Publishing during COVID‐19: Lessons for health professions education research

Abstract

Want to know how COVID‐19 changes health professional education research priorities? Our Editor‐in‐chief argues that in the most important ways it shouldn't.

Promoting inclusivity in health professions education publishing

“…[12][13][14] For example, reviewers may judge research based on their own standards. Perhaps inevitably, the pool of peer reviewers for Medical Education is relatively small compared to the number of submissions 15 ; its distribution, however, maps closely onto submission number; 54.7% of the more than 66 000 reviewers in the journal's database come from one of the five countries listed above as being top ranked in terms of submission numbers.…”

COVID-19 Effects on Medical Education: A Viral Transfer of Knowledge to Radiation Oncology

“…As noted by many, academic productivity expanded through the past 2 years, and undoubtedly, if this review was repeated in 2022, there would be an exponential increase of research in this field. 6 , 19 , 20 …”

“…It is not enough to simply report on experiences, but there must be a foundation in educational pedagogy that is built on. 6 The first 2 articles in this scan summarize Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) systematic reviews. The BEME collaboration is a well-established international educational consortium dedicated “to the development of evidence informed education in the medical and health professions.” 7 BEME reviews are key to the work of the collaboration and systematically synthesize the best available evidence in medical education.…”

Altruism as enlightened self‐interest: How helping others through peer review helps you

“…That has never been more true than it is now as the pandemic has seen a rate of submission growth that far exceeds the rate of new reviewer enrolment. 1 That said, it is sincerely not the reason I am writing this editorial. I am writing it because I was reminded recently about how big an impact serving as a peer reviewer had on my career and how daunting it can seem to take on the role.…”

“…So, let's start with full disclosure: Yes, Medical Education , like every other reputable journal, needs reviewers to help authors strengthen their work and help us curate the best possible periodical. That has never been more true than it is now as the pandemic has seen a rate of submission growth that far exceeds the rate of new reviewer enrolment 1 …”