1. !"
Introduc)on*
Urologists,"like"any"specialists"within"their"field,"consistently"strive"for"the"highest"standards"
of"clinical"and"research"prac9ce."Dissemina9on"of"clinical"outcomes,"basic"research"and"
ideas"both"locally"and"interna9onally"through"publica9ons"helps"achieve"this"
goal."The"Urological"Society"of"Australia"and"New"Zealand"(USANZ)"recognised"such"
importance"in"2009"when"it"moved"its"official"publica9on"from"the"bi!na9onally"based"ANZ$
Journal$of$Surgery$(ANZJS)"to"the"BJU$Interna5onal"(BJUI)"[1]."This"move"occurred"post"an"
affilia9on"which"started"in"2005,"when"the"BJUI""became"the"journal"u9lised"for"abstract"
submissions"for"the"USANZ"na9onal"mee9ng"[2]."
Conclusions*
Post"USANZ’"alignment"with"the"BJUI"in"2009:"
• ""An"increasing"number"of"Australian"and"New"Zealand"authors"were"successful"
in"achieving"publica9on"in"the"BJUI."" ""
• ""The"ANJS"showed"a"small"decrease"in"urological"publica9ons"by"Australian"and"New"
Zealand"authors.""But"remained"rela9vely"stable"from"2010"onwards."
These"results"reflect"a"larger"and"increasing"interna9onal"representa9on"of"Australian"and"
New"Zealand"research"within"the"area"of"urology"and"certainly"indicates"a"successful"
strategic"move"by"USANZ"to"enhance"the"interna9onal"academic"reputa9on"of"Australian"
and"New"Zealand"urologists."
Results and Discussion
Within"the"BJUI"the"data"collated"revealed"an"increase"in"publica9ons"especially"aUer"2009,"
the"year"in"which"it"aligned"with"USANZ"(see"figure"1)."Although"the"data"fluctuates"to"a"minor"
degree,"there"is"an"underlying"trend"which"iden9fies"an"increase"in"publica9ons"since"the"
switch."""
There"also"appeared"to"be"a"degree"of"lag"9me"in"the"bulk"increase"of"publica9ons,"with"the"
largest"increase"in"published"ar9cles"occurring"in"2010."We"postulate"this"lag"9me"was"due"to"
a"latent"awareness"of"the"change"in"official"journal"for"authors"throughout"the"country."
Conversely","the"ANZJS$shows"a"less"impressive"declining"trend"however,"the"data"suggests"
that"post"2010"the"number"of"submissions"to"the"journal"remained"rela9vely"stable.$
The"accuracy"of"the"algorithm"used"in"this"study"to"search"for"urology"based"publica9ons"
varied"from"73%"to"100%"(average"of"89.5%)"when"comparing"our"search"results"with"the"
number"of"ar9cles"in"the"BJUI"for"a"given"year."These"sta9s9cs"were"iden9fied"by"assessing"
how"many"ar9cles"failed"to"be"returned"by"the"algorithm"but"which"s9ll"appeared"in"the"BJUI."
The"main"limita9on"of"this"study"is"that"the"number"of"publica9ons"retrieved"are"small"rela9ve"
to"the"number"of"supplement"publica9ons"by"Australian"and"New"Zealand"authors."It"is"also"
possible"that"some"ar9cles"may"not"have"been"retrieved"if"an"Australian"or"New"Zealand"
author"did"not"iden9fy"their"country"or"the"country"of"their"ins9tu9on."
Given"the"limited"6"year"9me"period"assessed"and"the"results"shown"below,"a"further"analysis"
would"ideally"include"the"number"of"publica9ons"in"the"BJUI"and"the"ANZJS"with"the"next"4"
years,"un9l"2017."
Methods*
Using"the"database"MEDLINE"an"algorithm"was"constructed"to"elucidate"the"number"of"
Australian"and"New"Zealand"urology!based"publica9ons,"which"were"included"in"the"ANZJS"
or"the"BJUI"between"2007!2012."The"results"retrieved"from"this"algorithm"were"restricted"
by"removing"all"ar9cles"published"in"supplemental"journals."This"was"done"to"solely"
highlight"those"ar9cles"which"received"interna9onal"exposure"within"the"main"journals"and"
to"ensure"the"data"was"comparable"across"both"the"BJUI"and"the"ANZJS."
To"ensure"that"only"urology!related"ar9cles"were"revealed""a"search"strategy"u9lising"
exploded"subject"headings"(or"MeSH"terms)"was"implemented."The"authors"then"manually"
excluded"from"the"remaining"data"any"publica9on"that"did"not"have"a"urological"focus"in"the"
9tle"and/or"abstract."
Iden9cal"strategies"were"implemented"for"both"the"ANZJS"and"the"BJUI"searches"to"ensure"
fair"comparison"of"results."We"iden9fied"Australian"and"New"Zealand"based"authors"by"
limi9ng"data"retrieval"by"the"ins9tu9on"field."""
The"9me"frame"implemented"in"the"search"strategy"(2007!2012)"was"selected"to"ensure"
data"before"and"aUer"the"USANZ"move"was"included,"so"that"the"aforemen9oned"objec9ves"
could"be"met."""
Aim*
We"aim"to"measure"the"impact"of"regional"and"interna9onal"exposure"resul9ng"
from"the"USANZ"decision"to"change"its"official"publica9on"by"iden9fying"the"number"of"
publica9ons"(not"including"supplements)"in"both"journals"before"and"aUer"the"move."""
We"postulate,"that"subsequent"to"the"move,"the"number"of"Australian"and"New"Zealand"
based"publica9ons"in"the"BJUI"increased"in"contrast"to"a"decreasing"number"of"urology!
based"publica9ons"represented"in"the"ANJS."
Fig$1:$Number$of$Australian$and$New$Zealand$urology$publica5ons$(without$supplements)$in$the$BJUI$
and$ANZJS$since$2007$
References*
[1]:"Urological"Society"of"Australia"and"New"Zealand"2011$Annual$Report,"Pg"4"[Accessed"online"10/11/2013]:"
hgp://www.usanz.org.au/uploads/29168/ufiles/2011%20USANZ%20Annual%20Report.pdf]"
[2]: Urological"Society"of"Australia"and"New"Zealand"Publica5ons$[Accessed online 10/11/2013]:
http://www.usanz.org.au/usanz-publications/
Timothy S Roach1, Todd G Manning1, Damien M Bolton1, Shomik Sengupta1, Nathan Lawrentschuk1
1University of Melbourne, Department of Surgery, Urology Unit, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand’s alignment with the
BJUI: A collaborative regional and international success
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2006" 2007" 2008" 2009" 2010" 2011" 2012" 2013"
Number'of'publica/ons'
Year'
ANJS"Publica6ons" BJUI"Publica6ons"