The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Scientific Publishing

Academic publication activities and perspectives of rheumatology practitioners in the COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives

This study aimed to analyze the research, publication activities, and perspectives on clinical practices of rheumatology practitioners during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Materials and methods

The survey-based cross-sectional study was designed online and included 24 closed-ended questions. After performing a pilot test and validation of survey, it was conducted among clinicians between September 2021 and December 2021.

Results

One-hundred fifteen clinicians (54 males, 61 females; 78.1% in rheumatology practice for at least five years) responded to the survey. The respondents indicated that they worked in coronavirus-related departments, comprising inpatient service (50.4%), consultancy (42.6%), and outpatient clinic (27.8%). Around 40% of clinicians stated they spent less time on scientific research (43.1%) and clinical learning activities (43.2%), while almost the same proportion of them spent more (41.1% and 45.0%, respectively). This study revealed that 53.5% published at least one paper covering mostly COVID-19 in the scientific citation index (SCI) or SCI-expanded (SCI-E) indexed journals. However, nearly half of them did not have any papers published in the SCI/SCI-E (46.5%) or non-SCI/SCI-E indexed (44.6%) journals. Regarding the perspectives of clinicians about clinical practices, they considered fewer biological (57.0%) and nonbiological (55.0%) drug usage, reported fewer outpatient clinic visits (88.2%), more newly diagnosed rheumatic diseases (62.5%), and more disease exacerbations (31.2%). Most of the clinicians (range, 76.2 to 86.3%) thought they accurately managed their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion

Clinicians published mostly coronavirus-related papers in the pandemic era, and in the self-assessment, clinicians thought that they correctly manage their patients. In addition, this study reflected the frequency of academic publications and clinicians' work routines during the pandemic.

COVID-19 imaging, where do we go from here? Bibliometric analysis of medical imaging in COVID-19

OBJECTIVES

We conducted a systematic and comprehensive bibliometric analysis of COVID-19-related medical imaging to determine the current status and indicate possible future directions.

METHODS

This research provides an analysis of Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) indexed articles on COVID-19 and medical imaging published between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2022, using the search terms "COVID-19" and medical imaging terms (such as "X-ray" or "CT"). Publications based solely on COVID-19 themes or medical image themes were excluded. CiteSpace was used to identify the predominant topics and generate a visual map of countries, institutions, authors, and keyword networks.

RESULTS

The search included 4444 publications. The journal with the most publications was European Radiology, and the most co-cited journal was Radiology. China was the most frequently cited country in terms of co-authorship, with the Huazhong University of Science and Technology being the institution contributing with the highest number of relevant co-authorships. Research trends and leading topics included: assessment of initial COVID-19-related clinical imaging features, differential diagnosis using artificial intelligence (AI) technology and model interpretability, diagnosis systems construction, COVID-19 vaccination, complications, and predicting prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

This bibliometric analysis of COVID-19-related medical imaging helps clarify the current research situation and developmental trends. Subsequent trends in COVID-19 imaging are likely to shift from lung structure to function, from lung tissue to other related organs, and from COVID-19 to the impact of COVID-19 on the diagnosis and treatment of other diseases. Key Points • We conducted a systematic and comprehensive bibliometric analysis of COVID-19-related medical imaging from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2022. • Research trends and leading topics included assessment of initial COVID-19-related clinical imaging features, differential diagnosis using AI technology and model interpretability, diagnosis systems construction, COVID-19 vaccination, complications, and predicting prognosis. • Future trends in COVID-19-related imaging are likely to involve a shift from lung structure to function, from lung tissue to other related organs, and from COVID-19 to the impact of COVID-19 on the diagnosis and treatment of other diseases.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown in a biomedical research campus: A gender perspective analysis

From March to September 2020, researchers working at a biomedical scientific campus in Spain faced two lockdowns and various mobility restrictions that affected their social and professional lifestyles. The working group "Women in Science," which acts as an independent observatory of scientific gender inequalities on campus launched an online survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on scientific activity, domestic and caregiving tasks, and psychological status. The survey revealed differences in scientific performance by gender: while male researchers participated in a larger number of scientific activities for career development, female researchers performed more invisible scientific tasks, including peer review or outreach activities. Mental impact was greater in researchers caring for children or dependents, and this was aggravated for women. Results spot a disproportionate impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on female scientific career development, and urges for equity measures to mitigate the consequences of an increase in the gender gap in biomedical sciences for current and future pandemics.

Oman's COVID-19 publication trends: A cross-sectional bibliometric study

Public health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic led researchers and clinicians to stretch their capacities in conducting, writing, reviewing, and publishing a wealth of pandemic-related research. Oman scholars, researchers, and clinicians are no different in their quest for rapid dissemination of relevant scientific knowledge, which is of paramount importance nationally and internationally. Given the intense international interest in COVID-19 research. The study aim is to describe the COVID-19 research output in Oman in relation to publication type, journal impact factor, collaboration, author affiliation and compared it with national scholarly output over the decade. Study Design: We carried out a bibliometric cross-sectional study. Methods: We included all Oman COVID-19 publications for the period February 14 and 25, February 2021. Data retrieved using search engines PubMed, Google Scholar and Directory of Open Access Journals. Results: The COVID-19 publications search generated 210 articles. There were 36.7% review articles and 30% original articles. Of note, 2.4% randomized controlled trials articles were produced during the search period, 1.4% systematic and meta-analysis articles. The 85.7% of the publications were in journals with defined impact factor (IF) and 89.4% of articles with IF < 5. There was 53.8% international collaboration. Conclusion: The need to increase research published in journals with high impact factors and there was a high international collaboration in reviews and report articles, which may require building national research capacity.

Politics and pandemics

This Special Issue of Global Public Health on Politics & Pandemics brings together 26 articles and commentaries that address diverse aspects of the politics of COVID-19 and related issues. These papers are grouped together in six topical areas: theories and politics of global health, health systems and policies, country responses, social inequalities, social responses, and the politics of science and technology. The goal of the Special Issue is to give readers a sense of the range of topics that have been a focus for research in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide diverse examples of how research and analysis on the political dimensions of the pandemic can contribute to confronting the COVID-19 crisis.