1. Comment
Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand's
alignment with the BJU International:
a collaborative success magnified by
a supplement journal
Todd G. Manning*, Timothy S. Roach*, Nathan Papa*, Damien M. Bolton*†‡
,
Shomik Sengupta*†‡
, David Nicol¶
and Nathan Lawrentschuk*†‡§
*Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne, and §
Department of Surgical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer
Centre, Melbourne, †
Urology Unit, Austin Hospital, and ‡
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Heidelberg, Victoria,
Australia, and ¶
Royal Marsden Hospital, Urology Unit, London, UK
Introduction
Urologists, like any specialists within their field, consistently
strive for the highest standards of clinical and research
practice. Dissemination of clinical outcomes, basic research
and ideas, both locally and internationally, through
publications helps achieve this goal. The USANZ, recognising
this, moved its official publication from the bi-nationally based
ANZ Journal of Surgery (ANZJS) to the BJU International
(BJUI) in 2009 [1]. This move consolidated an affiliation
which started in 2005, when the BJUI became the journal used
for publishing abstracts of the USANZ National Scientific
Meeting [2]. The BJU International Australia and New Zealand
Supplement was created as a platform for publications from
USANZ members and trainees, with the first edition published
in 2011 [3]. To date, there have been six editions of this
supplement, which almost solely publishes the work of
Australian and New Zealand authors, promoting their
international exposure.
Our aim was to measure the impact on regional and
international exposure resulting from the USANZ decision to
change its official journal, by identifying the number of
publications (not including supplements) in both journals
before and after the move (2008–2013). We also aimed to
identify the locations from which these publications
originated, and the category of urology under which they fell.
We hypothesised that subsequent to the move, the number of
Australian and New Zealand-based publications in the BJUI
increased with concomitantly a decreasing number of urology
publications in the ANZJS.
Methods
The authors used online access to manually review and count
all published BJUI journal publications from Australian and
New Zealand authors from 2008 until the end of 2013. Special
editions (apart from the BJU International Australia and New
Zealand Supplement) and National Meeting Supplements were
excluded. All categories of publication were included except
for editorial comments, description of techniques, book
reviews, pharmaceutical reviews, surgery illustrated and
letters.
Using the database MEDLINE an algorithm was then
constructed to elucidate the number of Australian and New
Zealand publications in urology, which were included in the
ANZJS for comparison. To ensure that only urology-related
articles were revealed via this method a search strategy using
exploded medical subject headings (MeSH terms) was
implemented. The authors then manually excluded from the
remaining data any publication that did not have a urological
focus in the title and/or abstract. We identified Australian and
New Zealand-based authors by limiting data retrieval by the
institution field.
The time-frame implemented in the search strategy
(2008–2012) was selected to ensure data before and after the
USANZ move was included, so that the aforementioned
objectives could be met.
Results and Discussion
Within the BJUI, there was an increase in Australian and New
Zealand publications after 2009, the year in which it became
the official journal of USANZ. The most notable increase was
between 2010 and 2011, with a small decline in 2013. Despite
the decline in 2013, the number of Australian and New
Zealand articles remained considerably higher than those
published before the move (Fig. 1). We noted that when
articles were printed in the BJUI they were often accepted for
© 2014 The Authors
BJU International © 2014 BJU International | doi:10.1111/bju.12916 BJU Int 2014; 114, Supplement 1, 3–5
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.bjui.org wileyonlinelibrary.com

2. publication the prior year. This may explain the large increase
in publications from Australian and New Zealand authors in
2010.
After the introduction of the BJU International Australia and
New Zealand Supplement, we noted a substantial increase in
the numbers of Australian and New Zealand publications.
However, a year-on-year comparison was not possible, as there
were two supplements each in 2011 and 2012 but only one in
2013. Despite this, the overall trend still reflects a substantial
increase in publications from Australian and New
Zealand-based authors since the official change in publication
and the introduction of the BJU International Australia and
New Zealand Supplement (Fig. 1).
Geographically, Victoria and New South Wales accounted for
over half of the publications in the BJUI from 2008 to 2013,
reflecting a proportionately larger number of Fellows in each
of these states [4]. Overall, numbers of publications from each
Australian state and New Zealand mirrored the numbers of
Fellows, although Victoria seemed to be over-represented
putatively due to a greater focus on academic urology in that
state [5] (Fig. 2).
The most common category of publication by Australian and
New Zealand authors was urological oncology, with much
larger numbers of publications in urological oncology,
comments and lower urinary tract than other areas of interest
(Table 1).
In contrast, the ANZJS had a slight declining trend in numbers
of urology publications from Australian and New Zealand
sources over the study period. The difference in regression
coefficient for a linear line of best fit (2008 to 2012) between
submitted articles to the BJUI without the BJU International
Australia and New Zealand Supplement and Australian and
New Zealand Urology-based publications in ANZJS revealed a
P value of 0.005.
The main limitation of our present study is the relatively short
time-frame. We will continue to examine future trends in
publication of urology research from Australian and New
Zealand centres.
Conclusions
Following USANZ’ alignment with the BJUI in 2009, an
increasing number of Australian and New Zealand
publications appeared in the BJUI, with a further increase with
the introduction of the BJU International Australian and New
Zealand Supplement.
The ANJS showed a small decrease in urological publications
by Australian and New Zealand authors.
A comparative analysis between the BJUI and ANZJS
submissions revealed a P value of 0.005.
Fig. 1 Combined numbers of Australian and New Zealand (ANZ)
publications according to journal.
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
BJUI ANZ Publications
(Supplement not
Included)
BJUI ANZ publications
(Supplement Included)
ANZJS publications
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Fig. 2 Australian and New Zealand articles with breakdown by location
and number of active urology fellows.
0
VIC
NSW
QLD
SA
NT
TAS
WA
ACT
NZ
20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Number of Active
Urology Fellows
Total Number
of Publications
inc Supplement
Table 1 Article breakdown by category of Australian and New Zealand
urology publications.
Category for publication Total number of
publications
Urological Oncology 35
Investigative Urology 11
Upper Renal Tract 3
Lower Renal Tract 15
Reconstructive and Paediatric Urology 1
Sexual Medicine 5
Laparoscopic and Robotic Urology 5
Comments 5
Editorial Comments 4
Cochrane Review 1
Review 1
Mini-Review 4
Functional Urology 1
Editor’s Choice 3
Translational Science 4
Comment
© 2014 The Authors
4 BJU International © 2014 BJU International

3. Numbers of publications from various regions largely reflected
numbers of Fellows, although Victorian authors were
over-represented.
The most common category of publication was urological
oncology.
These results reflect an increasing international representation
of Australian and New Zealand urological research. The
alignment with the BJUI has also provided a platform for
publishing USANZ Positions Statements, which will hopefully
influence regional and international urology [6]. This appears
to have been a successful strategic move by USANZ to
enhance the international academic reputation of Australian
and New Zealand urologists, especially within the area of
urological oncology.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge David Nicol who was the
founding editor of the BJU International Australian and
New Zealand Supplement. Along with enthusiasm and
encouragement from the late Prof John Fitzpatrick, former
Editor-In-Chief of the BJUI, USANZ representation headed by
David Malouf as the USANZ board representative on the BJUI
Trust, as well as the continuing support of the many at the
BJUI including the current Editor-in-chief Prokar Dasgupta,
have all been instrumental in the success of the partnership.
Conflict of Interest
None declared from any of the authors.
References
1 Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand. Urological Society of
Australia and New Zealand 2011 Annual Report. p4. Available at:
http://www.usanz.org.au/uploads/29168/ufiles/2011%20USANZ
%20Annual%20Report.pdf. Accessed November 2013
2 BJU International. Volume 95 Issue Supplement 1. Available at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2005.05363.x/
abstract. Accessed Accessed September 2014
3 Malouf D. Forward to special issue: BJU International Australia and New
Zealand Supplement. BJU Int 2011; 107 (Suppl. 3): 2
4 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Royal Australasian College of
Surgeons Annual Report 2013. Available at: http://www.surgeons.org/
policies-publications/publications/. Accessed August 2014
5 Woo HH. Academic publishing by senior academics in urology in NSW
and Victoria. ANZ J Surg 2014; 84: 296–7
6 Thompson J, Lawrentschuk N, Frydenberg M, Thompson L,
Stricker P, USANZ. The role of magnetic resonance imaging in the
diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. BJU Int 2013; 112 (Suppl.
2): 6–20
Correspondence: Nathan Lawrentschuk, University of
Melbourne, Department of Surgery, Austin Hospital, Suite 5,
210 Burgundy St Heidelberg Vic 3084, Australia.
e-mail: lawrentschuk@gmail.com
Comment
© 2014 The Authors
BJU International © 2014 BJU International 5