PC38. The Relative Citation Ratio: Examining a Novel Measure of Research Productivity among Plastic and Orthopedic Hand Surgeons

PURPOSE: Measurement of academic output by surgeons is a major factor in research funding and promotion. Historically, the Hirsch index (h-index) has been utilized by many departments. This metric, however, has been re-examined due to concerns of not being field normalized, with subsequent inaccurate cross-specialty comparisons. The relative citation ratio (RCR) was recently developed by the National Institutes of Health to more effectively and accurately describe academic output for each medical specialty. The aim of this study is to assess the correlation of RCR to H-index within academic hand surgeons. METHODS: This study assessed over 200 hand surgeons associated with American Society for Surgery of the Hand and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education certified hand surgery fellowships. Weighted RCR, mean RCR, max RCR were quantified using mean and weighted RCR data queried from the iCite database. H-indices were all determined from publicly available sources. RESULTS: We identified significant association between H-index and weighted RCR. In addition, we found that increased h-index and weighted RCR were significantly associated with elevated academic rank, between assistant/associate and associate/full professorship respectively. Of note, there were no differences seen in the mean RCR across ranks. CONCLUSION: Metrics of academic output by surgeons have critical weight in decisions around research funding and career trajectory. For hand surgeons, the RCR appears to function similarly to the h-index, identifying increased output associated with elevated academic rank. The lack of difference in mean RCR by rank may suggest that volume of publications remains incentivized in academic surgery.