Trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex, country of origin, topic, and external funding

Background: The current research landscape has become increasingly competitive with approximately 35% of submitted manuscripts accepted for publication by peer-review journals. It is known that studies with certain ‘favourable characteristics’ have an increased likelihood of acceptance for publicati...

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Main Authors: Andy Jeon, Aine Sommerfield, Britta S. von Ungern-Sternberg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:BJA Open
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772609625000218
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author Andy Jeon
Aine Sommerfield
Britta S. von Ungern-Sternberg
author_facet Andy Jeon
Aine Sommerfield
Britta S. von Ungern-Sternberg
author_sort Andy Jeon
collection DOAJ
description Background: The current research landscape has become increasingly competitive with approximately 35% of submitted manuscripts accepted for publication by peer-review journals. It is known that studies with certain ‘favourable characteristics’ have an increased likelihood of acceptance for publication, such as prospective study design, multiple sites, and notable authors.We aimed to identify the characteristics of original research publications in paediatric anaesthesiology and the impact of these characteristics on citations. The characteristics selected were study design, topic choice, region of origin, sex of authors (as defined by first name), and presence of external funding. Methods: This bibliometric study reviewed all paediatric anaesthesiology original research articles published between 2012 and 2021 from five high-impact general anaesthesiology journals and from the subspecialty's top-ranking specialist journal, Pediatric Anaesthesia. Original research articles (n=1119) were independently assessed by two investigators for the following characteristics: primary research topic, study design, region of origin, number of sites involved, external funding status, sex of first and last author, and number of citations. Results: The principal findings in our study showed that highly cited articles in paediatric anaesthesiology were more likely to display publication characteristics such as prospective study design (66% vs 61%), multi-site (23%% vs 14%), and being externally funded (53% vs 46%). Conclusions: Our report highlights the need to consider consumer priorities for research, to encourage collaboration across institutions, and to generally improve access to funding for paediatric anaesthesiology research. In addition, the findings underline the already recognised need to reach better sex equality in academic paediatric anaesthesiology publications.
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spelling doaj-art-a2bba06bd9b54eb1b5310d7ee4eb75c32025-08-20T03:10:30ZengElsevierBJA Open2772-60962025-06-011410039710.1016/j.bjao.2025.100397Trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex, country of origin, topic, and external fundingAndy Jeon0Aine Sommerfield1Britta S. von Ungern-Sternberg2Perioperative Medicine Team, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, AustraliaPerioperative Medicine Team, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia; Institute for Paediatric Perioperative Excellence, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Division of Emergency Medicine, Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, AustraliaPerioperative Medicine Team, The Kids Research Institute Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Perth Children's Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia; Institute for Paediatric Perioperative Excellence, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Division of Emergency Medicine, Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Medical School, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Corresponding author.Background: The current research landscape has become increasingly competitive with approximately 35% of submitted manuscripts accepted for publication by peer-review journals. It is known that studies with certain ‘favourable characteristics’ have an increased likelihood of acceptance for publication, such as prospective study design, multiple sites, and notable authors.We aimed to identify the characteristics of original research publications in paediatric anaesthesiology and the impact of these characteristics on citations. The characteristics selected were study design, topic choice, region of origin, sex of authors (as defined by first name), and presence of external funding. Methods: This bibliometric study reviewed all paediatric anaesthesiology original research articles published between 2012 and 2021 from five high-impact general anaesthesiology journals and from the subspecialty's top-ranking specialist journal, Pediatric Anaesthesia. Original research articles (n=1119) were independently assessed by two investigators for the following characteristics: primary research topic, study design, region of origin, number of sites involved, external funding status, sex of first and last author, and number of citations. Results: The principal findings in our study showed that highly cited articles in paediatric anaesthesiology were more likely to display publication characteristics such as prospective study design (66% vs 61%), multi-site (23%% vs 14%), and being externally funded (53% vs 46%). Conclusions: Our report highlights the need to consider consumer priorities for research, to encourage collaboration across institutions, and to generally improve access to funding for paediatric anaesthesiology research. In addition, the findings underline the already recognised need to reach better sex equality in academic paediatric anaesthesiology publications.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772609625000218bibliometricpaediatric anaesthesiapublication characteristicsresearch fundingresearch topic
spellingShingle Andy Jeon
Aine Sommerfield
Britta S. von Ungern-Sternberg
Trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex, country of origin, topic, and external funding
BJA Open
bibliometric
paediatric anaesthesia
publication characteristics
research funding
research topic
title Trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex, country of origin, topic, and external funding
title_full Trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex, country of origin, topic, and external funding
title_fullStr Trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex, country of origin, topic, and external funding
title_full_unstemmed Trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex, country of origin, topic, and external funding
title_short Trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex, country of origin, topic, and external funding
title_sort trends in paediatric anaesthesia research publications and the impact of author sex country of origin topic and external funding
topic bibliometric
paediatric anaesthesia
publication characteristics
research funding
research topic
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772609625000218
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