Prevalence of Research Publication Misrepresentation Among Urology Residency Applicants and Its Effect on Match Success

Abstract

To report the prevalence of research misrepresentation among urology residency applicants and assess its effect on match success. All applications to the Columbia University urology residency program for the 2014-2015 match cycle were reviewed. "In-press," "accepted," and "submitted" manuscripts were verified using PubMed, Google Scholar, and journal websites. Misrepresentation for "in-press" and "accepted" manuscripts was defined as: (1) nonexistent manuscript, (2) nonauthorship of existent manuscript, (3) self-promotion to a higher author rank, and/or (4) existent manuscript in a nonpeer-reviewed publication. Logistic regression was performed to identify associated factors of misrepresentation and of match success. Of 257 applicants, 204 (79.4%) reported 1098 total manuscripts and 142 (55.3%) reported 371 unpublished manuscripts. About 5% (13 of 257) of applicants misrepresented 1 or more publications: 10 listed nonexistent manuscripts, 1 listed a publication for which he/she was listed a lower author rank than reported, 1 listed an accepted manuscript in a nonpeer-reviewed publication and for which he/she was not listed as an author, and 1 listed 4 in-press manuscripts in a nonpeer-reviewed publication. Only 55.8% (139 of 249) of "submitted" manuscripts were published within 12 months, with 41% (51 of 139) published in a journal of a lower impact factor than the reported journal of submission. Higher number of unpublished manuscripts was associated with misrepresentation. Higher Step 1 score, number of away sub-internships, and publication ratio were associated with match success. Research misrepresentation is a persistent issue in urology residency applications. However, misrepresentation in this cohort did not confer a significant advantage in match success.