Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34809561›Full record

ArticleBMC medical research methodology2021

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on publication dynamics and non-COVID-19 research production.

Marc Raynaud, Valentin Goutaudier, Kevin Louis, Solaf Al-Awadhi, Quentin Dubourg, Agathe Truchot, Romain Brousse, Nouredine Saleh, Alessia Giarraputo, Charlotte Debiais and 12 more

Abstract readCase Reports
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
69citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

69 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

22 authors.

Marc Raynaud *Paris Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Valentin Goutaudier *Paris Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Kevin Louis *Paris Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Solaf Al-AwadhiParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Quentin DubourgPitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
Agathe TruchotParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Romain BrousseParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Nouredine SalehParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Alessia GiarraputoParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Charlotte DebiaisParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Zeynep DemirParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Anaïs CertainParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Francine TacafredParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Esteban Cortes-GarciaParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Safia YanesKidney Transplantation Department, Necker Hospital, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France.
Jessy DagobertParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Sofia NaserNephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Department, Hospital Privado Universitario de Cordoba, Cordoba, Argentina.
Blaise RobinParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Élodie BaillyParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Xavier JouvenParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France.
Peter P ReeseUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Alexandre LoupyParis Translational Research Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department, Université de Paris, INSERM U970, PARCC, 56 rue Leblanc, 75015, Paris, France. alexandreloupy@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected health systems and medical research worldwide but its impact on the global publication dynamics and non-COVID-19 research has not been measured. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the scientific production of non-COVID-19 research.

methodsWe conducted a comprehensive meta-research on studies (original articles, research letters and case reports) published between 01/01/2019 and 01/01/2021 in 10 high-impact medical and infectious disease journals (New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association, Nature Medicine, British Medical Journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, Lancet Global Health, Lancet Public Health, Lancet Infectious Disease and Clinical Infectious Disease). For each publication, we recorded publication date, publication type, number of authors, whether the publication was related to COVID-19, whether the publication was based on a case series, and the number of patients included in the study if the publication was based on a case report or a case series. We estimated the publication dynamics with a locally estimated scatterplot smoothing method. A Natural Language Processing algorithm was designed to calculate the number of authors for each publication. We simulated the number of non-COVID-19 studies that could have been published during the pandemic by extrapolating the publication dynamics of 2019 to 2020, and comparing the expected number to the observed number of studies.

resultsAmong the 22,525 studies assessed, 6319 met the inclusion criteria, of which 1022 (16.2%) were related to COVID-19 research. A dramatic increase in the number of publications in general journals was observed from February to April 2020 from a weekly median number of publications of 4.0 (IQR: 2.8-5.5) to 19.5 (IQR: 15.8-24.8) (p < 0.001), followed afterwards by a pattern of stability with a weekly median number of publications of 10.0 (IQR: 6.0-14.0) until December 2020 (p = 0.045 in comparison with April). Two prototypical editorial strategies were found: 1) journals that maintained the volume of non-COVID-19 publications while integrating COVID-19 research and thus increased their overall scientific production, and 2) journals that decreased the volume of non-COVID-19 publications while integrating COVID-19 publications. We estimated using simulation models that the COVID pandemic was associated with a 18% decrease in the production of non-COVID-19 research. We also found a significant change of the publication type in COVID-19 research as compared with non-COVID-19 research illustrated by a decrease in the number of original articles, (47.9% in COVID-19 publications vs 71.3% in non-COVID-19 publications, p < 0.001). Last, COVID-19 publications showed a higher number of authors, especially for case reports with a median of 9.0 authors (IQR: 6.0-13.0) in COVID-19 publications, compared to a median of 4.0 authors (IQR: 3.0-6.0) in non-COVID-19 publications (p < 0.001).

conclusionIn this meta-research gathering publications from high-impact medical journals, we have shown that the dramatic rise in COVID-19 publications was accompanied by a substantial decrease of non-COVID-19 research. META-RESEARCH REGISTRATION: https://osf.io/9vtzp/ .

Indexed as

Biomedical ResearchCOVID-19Global HealthHumansPandemicsSARS-CoV-2COVID-19High-impact journalsMeta-researchPublications

Identifiers

PMID34809561
PMCPMC8607966

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.