LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Decrease in student scientific production, a problem only for the student?

Disminución de la producción científica estudiantil ¿un problema solo del estudiante?

José Alfredo Gallego Sánchez ^1*, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7686-8776

¹ Dr. Zoilo Enrique Marinello Vidaurreta University of Medical Sciences. Puerto Padre Medical Sciences Branch. Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, Cuba.

* Corresponding author: jg97@nauta.cu

Received: 21/07/2024

Accepted: 30/08/2024

How to cite this article: Gallego Sánchez JA. Decrease in student scientific production, a problem only for the student?. Med. Es. [Internet]. 2024 [cited access date]; 4(2). Available in:  https://revmedest.sld.cu/index.php/medest/article/view/261

Dear Director:

Scientific research is a necessity for the development of a branch of science as extensive as Medicine, which requires up-to-date and accurate knowledge about the different conditions of the health status of patients, as well as international epidemiological events. In this sense, there are several scientific journals interested in publishing the results of research developed by students of medical sciences; however, excessively long review times in some journals cause demotivation in the student research community, which leads to scientific production being affected.

This decrease has been studied by several authors because according to Pastor et al., cited by Castro Rodríguez ⁽¹⁾, in 2020, 13,9 % of the total publications found in the SciELO databases and ten journals of the health system, belonged to students. On the other hand, Piñera et al., cited by Castro Rodríguez ⁽¹⁾ express that in 2022 student scientific production corresponded to 10,43 % of the total publications, which represented a decrease equivalent to about 3,5 % of the total articles published.

In recent years, the editorial work of different student journals has been made known through new technologies, which include WhatsApp groups, Telegram, Facebook and other social networks, which means that medical science students have different options to select the journal they consider most appropriate for their study and thus achieve greater projection in the national and international territory.

In most cases, students make great sacrifices to their research, this is evident in the strict schedule of health science students, which requires the consumption of hours that are normally used for rest, which decreases the quality of sleep and increases student stress levels. Once the article is submitted to the selected journal, the review time, in most cases, is excessive, which causes the student to lose interest in the research because he perceives his effort as being undervalued.

Ensuring the quality of the research published in each issue of scientific journals is the main objective and challenge of the editorial team, but the author's right to receive quick responses regarding the review of his study is forgotten. Some publication standards state that the maximum review time will be seven days and that, exceptionally, the period may be extended to fourteen or 20 days depending on the complexity, for consultations with experts. When reviewing these standards, the student decides on the speed of publication and once his research is submitted, the review process extends for months, assuming that the article can be accepted as is, because if modifications are required it extends much longer.

As a member of the editorial team of various Cuban student scientific journals, the author of this letter considers that a quality and in-depth review of an article can be issued in a maximum of one month, which will gain in respect for the time consumed by the authors to contribute to the editorial flow; therefore, the editorial teams of the various student publications are recommended to enforce the review period established in their standards for each article.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

1. Castro Rodríguez Y. La producción científica de estudiantes relacionados con las ciencias de la salud. Rev cuba inf cienc salud. [Internet]. 2023 [cited 20/07/2024]; 34(2023):e2232. Available in: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2307-21132023000100023&Ing=es  

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

JAGS: Conceptualization, investigation, methodology, validation, writing of the original draft, review, editing.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The author declares that there are no conflicts of interest.

FINANCING

No external funding was received.