Resident-led Research Initiative Drives Collaboration and Productivity: A Bibliometric Network-Based Analysis

Abstract

Objective: Collaborative clinical research among trainees can accelerate new discoveries, improve nontechnical skills, and foster career growth. However, various obstacles exist which make research efforts during surgical training challenging. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a resident-led digital research infrastructure was associated with increased academic productivity among individuals and collaboration in scholarship during surgical training.

Design: A multimodal resident-led initiative, Surgery Residents' Research Forum (SuRRF) was implemented in 2019. Databases were queried for publications for surgical residents and fellows from 2015 to 2023. Bibliometric network maps were created to evaluate scholarly activity and collaboration before and after SuRRF implementation. Networks consisted of clusters (representing set of related research items), linkages (representing co-authored items), and link strength (representing increased frequency of co-authorship).

Setting: Residency and fellowship programs from teaching hospitals of an integrated health system in New York.

Participants: General surgery and surgical subspecialty residents and fellows.

Results: A mean of 77 trainees were included each AY. Trainee participation in research increased from 26.1% in 2015 to 2016 to 62.5% in 2022 to 2023. The number of research items increased from 30 in 2015 to 2016 to 135 in 2022 to 2023. Bibliometric network analysis revealed an increase in research clusters, number of linkages, and link strength from 2015 to 2016 (10, 11, and 13 respectively) to 2022 to 2023 (25, 80, and 126, respectively). Pre-SuRRF to post-SuRRF analysis revealed a significant increase in the number of research items (40.25-109.5, p = 0.002), number of research clusters (11.75-23.25, p < 0.001), number of links (9.5-50.5, p = 0.027), and link strength (13.0-75.5, p = 0.029).

Conclusion: The resident research initiative, SuRRF, was associated with increased collaboration and academic productivity. Expanding similar programs nationally could enhance clinical research feasibility and foster a culture of collaboration and academic growth for surgical residents and fellows.

Keywords: collaboration; education; research; research forum; surgery residency.