Predictors of the publication of the doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse (Tunisia).

AIM: To identify the predictive factors for the publication of theses defended at the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse (FMSO) in Tunisia. METHODS: The development of the dissertation was studied following the interrogation of three databases "Medline", "Scopus" and "article @INIST" as well as "Scholar Google". The drafting quality of the thesis summary was assessed using a grid of 20 iso-weighted items. The predictors of publication were studied by binary logistic regression, with a significance level of 10%. RESULTS: Out of the 670 theses defended at the FMSO, the mention "proposal for the thesis prize" was awarded for 22% of the thesis students. These theses were of the "clinical" type in 68% of cases, 80% of which were in "case study" format. The writing quality was deemed satisfactory in 47% of the theses. The publication rate was only 10.3%. The univariate analysis found three factors determining the publication of theses: the field of non-clinical research: epidemiological or fundamental, good editorial quality and the mention "proposal for the thesis prize". After adjustment, the latter was the only independent predictor of the publication of the thesis (ORa=1.60[1.007-2.559]). CONCLUSION: This low rate of publication of theses at the FMSO illustrates the difficulties of thesis students and their directors in research methodology and scientific writing. Theses accepted with distinction must be better accompanied to facilitate their publication.

Editorial quality of the doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse (Tunisia).

OBJECTIVE: To assess the writing quality of the theses defended at the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse (FMSo). METHODS: This is a bibliometric, transversal and exhaustive study done on all theses defended at the FMSo between 2001 and 2005. The writing quality of the thesis was assessed, via double reading, by a grid applied to its abstract. This grid was composed of 20 items detailing the principles of scientific writing. A thesis was considered "satisfactory" when the writing score was ≥15 / 20. RESULTS: During this five-year period, 670 theses was defended at the FMSo (an average of 134 theses per year), which in 93% of cases were research ones. All these theses were written in French except for one. On a 20-point scale, the average thesis editorial score was 14.1 ± 2.2. The writing quality was judged satisfactory in 47% of the theses. The objective of the thesis, research design and study population were mentioned, respectively, in 81%, 77% and 91% of theses abstracts. However, the descriptors chosen were MeSH words in only 42% of the time; Data sources and standard deviation were mentioned in only 25% and 9.6% of the abstracts, respectively. CONCLUSION: The writing quality of the thesis at the FMSo suffered mainly from documentary, methodological and statistical insufficiencies. The introduction of a scientific medical writing module in the curriculum of the FMSo would be essential for the optimization of the medical thesis.

Bibliometric profile of the doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse (Tunisia).

OBJECTIVE: Describe the bibliometric profile of medical dissertations in Sousse Faculty of Medicine (SOFM) in Tunisia. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional bibliometric study of all dissertations defended from 2001 to 2005. The data were collected through a reading grid applied to the cover page, conclusion, and summary of the thesis. The specialty of the dissertation has been attributed to its first director. Themes were defined by the "essential descriptor", chosen from the descriptors used for the indexing. RESULTS: The 670 theses collected, all written in French except one in Arabic, were original, pedagogic or bibliographical works in respectively 93.3%, 6.4%, and 0.3% respectively. "Community and Preventive Medicine" was the discipline that generated the most theses with a proportion of 8.9%. About half (48%) of the dissertations were supervised by two directors. The first director was a University Hospital Professor or an Associate Professor of Conferences, respectively in 34% and 42% of cases. The chairman of the thesis jury belonged to the same specialty as the first director and was from the same department in respectively 54% and 41% of cases. Four "essential descriptors" were frequently cited as indexation of the dissertation: "tumor", "CD-Rom", "trauma", and "diabetes". These dissertations were "clinical" type in 68% of cases, of which around 80% were "case studies". CONCLUSION: The doctoral dissertation in SOFM was characterized by the orientation towards clinical and epidemiological research and the preference for general medicine and community health themes. It's often recourse to a basic research estimate and its writing in French would be two factors limiting its scientific promotion and its social influence.