Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, Research and Education Department, Richmond, Virginia.
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.
West J Emerg Med. 2020 Oct 8;21(6):242-248. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2020.7.46958.
Scholarship and academic networking are essential for promotion and productivity. To develop education scholarship, the Council of Emergency Medicine Directors (CORD) and Clerkship Directors of Emergency Medicine (CDEM) created an annual Special Issue in Educational Research and Practice of the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. The objective of this study was to evaluate the network created by the special Issue, and explore changes within the network over time.
Researchers used bibliometric data from Web of Science to create a social network analysis of institutions publishing in the first four years of the special issue using UCINET software. We analyzed whole-network and node-level metrics to describe variations and changes within the network.
One hundred and three (56%) Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited emergency medicine programs were involved in 136 articles. The majority of institutions published in one or two issues. Nearly 25% published in three or four issues. The network analysis demonstrated that the mean number of connections per institution increased over the four years (mean of 5.34; standard deviation [SD] 1.27). Mean degree centralization was low at 0.28 (SD 0.05). Network density was low (mean of 0.09; SD 0.01) with little change across four issues. Five institutions scored consistently high in betweenness centrality, demonstrating a role as connectors between institutions within the network and the potential to connect new members to the network.
Network-wide metrics describe a consistently low-density network with decreasing degree centralization over four years. A small number of institutions within the network were persistently key players in the network. These data indicate that, aside from core institutions that publish together, the network is not widely connected. There is evidence that new institutions are coming into the network, but they are not necessarily connected to the core publishing groups. There may be opportunities to intentionally increase connections across the network and create new connections between traditionally high-performing institutions and newer members of the network. Through informal discussions with authors from high-performing institutions, there are specific behaviors that departments may use to promote education scholarship and forge these new connections.
学术研究和学术交流对于晋升和提高生产力至关重要。为了发展教育学术研究，急诊医师理事会（CORD）和急诊医学实习主任委员会（CDEM）在《西部急诊医学杂志》上创建了一个年度教育研究和实践特刊。本研究的目的是评估该特刊创建的网络，并探讨网络随时间的变化。
研究人员使用 Web of Science 的文献计量数据，使用 UCINET 软件创建了一个前四年特刊中发表文章的机构的社会网络分析。我们分析了整体网络和节点级别的指标，以描述网络内的变化和变化。
有 103 个（56%）经住院医师规范化培训医学教育认证委员会认证的急诊医学项目参与了 136 篇文章。大多数机构在一到两期发表文章。近 25%的机构在三到四期发表文章。网络分析表明，四年来每个机构的平均连接数有所增加（平均 5.34；标准差 [SD] 1.27）。平均程度中心性较低，为 0.28（SD 0.05）。网络密度较低（平均为 0.09；SD 0.01），四个问题之间变化不大。有五个机构在中间中心性方面得分一直较高，表明它们在网络内的机构之间充当着连接者的角色，并且有可能将新成员连接到网络中。
全网范围的指标描述了一个始终处于低密度状态的网络，四年内程度中心性逐渐降低。网络中少数几个机构一直是网络中的关键参与者。这些数据表明，除了共同发表文章的核心机构外，网络的连接并不广泛。有证据表明，新的机构正在进入网络，但它们不一定与核心出版团体相连。有可能有意增加整个网络的连接，并在传统上表现出色的机构和网络的新成员之间建立新的连接。通过与表现出色的机构的作者进行非正式讨论，部门可以采取具体的行为来促进教育学术研究并建立这些新的联系。
