0.67 ± 0.28, P = .016). COVID manuscripts were associated with a 1.65 times higher acceptance rate compared to non-COVID articles (P < .001).

Conclusions: COVID-19 was associated with an increase in volume, citations, and attention for both COVID and non-COVID articles compared to pre-COVID articles. However, COVID articles were associated with lower evidence levels than non-COVID and pre-COVID articles.

Level of evidence: 3 Laryngoscope, 132:1364-1373, 2022.

Keywords: Bibliometrics; COVID-19; publication trends; scientific publication.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis

MeSH terms

Bibliometrics
COVID-19*
Humans
Otolaryngology*
Pandemics
Retrospective Studies