2564. What Predicts Journal Publication Tier and Audience Engagement in the Infectious Diseases Literature? A Review of 146 Publications

BACKGROUND: As part of an online medical education project (www.idjournal.club), we surveilled the infectious diseases (ID) literature, selecting subsets of what we deemed the most clinically impactful articles on a monthly basis using a prespecified search algorithm. We used this resource to perform a broad overview of articles published in the field and examine factors associated with publication in higher tier journals and higher rates of public and ID community engagement. METHODS: We examined articles reviewed on www.idjournal.club between June and September 2018. For each article, we recorded the publishing journal, subfield of ID, study type, nation and degree of the lead author, and sample size, and we assigned the paper up to three topic keywords. Our outcomes of interest were the publishing journal’s Scimago Journal Rank (SJR), a surrogate for journal tier, and the article’s Altmetric score, a surrogate for audience engagement. RESULTS: Of 146 articles included in the analysis, the most common study types were retrospective observational (n = 47), randomized controlled trial (n = 23), in vitro (n = 20), and prospective observational (n = 19). The median sample size was 238; median sample sizes were higher for randomized controlled trials (n = 400) and lower for in vitro and pharmacokinetic/pharmacokinetic studies (n = 53 and n = 44). Lead authors were based in the United States in 38% of cases and in North America or Europe in 86% of cases. Physicians accounted for 65% of lead authors, PhDs 23%, and PharmDs 10%. The most commonly referenced pathogens were HIV, MDR Gram-negative bacteria, S. aureus, and C. difficile; the most commonly referenced disease states were bacteremia, sexually transmitted infection, respiratory tract infection, and UTI. The mean SJR was 3.5 (SD 3.1) and the mean Altmetric score was 54.5 (SD 143). SJR and Altmetric score were associated with study type, sample size, and key topics; Altmetric score was also associated with publishing journal. In multivariate analysis, SJR was associated with study type and sample size, and Altmetric score was associated with ID subfield, journal, and sample size. CONCLUSION: We present a descriptive overview of the ID literature and identify article factors associated with journal tier and audience engagement after publication. DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.