Scholarly impact of the dissertation requirement for postgraduate medical education and factors affecting transformation into publication: A bibliometric analysis of 2434 dissertations in the field of emergency medicine

OBJECTIVES: In Turkey, conducting research for a dissertation is necessary to obtain a specialist degree, but publication of this research is not mandatory. Previous studies have shown a low rate of publication for dissertation-derived research. The aim of this study was to determine publication rates, factors affecting the transformation of the dissertations into high-quality publications, and bibliometric analysis of published articles in the field of emergency medicine (EM). METHODS: This was a retrospective bibliometric study of EM dissertations submitted between 1998 and 2021 to the National Thesis Center. Research characteristics, publication status, journal characteristics, indexing, citation analysis, and institution characteristics were recorded. Journals indexed in the web of science (WOS) were defined as high-quality journals. A logistic regression was performed to identify factors affecting publication in high-quality journals. RESULTS: A total of 2434 dissertations were included. Of these, 864 (35.5%) were published and 474 (54%) were published in WOS-indexed journals. The most common area of research was trauma (n = 150, 17%), and the most common journal was the American Journal of EM (n = 74, 8%). Prospective data collection (odds ratio [OR] = 2.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8–2.5), experimental design (OR = 2, 95%, CI = 1.3–3), university-type residency program (OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.02–2.1), and duration between year of graduation and publication (OR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.84–0.95) were associated with publishing in WOS-indexed journals. CONCLUSION: EM is a relatively successful specialty for publishing dissertation-derived studies. Prospective and experimental research design, graduation from a university-type residency program, and shorter duration between the graduation and publication may increase the chance of publishing in high-quality journals.