A new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery examines the publication productivity of orthopedic surgeons who chair their departments.
The study authors identified chairs of orthopedic residency programs around the United States and examined their publications on the Scopus database. The study authors found:
1. Throughout the seven years before their appointments, orthopedic residency program chairs at universities reported higher publications — 4.66 on average — than non-university chairs — 2.29. The authors defined university and non-university chairs by their affiliation with a medical school program.
2. The average publications per year decreased for university chairs to 3.75 per year after taking the appointment.
3. There wasn't a significant change reported to non-university chairs after their appointment.
4. The percentage of first authorships was similar between both university and non-university chairs and both groups had significant declines in first authorships after becoming chair.
5. The average university chair had around 60 manuscripts published before taking the post, compared to 30 manuscripts for non-university chairs.