General medical publications during COVID-19 show increased dissemination despite lower validation.
Nan GaiKazuyoshi AoyamaDavid FaraoniNeil M GoldenbergDavid N LevinJason T MaynesMark J McVeyFarrukh MunsheyAsad SiddiquiTimothy SwitzerBenjamin Ethan SteinbergPublished in: PloS one (2021)
In this cross-sectional study of publications in four general medical journals, COVID-related articles were significantly different from non-COVID articles based on article characteristics and impact metrics. COVID-related studies were generally shorter articles reporting observational studies with less literature cited and fewer study sites, suggestive of more limited scientific support. They nevertheless had much higher dissemination.