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Abstract
INTRODUCTION
The use of social media to propagate educational research in surgery has become widespread
in recent years.
AIMS
To assess social media use by plastic surgery journals and compare with other surgical
specialties.
METHODS
Journals relevant to plastic surgery were identified from the 2014 Journal of Citation
Reports and their impact factors were noted. Existence of journal websites and links
to social media forums were recorded (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube).
Twitter accounts for each journal were sought and account data noted. Profile influence
was measured by calculation of the Klout score. Data for other social media forums
were also recorded. Results were compared with top-cited journals of other surgical
specialties.
RESULTS
Twenty-four journals were identified, 10 of which had at least 1 social media account.
The option to share a link from the journal website via a reader’s own social media
was available for 17 journals.
Ten plastic surgery journals had Twitter accounts with a median of 525 followers per
account (range, 26–4721). The median profile age was 4 years.
The median Klout score of the journals’ Twitter accounts was 36 and did not correlate
with journal impact factor. With regard to content, the commonest tweets linked to
published articles.
The use of Facebook, YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn was less common than Twitter amongst
plastic surgery journals.
The use of social media by journals of urology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and general
surgery is more frequent and associated with a higher Klout score than plastic surgery.
CONCLUSIONS
Use of social media amongst plastic surgery journals is heterogenous. As the volume
of online journal content increases, our findings suggest that use of social media
to propagate items of interest to readers is underutilized.
PATIENT CONSENT
A study information leaflet was provided to all participants in advance of the study
and informed written consent was obtained.
Journal ID (nlm-ta): Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open
Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open
Journal ID (publisher-id): GOX
Title:
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open
Publisher:
Wolters Kluwer Health
ISSN
(Electronic):
2169-7574
Publication date
(Electronic):
28
January
2016
Publication date Collection:
January
2016
Volume: 4
Issue: 1
Electronic Location Identifier: e605
Affiliations
From the
[*
]Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, St James’ Hospital, Dublin, Ireland;
and
[†
]Department of Urology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
Author notes
Christine S. Quinlan, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, St James’
Hospital, James’ Street, Dublin 8, Ireland, E-mail:
Christinequinlan@
123456rcsi.ie