Focus on People and the Science Will Follow: Motivating Forces for Professional Movement in Stem Cell Research

Information and Scientific Impact of Advanced Therapies in the Age of Mass Media: Altmetrics-Based Analysis of Tissue Engineering

BACKGROUND

Tissue engineering (TE) constitutes a multidisciplinary field aiming to construct artificial tissues to regenerate end-stage organs. Its development has taken place since the last decade of the 20th century, entailing a clinical revolution. TE research groups have worked and shared relevant information in the mass media era. Thus, it would be interesting to study the online dimension of TE research and to compare it with traditional measures of scientific impact.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to evaluate the online dimension of TE documents from 2012 to 2018 using metadata obtained from the Web of Science (WoS) and Altmetric and to develop a prediction equation for the impact of TE documents from altmetric scores.

METHODS

We analyzed 10,112 TE documents through descriptive and statistical methods. First, the TE temporal evolution was exposed for WoS and 15 online platforms (news, blogs, policy, Twitter, patents, peer review, Weibo, Facebook, Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, F1000, Q&A, video, and Mendeley Readers). The 10 most cited TE original articles were ranked according to the normalized WoS citations and the normalized Altmetric Attention Score. Second, to better comprehend the TE online framework, correlation and factor analyses were performed based on the suitable results previously obtained for the Bartlett sphericity and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin tests. Finally, the linear regression model was applied to elucidate the relation between academics and online media and to construct a prediction equation for TE from altmetrics data.

RESULTS

TE dynamic shows an upward trend in WoS citations, Twitter, Mendeley Readers, and Altmetric Scores. However, WoS and Altmetric rankings for the most cited documents clearly differ. When compared, the best correlation results were obtained for Mendeley Readers and WoS (ρ=0.71). In addition, the factor analysis identified 6 factors that could explain the previously observed differences between academic institutions and the online platforms evaluated. At this point, the mathematical model constructed is able to predict and explain more than 40% of TE WoS citations from Altmetric scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Scientific information related to the construction of bioartificial tissues increasingly reaches society through different online media. Because the focus of TE research importantly differs when the academic institutions and online platforms are compared, basic and clinical research groups, academic institutions, and health politicians should make a coordinated effort toward the design and implementation of adequate strategies for information diffusion and population health education.

Innovations in Training: Toward Mitigating "Eternal post-docdum" in Stem Cell Research

The Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) is an innovative model of large-scale research networks that began in Canada in 1989, and has since been adopted by numerous countries around the globe. The Canadian Stem Cell Network (SCN), an NCE that has fostered stem cell research and innovation in Canada, has supported over 1800 trainees since its inception in 2001. In the present study we assess the impact of such a network on its research trainees professional decision-making and movements. A database populated by the SCN between the years 2001-2013 was utilized to describe trainee professional movement between sectors and geographic regions. Focus groups of SCN trainees (n = 27) were carried out and major themes and subthemes were derived from the discourse using a thematic analysis approach. We found that most SCN trainees remained in Canada and in academic positions after leaving the SCN. Trainees expressed a desire to work in environments where their scientific interests and ideas are nurtured, where funding is stable, and where supervisor mentorship is readily accessible. SCN trainees value the unique opportunities provided by the NCE, including opportunities to network with peers, to attend various workshops and to broaden their knowledge and interest base beyond science and academia. Challenges faced by postdoctoral fellows and recommendations for future NCEs are also discussed. The findings here can be used to form evidence-based recommendations for future research networks and for policy pertaining to the recruitment and retention of highly qualified personnel in stem cell research.