Analysis of scientific production in otolaryngology in Spain in the period 2011-2015

Introduction: Publishing in scientific journals is an indicator of hospital quality and has become a standard of excellence for medical doctors and institutions. The aim of the study is to identify the scientific publications performed by Otolaryngology Departments in Spain within the period 2011-2015 and to compare them to a previous period between 1998-2002.

Material and methods: Original papers published by Otolaryngology Departments in Spain in PubMed within 2011-2015 were retrieved. They were classified according to the type of journal published (international or Acta ORL Española) and the following subspecialty areas: Otology, Audiology and Neuro-Otology, Head and Neck Surgery (including Oncology), Rhinology and Paediatric ENT. Hospitals were ranked according to: number of original papers, accumulated impact factor and total number of publications.

Results: Between 2011 and 2015, 49342 publications were included in PubMed, 1.44% from Otolaryngology Departments in Spain. Between 1998 and 2002, 3.80% publications were from Spanish ENT departments. Of the 712 papers published within the period 2011-2015, 389 were published in Acta ORL Española and 323 in international journals. From the latter, 20.7% belong to the Otology area, 19.2% to Audiology-Neuro-otology, 30.6% to Head and Neck Surgery, 15.2% to Rhinology and 3.4% to Paediatric ENT. Five tertiary centres published at least 10 original papers in the same period.

Conclusions: Spanish otolaryngology's contribution to international journals has decreased in the last 12 years. A few institutions are responsible for the majority of publications and they have notably increased the cumulative impact factor.