Background: For medical graduates, publishing the thesis is essential since it allows the researcher to disseminate the results and adds substantial evidence to the field of medical research.
Aims and Objectives: The present study was planned with the primary objective to assess the publication rates in comparison to the number of medical protocols submitted. The secondary objectives of the study were to assess the details of the studies, journal characteristics, and time delay in publication after study completion.
Materials and Methods: All the postgraduate dissertations that were submitted to the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) between 2016 and 2018 were retrieved. A comprehensive web search was carried out with either the title of the study/name of postgraduate or guide. We recorded the demographic details of the postgraduate student, research characteristics, and journal characteristics. We examined these dissertations’ publishing rates and time delay of publications. This study made use of descriptive statistics.
Results: There were 444 dissertations submitted to the IEC, and 90 of them were published, which represents a publishing rate of 20.27%. The maximum number of publications was seen in 2017-batch 43.3%. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology had a maximum of 17/90 (36.96%) publications. However, when the ratio of postgraduate students in each specialty to the number of publications was examined, the orthopedics department came out on top with 60% of its dissertations published. Around 84.4% of the postgraduates were first authors in their study with 60.78% satisfying the National Medical Council indexing criteria. Indian journals made up just over 50% of the results. The median delay among the 90 publications were noted as 2 (1–3) years with no statistical difference among the three batches (P = 0.3).
Conclusion: The poor publication rates reflect the postgraduate students’ lack of research experience and time restrictions. Therefore, it is necessary to update the infrastructure, legal framework, and financial options for publishing.
Key words: Dissertation; Publication Rates; Journal Indexing
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