Impact of COVID-19 on Otolaryngology Literature

Yeshwant R. Chillakuru, Division of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A.
Eleanor F. Gerhard, Division of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A.
Timothy Shim, Division of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A.
Samuel H. Selesnick, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Lawrence R. Lustig, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, U.S.A.
John H. Krouse, School of Medicine, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, Texas, U.S.A.
Ehab Y. Hanna, Department of Head and Neck Surgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
Timothy L. Smith, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
Edward W. Fisher, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Joseph E. Kerschner, Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Ashkan Monfared, Division of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

7-1-2022

Journal

The Laryngoscope

Volume

132

Issue

7

DOI

10.1002/lary.29902

Keywords

Bibliometrics; COVID-19; publication trends; scientific publication

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.

Department

Surgery

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