O56: THE TREND OF SURGICAL PUBLICATIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS

Research plays an important role in the surgical field. It has been deemed to be the keystone on the progression of surgical care and the introduction of new directions in surgery. We aimed to evaluate the output of UK surgeons in ten high impact factor surgical journals over the last three decades. Method Ten surgical journals were selected and investigated, based on 1997,2007, and 2017 journal impact factors. All articles that have contributed academically were examined, these included: original research articles, meta-analysis, debate articles, case reports and studies. Result The number of total publications from the ten journals has increased by 35.4% (from 2403 papers in 2007 to 3722 papers in 2017). The number of papers from these journals from the UK has increased by 19.5% (63 papers), however, the percentage output when compared to other regions, has decreased by 2.1% from 10.8% in 2007 to 8.7% in 2017. The USA remains to have the greatest contribution. Conclusion The result shows a decline in the percentage output of the UK when compared to other countries. This result aligns with other studies published. Focus should be made on improving the current situation of academic medicine in the UK. Take-home message There is a decline in the percentage output of the UK when compared to other countries. Focus should be made on improving the current situation of academic medicine in the UK.