Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas

Autores
Farji Brener, Alejandro; Amador Vargas, Sabrina
Año de publicación
2023
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión aceptada
Descripción
The principle of resource allocation states that diversion of resources to attend a function may compromise others. The COVID-19 pandemic required a rapid response with a justifiable relocation of equipment, funds and human resources. Based on the ecological principle of allocation, we tested whether the relocation of resources to support COVID-19 research was more detrimental to medical research than to research in other scientific areas. We compared the yearly number of published articles from 2015 to 2021 using disease-related keywords and non-medical scientific keywords. Contrary to the expectation, we found an abrupt reduction in the publication rates in all research areas from 2019 to 2020 or 2021, compared to the pre-pandemic period (2015–2019). The allocation effect on medical research may be overshadowed by stronger effects of the pandemic, or it may become evident in the coming years. The drastic reduction in published papers could have negative consequences for scientific advancements, including understanding and curing diseases other than COVID-19 that strongly affect humanity.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Ambiente; Argentina.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.
Fil: Amador Vargas, Sabrina. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Panama.
Fuente
PeerJ Journals
Materia
COVID-19
Pandemic
Pandemia
Collateral damage
Daños colaterales
Public health
Salud pública
Funding
Financiamiento
Ciencias Biomédicas
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo)
Institución
Universidad Nacional del Comahue
OAI Identificador
oai:rdi.uncoma.edu.ar:uncomaid/17290
Acceder
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oai_identifier_str oai:rdi.uncoma.edu.ar:uncomaid/17290
network_acronym_str RDIUNCO
repository_id_str 7108
network_name_str Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo)
spelling Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areasFarji Brener, AlejandroAmador Vargas, SabrinaCOVID-19PandemicPandemiaCollateral damageDaños colateralesPublic healthSalud públicaFundingFinanciamientoCiencias BiomédicasThe principle of resource allocation states that diversion of resources to attend a function may compromise others. The COVID-19 pandemic required a rapid response with a justifiable relocation of equipment, funds and human resources. Based on the ecological principle of allocation, we tested whether the relocation of resources to support COVID-19 research was more detrimental to medical research than to research in other scientific areas. We compared the yearly number of published articles from 2015 to 2021 using disease-related keywords and non-medical scientific keywords. Contrary to the expectation, we found an abrupt reduction in the publication rates in all research areas from 2019 to 2020 or 2021, compared to the pre-pandemic period (2015–2019). The allocation effect on medical research may be overshadowed by stronger effects of the pandemic, or it may become evident in the coming years. The drastic reduction in published papers could have negative consequences for scientific advancements, including understanding and curing diseases other than COVID-19 that strongly affect humanity.Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Ambiente; Argentina.Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.Fil: Amador Vargas, Sabrina. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Panama.PeerJAlbuquerque, Ulises (ed.)2023-06-13info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfpp. 2-10application/pdfhttp://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/handle/uncomaid/17290PeerJ Journalsreponame:Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo)instname:Universidad Nacional del ComahueengDOI 10.7717/peerj.15436https://peerj.com/articles/15436/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/2025-09-04T11:12:30Zoai:rdi.uncoma.edu.ar:uncomaid/17290instacron:UNCoInstitucionalhttp://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/Universidad públicaNo correspondehttp://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/oaimirtha.mateo@biblioteca.uncoma.edu.ar; adriana.acuna@biblioteca.uncoma.edu.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:71082025-09-04 11:12:31.137Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo) - Universidad Nacional del Comahuefalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas
title Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas
spellingShingle Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas
Farji Brener, Alejandro
COVID-19
Pandemic
Pandemia
Collateral damage
Daños colaterales
Public health
Salud pública
Funding
Financiamiento
Ciencias Biomédicas
title_short Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas
title_full Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas
title_fullStr Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas
title_full_unstemmed Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas
title_sort Collateral damage: has the COVID-19 pandemic more strongly impacted medical research than other scientific areas
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Farji Brener, Alejandro
Amador Vargas, Sabrina
author Farji Brener, Alejandro
author_facet Farji Brener, Alejandro
Amador Vargas, Sabrina
author_role author
author2 Amador Vargas, Sabrina
author2_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Albuquerque, Ulises (ed.)
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv COVID-19
Pandemic
Pandemia
Collateral damage
Daños colaterales
Public health
Salud pública
Funding
Financiamiento
Ciencias Biomédicas
topic COVID-19
Pandemic
Pandemia
Collateral damage
Daños colaterales
Public health
Salud pública
Funding
Financiamiento
Ciencias Biomédicas
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The principle of resource allocation states that diversion of resources to attend a function may compromise others. The COVID-19 pandemic required a rapid response with a justifiable relocation of equipment, funds and human resources. Based on the ecological principle of allocation, we tested whether the relocation of resources to support COVID-19 research was more detrimental to medical research than to research in other scientific areas. We compared the yearly number of published articles from 2015 to 2021 using disease-related keywords and non-medical scientific keywords. Contrary to the expectation, we found an abrupt reduction in the publication rates in all research areas from 2019 to 2020 or 2021, compared to the pre-pandemic period (2015–2019). The allocation effect on medical research may be overshadowed by stronger effects of the pandemic, or it may become evident in the coming years. The drastic reduction in published papers could have negative consequences for scientific advancements, including understanding and curing diseases other than COVID-19 that strongly affect humanity.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Ambiente; Argentina.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.
Fil: Amador Vargas, Sabrina. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Panama.
description The principle of resource allocation states that diversion of resources to attend a function may compromise others. The COVID-19 pandemic required a rapid response with a justifiable relocation of equipment, funds and human resources. Based on the ecological principle of allocation, we tested whether the relocation of resources to support COVID-19 research was more detrimental to medical research than to research in other scientific areas. We compared the yearly number of published articles from 2015 to 2021 using disease-related keywords and non-medical scientific keywords. Contrary to the expectation, we found an abrupt reduction in the publication rates in all research areas from 2019 to 2020 or 2021, compared to the pre-pandemic period (2015–2019). The allocation effect on medical research may be overshadowed by stronger effects of the pandemic, or it may become evident in the coming years. The drastic reduction in published papers could have negative consequences for scientific advancements, including understanding and curing diseases other than COVID-19 that strongly affect humanity.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023-06-13
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str acceptedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/handle/uncomaid/17290
url http://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/handle/uncomaid/17290
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv DOI 10.7717/peerj.15436
https://peerj.com/articles/15436/
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
pp. 2-10
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv PeerJ
publisher.none.fl_str_mv PeerJ
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv PeerJ Journals
reponame:Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo)
instname:Universidad Nacional del Comahue
reponame_str Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo)
collection Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo)
instname_str Universidad Nacional del Comahue
repository.name.fl_str_mv Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo) - Universidad Nacional del Comahue
repository.mail.fl_str_mv mirtha.mateo@biblioteca.uncoma.edu.ar; adriana.acuna@biblioteca.uncoma.edu.ar
_version_ 1842344043714969600
score 12.623145

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