Learn through innovation, research and publication

Predatory journals - Alarming danger to the society

Research and publications have taken the driver's seat in the last decade, especially amongst the Orthopaedic surgeons of India (Vaishya and Lal, 2016 Oct-Dec)¹. Doing research and publishing scientific papers is crucial to practice evidence-based medicine and keep updated on the latest developments. It is also a quick method to get recognized in your field by your peers and colleagues. Sometimes, publishing literature is vital to gain positions in the profession and achieve promotions (Patralekh et al., 2021)². As a result, there is a sudden upsurge in printed literature that is inaccurate or up to the mark. It has become tough to believe the conclusions provided and alter one's clinical practice based on these facts. Hence, before reading a paper, one must learn to assess the journal's quality and its publications. In recent times, there is an upsurge in the number of predatory journals causing harm to the entire research world.

Article processing charge may be a barrier to publishing

Recently most of the journals charge a fee known as article processing charge (APC) for publication of an article. These charges can vary from journal to journal. This publication fee is often paid by the author, the author's institution, or their research funder organization. Though low- and middle-income countries are usually exempted from APC, India does not come under the category of waiver by most of the journals that ask for the APC. Most of the Indian institutes do not pay for publication and research thus individual researcher suffers huge financial burden due to APC. Hence, less affluent institutions, scholars, and students are unable to publish their work due to these barriers. These articles highlight the challenges faced by authors and solutions for publishers and journals to avoid APCs.

Last five years audit of Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma (JCOT) - A scientometric analysis

BACKGROUND

We have studied the growth of Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma (JCOT), the official journal of the Delhi Orthopaedic Association indexed in PubMed, Scopus and Embase, along with an analysis of citation trends and levels of evidence of published articles in the last five years.

METHODS

SCOPUS and PubMed databases (2015-19) were used to extract publication-related data for the last five years. The official website of the journal was also used to retrieve issue-specific data. An audit of recent publications in the JCOT was conducted focusing on number of issues and publications(year wise), types of articles published, review speed, level of evidence of publications, types of publication(speciality wise), number of publications in PubMed and SCOPUS, number of citations(year wise), national and international authorship and the Cite Scores.

RESULTS

The submissions were increased by 2.8 times and the citations rocketed to 16.6 times in 2019, compared to 2015. A total of 890 papers were there and the journal was cited 1702 times in the last five years. More articles with higher levels of evidence papers are now being published.

CONCLUSION

There has been a significant increase in the numbers of submissions, publications, citations, Cite Score, h-index and contribution by the International authors. Its Editorial efficiency has also been outstanding with timely reviews and editorial decisions. The JCOT has become increasingly internationally relevant in the last five years, in the orthopaedic community. However, JCOT needs to publish more papers with a higher level of evidence like Systematic reviews, Meta-analyses, Randomized Controlled Trials and should only publish top-class lower hierarchy papers (like Case reports, Case-controlled and Retrospective studies).

Current status and challenges of Additive manufacturing in orthopaedics: An overview

Additive manufacturing is a rapidly emerging technology which is being successfully implemented in the various field of medicine as well as in orthopaedics, where it has applications in reducing cartilage defects and treatments of bones. The technology helps through systematic collection of information about the shape of the "defects" and precise fabrication of complex 3D constructs such as cartilage, heart valve, trachea, myocardial bone tissue and blood vessels. In this paper, a large number of the relevant research papers on the additive manufacturing and its application in medical specifically orthopaedics are identified through Scopus had been studied using Bibliometric analysis and application analysis is undertaken. The bibliometric analysis shows that there is an increasing trend in the research reports on additive manufacturing applications in the field of orthopaedics. Discussions are on using technological advancement like scanning techniques and various challenges of the orthopaedic being met by additive manufacturing technology. For patient-specific orthopaedic applications, these techniques incorporate clinical practice and use for effective planning. 3D printed models printed by this technology are accepted for orthopaedic surgery such as revision of lumbar discectomy, pelvic surgery and large scapular osteochondroma. The applications of additive manufacturing in orthopaedics will experience a rapid translation in future. An orthopaedic surgeon can convert need/idea into a reality by using computer-aided design (CAD) software, analysis software to facilitate the manufacturing. Thus, AM provides a comprehensive opportunity to manufacture orthopaedic implantable medical devices.

Role of CT and MRI in the design and development of orthopaedic model using additive manufacturing

OBJECTIVE

To study the role of Computed tomography (CT) and Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for design and development of orthopaedic model using additive manufacturing (AM) technologies.

METHODS

A significant number of research papers in this area are studied to provide the direction of development along with the future scope.

RESULTS

Briefly discussed various steps used to create a 3D model by Additive Manufacturing using CT and MRI scan. These scanning technologies are used to produce medical as well as orthopaedic implants by using AM technologies. The images so produced are exported in different software like OsiriX Imaging Software, 3D slicer, Mimics, Magics, 3D doctor and InVesalius to produce a 3D digital model. Various criteria's achieved by CT and MRI scan for design and development of orthopaedic implant using additive manufacturing are also discussed briefly. AM model created by this process show exact shape, size, dimensions, textures, colour and features.

CONCLUSION

AM technologies help to convert the digital model into a 3D physical object, thereby improving the understanding of patient anatomy for treatment as well as for educational purpose. These scanning technologies have various applications to enhance the AM in the field of orthopaedic. In orthopaedic every patient model is a customised unit, sourced from the individual patient. 3D CAD data captured by these scanning technologies are directly exported in standard triangulate language (STL) format for printing by AM technologies. Crossestion of the physical model fabricated by this process shows a patient's anatomy if the model prepared by using the bone-like material.