Impact of Otolaryngology theses in their authors' scientific production.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The writing of a thesis has 2 main objectives: the appropriate training to be a good researcher and the publication of the first original research work. This study attempted to check this statement applied to theses in Otolaryngology by analysing the variation in the authors' publications. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used the database TESEO to obtain the data relative to Otolaryngology theses in Spain published between 1993 and 2003. We found the publications of each author by using de programme "Publish or Perish" and we analysed the variations in their work in 3 periods (prior to, around and after thesis publication). RESULTS: The publications, the citations and the parameters analysed all increased in the second and third periods (around and after) with regard to the first period. However, there were no significant differences in some of them in the first 2 periods. CONCLUSIONS: The elaboration of a thesis in Otolaryngology increased the scientific production of its author. Almost a third of the authors did not publish any work. There was a significant increase in all the parameters studied and the bibliometric indices between the period before thesis publication and the around and after thesis periods.

[Gender patterns in Spanish otolaryngologic doctoral theses]. / El género en las tesis doctorales en otorrinolaringología en España.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: In last decades women in Spain have a greater access to postgraduate education. The objective of this study was to perform a gender analysis on the Otolaryngology doctoral theses presented in a 25 year-period. METHODS: The TESEO data base on doctoral theses was searched for theses on Otorhinolaryngology written between 1981 and 2005. As strategy for the research we employed the terms: 1) Otorrinolaringología (Otorhinolaryngology); 2) Cirugía de garganta, nariz y oídos (Ear, nose and throat surgery); 3) Fisiología de la audición (Physiology of hearing); 4) Fisiología del equilibrio (Physiology of balance); 5) Física de la audición (Physics of hearing); and 6) Bioacústica (Bioacoustics). RESULTS: A total of 450 theses (18.0±8.3 theses/year) were found, of which 129 were written by females (28.6%). There was a gender imbalance among authors, with 5.2±3.4 theses/year for women vs. 12.9±6.6 theses/year for men (p=0.0002). Nevertheless, there was a tendency toward equality in the last 10 years (p=0.001). On the other hand, the PhD student's gender was clearly related to the supervisor's gender (p=0.0001). With respect to the main topics in our area (otology, audiology/vestibular diseases, rhinology and pathology of paranasal sinuses and neck diseases), there were no significant differences between males and females (p=0.231). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate a tendency towards equality in the number of men and women successfully completing doctoral studies in Otolaryngology. However, the PhD student's gender is clearly related to the supervisor's gender.