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“Publish or Perish”: barriers to research publication in an undergraduate medical research program
Open accessAbstract
Objectives: Publication is one of the crucial parameters in research, and the inability to publish has been noted in many medical students’ projects due to different reasons. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the obstacles that prevented medical students in a health science university from publishing their research from 2018 to 2021. First, an online survey was distributed to assess the obstacles to publication perceived by the medical students. Second, a total of 81 research projects were evaluated by scientific reviewers and their final decision about the publication was recorded. Results: In total, 162 students filled out the survey. The barriers faced by the students were various. They included an unsupportive research supervisor, a lack of time, an insufficient sample size, and many others. In the reviewer’s evaluation, out of 81 projects, 70 projects (86.4%) were recommended to be published after minor or major modifications, while 11 projects (13.6%) were rejected due to poor writing style, poor results interpretation, and incorrect methodology. Conclusion: Articulating the barriers to undergraduate medical research publication is important in boosting publication rates and research experience of graduating medical students. Medical research educators and research supervisors should strongly consider creating a framework that tackles existing obstacles and any future matters.
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“Alsulami AF et al., conducted a study showing that 9.9% of participants faced challenges in research due to limited access to data, including missing or inaccessible electronic medical records (22).”
From Research Publication Challenges Faced by Dentists in India: A Narrative Review of Multilevel Barriers (2026) · cites this paper as [22]
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“Like-wise, Alsulami AF et al., observed that 38.9% of participants perceived an unsupportive research supervisor as a substantial barrier to publishing their work (22).”
From Research Publication Challenges Faced by Dentists in India: A Narrative Review of Multilevel Barriers (2026) · cites this paper as [22]
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“These findings underscore the importance of topic selection and meticulous research planning for successful publication outcomes (22).”
From Research Publication Challenges Faced by Dentists in India: A Narrative Review of Multilevel Barriers (2026) · cites this paper as [22]
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“According to Alsulami AF et al., 4.3% of participants reported poor proficiency in English (22).”
From Research Publication Challenges Faced by Dentists in India: A Narrative Review of Multilevel Barriers (2026) · cites this paper as [22]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Alsulami, A. F., Khaimi, Z. O., Hadi, M. A., Aljabri, Y. H., Mayet, T. S., & Althubaiti, A.
- Affiliations
- King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (SA)
- Corresponding author
- Althubaiti, Alaa
- Venue
- BMC Research Notes
- Published
- 2023-10-13
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 269-269
- ISSN
- 1756-0500 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10571371
- OpenAlex
- W4387616311
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3
- FWCI
- 2.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Research Notes (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Science
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health and Medical Research Impacts
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Academic Writing and Publishing
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Sciences Research and Education
- Keywords
- undergraduate medical research, medical students, publish or perish, research supervision, publication rates, research training, sample size limitations
- MeSH terms
- Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, Surveys and Questionnaires, Research Personnel, Students, Medical, Biomedical Research
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