Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic Productivity in Oncology: A Journal-, Conference- and Author-Level Analysis.

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on academic productivity in oncology, measured by conference abstracts, journal publications and individual authorship trends, using a reference time frame of 2018 to 2022. To assess overall academic productivity, data was obtained on the number of abstracts and articles submitted and published from a selection of oncology conferences and journals. To assess individual authorship patterns, 200 articles were randomly selected from 2018, and for the first or last authors, publications were tracked over subsequent years. Factors assessed included gender, continent, specialty, MD vs. non-MD and career status (early vs. late). The number of submitted and published conference abstracts trended downward over time between 2018 and 2022 (p=0.11 and p=0.16 respectively). Journal submissions increased to a peak in 2020 and then declined thereafter, but this did not translate into changes in the number of papers published. For the author-level analysis, factors significantly predictive of increasing publication rates in multivariable analysis were late career status (vs. early), clinician status (vs. non-clinician), surgery or public health/epidemiology specialty, and author located in Asia. Further research is needed to help ameliorate the impact of these disparities.