The Patterns and Impact of Social Media Exposure of Journal Publications in Gastroenterology: Retrospective Cohort Study

BackgroundMedical journals increasingly promote published content through social media platforms such as Twitter. However, gastroenterology journals still rank below average in social media engagement. ObjectiveWe aimed to determine the engagement patterns of publ...

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Main Authors: Chiang, Austin Lee, Rabinowitz, Loren Galler, Alakbarli, Javid, Chan, Walter W
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2021-05-01
Series:Journal of Medical Internet Research
Online Access:https://www.jmir.org/2021/5/e25252
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spelling doaj-692f165dedfb410e8e9be22a5b1109b62021-05-14T14:31:37ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712021-05-01235e2525210.2196/25252The Patterns and Impact of Social Media Exposure of Journal Publications in Gastroenterology: Retrospective Cohort StudyChiang, Austin LeeRabinowitz, Loren GallerAlakbarli, JavidChan, Walter W BackgroundMedical journals increasingly promote published content through social media platforms such as Twitter. However, gastroenterology journals still rank below average in social media engagement. ObjectiveWe aimed to determine the engagement patterns of publications in gastroenterology journals on Twitter and evaluate the impact of tweets on citations. MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study comparing the 3-year citations of all full-length articles published in five major gastroenterology journals from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2012, tweeted by official journal accounts with those that were not. Multivariate analysis using linear regression was performed to control for journal impact factor, time since publication, article type, frequency of reposting by other users (“retweets”), and media addition to tweets. Secondary analyses were performed to assess the associations between article type or subtopic and the likelihood of social media promotion/engagement. ResultsA total of 1666 articles were reviewed, with 477 tweeted by the official journal account. Tweeting an article independently predicted increased citations after controlling for potential confounders (β coefficient=13.09; P=.007). There was significant association between article type and number of retweets on analysis of variance (ANOVA) (P<.001), with guidelines/technical reviews (mean difference 1.04, 95% CI 0.22-1.87; P<.001) and meta-analyses/systemic reviews (mean difference 1.03, 95% CI 0.35-1.70; P<.001) being retweeted more than basic science articles. The manuscript subtopics most frequently promoted included motility/functional bowel disease (odds ratio [OR] 3.84, 95% CI 1.93-7.64; P<.001) and education (OR 4.69, 95% CI 1.62-13.58; P=.004), while basic science papers were less likely tweeted (OR 0.154, 95% CI 0.07-0.34; P<.001). ConclusionsTweeting of gastroenterology journal articles independently predicted higher 3-year citations. Wider adoption of social media to increase reach and measure uptake of published research should be considered.https://www.jmir.org/2021/5/e25252
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Chiang, Austin Lee
Rabinowitz, Loren Galler
Alakbarli, Javid
Chan, Walter W
spellingShingle Chiang, Austin Lee
Rabinowitz, Loren Galler
Alakbarli, Javid
Chan, Walter W
The Patterns and Impact of Social Media Exposure of Journal Publications in Gastroenterology: Retrospective Cohort Study
Journal of Medical Internet Research
author_facet Chiang, Austin Lee
Rabinowitz, Loren Galler
Alakbarli, Javid
Chan, Walter W
author_sort Chiang, Austin Lee
title The Patterns and Impact of Social Media Exposure of Journal Publications in Gastroenterology: Retrospective Cohort Study
title_short The Patterns and Impact of Social Media Exposure of Journal Publications in Gastroenterology: Retrospective Cohort Study
title_full The Patterns and Impact of Social Media Exposure of Journal Publications in Gastroenterology: Retrospective Cohort Study
title_fullStr The Patterns and Impact of Social Media Exposure of Journal Publications in Gastroenterology: Retrospective Cohort Study
title_full_unstemmed The Patterns and Impact of Social Media Exposure of Journal Publications in Gastroenterology: Retrospective Cohort Study
title_sort patterns and impact of social media exposure of journal publications in gastroenterology: retrospective cohort study
publisher JMIR Publications
series Journal of Medical Internet Research
issn 1438-8871
publishDate 2021-05-01
description BackgroundMedical journals increasingly promote published content through social media platforms such as Twitter. However, gastroenterology journals still rank below average in social media engagement. ObjectiveWe aimed to determine the engagement patterns of publications in gastroenterology journals on Twitter and evaluate the impact of tweets on citations. MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study comparing the 3-year citations of all full-length articles published in five major gastroenterology journals from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2012, tweeted by official journal accounts with those that were not. Multivariate analysis using linear regression was performed to control for journal impact factor, time since publication, article type, frequency of reposting by other users (“retweets”), and media addition to tweets. Secondary analyses were performed to assess the associations between article type or subtopic and the likelihood of social media promotion/engagement. ResultsA total of 1666 articles were reviewed, with 477 tweeted by the official journal account. Tweeting an article independently predicted increased citations after controlling for potential confounders (β coefficient=13.09; P=.007). There was significant association between article type and number of retweets on analysis of variance (ANOVA) (P<.001), with guidelines/technical reviews (mean difference 1.04, 95% CI 0.22-1.87; P<.001) and meta-analyses/systemic reviews (mean difference 1.03, 95% CI 0.35-1.70; P<.001) being retweeted more than basic science articles. The manuscript subtopics most frequently promoted included motility/functional bowel disease (odds ratio [OR] 3.84, 95% CI 1.93-7.64; P<.001) and education (OR 4.69, 95% CI 1.62-13.58; P=.004), while basic science papers were less likely tweeted (OR 0.154, 95% CI 0.07-0.34; P<.001). ConclusionsTweeting of gastroenterology journal articles independently predicted higher 3-year citations. Wider adoption of social media to increase reach and measure uptake of published research should be considered.
url https://www.jmir.org/2021/5/e25252
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