Laura Lorenzon1, Rebecca C Grossman2, Kjetil Soreide3,4. 1. General Surgery Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Catholic University, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy. laura.lorenzon@policlinicogemelli.it. 2. Department of General Surgery, Wexham Park Hospital, Frimley Health NHS Trust, Slough, UK. 3. Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway. 4. Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The approach to the scientific literature is evolving. Currently, dissemination of articles happens in real time through social media (SoMe) channels, and little is known about its impact in medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate if SoMe dissemination followed trends independent from articles type and content. METHODS: First, the SoMe engagement of a popular theme (#BlackFriday) and a relevant theme (#ClimateChange) was compared using a SoMe analytic tool to test if the popular theme would reach more engagement. In a second analysis, themes in colorectal surgery in the SoMe community were explored. Altmetric Explorer was searched for the term "colorectal surgery" and the outputs were categorized into 'randomized controlled trials' (RCTs) and 'other studies'. Subgroups were compared for the Altmetric scores using statistical analyses. RESULTS: The analytic tool documented that #BlackFriday outnumbered #ClimateChange in mentions and engagement (1.6 million vs 127.000 mentions). Following, Altmetric Explorer identified 1381 articles, including 92 RCTs (7.1%). Overall, 25,554 mentions were documented from 1205 outputs (97.0% by Twitter). A greater percentage of "other studies" ranked in the lower Altmetric score categories (p = 0.0007). Similarly, the median Altmetric score was higher in the RCT subgroup comparing with "other studies" (6.5 vs. 2.0, Mann-Whitney p = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, RCTs represented just the 7.1% of the studies and produced 11% of Twitter outputs. The median Altmetric scores obtained by RCTs were higher than those of other studies.
BACKGROUND: The approach to the scientific literature is evolving. Currently, dissemination of articles happens in real time through social media (SoMe) channels, and little is known about its impact in medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate if SoMe dissemination followed trends independent from articles type and content. METHODS: First, the SoMe engagement of a popular theme (#BlackFriday) and a relevant theme (#ClimateChange) was compared using a SoMe analytic tool to test if the popular theme would reach more engagement. In a second analysis, themes in colorectal surgery in the SoMe community were explored. Altmetric Explorer was searched for the term "colorectal surgery" and the outputs were categorized into 'randomized controlled trials' (RCTs) and 'other studies'. Subgroups were compared for the Altmetric scores using statistical analyses. RESULTS: The analytic tool documented that #BlackFriday outnumbered #ClimateChange in mentions and engagement (1.6 million vs 127.000 mentions). Following, Altmetric Explorer identified 1381 articles, including 92 RCTs (7.1%). Overall, 25,554 mentions were documented from 1205 outputs (97.0% by Twitter). A greater percentage of "other studies" ranked in the lower Altmetric score categories (p = 0.0007). Similarly, the median Altmetric score was higher in the RCT subgroup comparing with "other studies" (6.5 vs. 2.0, Mann-Whitney p = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, RCTs represented just the 7.1% of the studies and produced 11% of Twitter outputs. The median Altmetric scores obtained by RCTs were higher than those of other studies.
Authors: Harry T Papaconstantinou; Rocco Ricciardi; David A Margolin; Roberto Bergamaschi; Robert C Moesinger; Warren E Lichliter; Elisa H Birnbaum Journal: World J Surg Date: 2018-09 Impact factor: 3.352
Authors: Abigail E Vallance; Nicola S Fearnhead; Angela Kuryba; James Hill; Charles Maxwell-Armstrong; Michael Braun; Jan van der Meulen; Kate Walker Journal: BMJ Date: 2018-05-02