Prevalence of Research Publication Misrepresentation Among Urology Residency Applicants and Its Effect on Match Success.

OBJECTIVE: To report the prevalence of research misrepresentation among urology residency applicants and assess its effect on match success.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: All applications to the Columbia University urology residency program for the 2014-2015 match cycle were reviewed. "In-press," "accepted," and "submitted" manuscripts were verified using PubMed, Google Scholar, and journal websites. Misrepresentation for "in-press" and "accepted" manuscripts was defined as: (1) nonexistent manuscript, (2) nonauthorship of existent manuscript, (3) self-promotion to a higher author rank, and/or (4) existent manuscript in a nonpeer-reviewed publication. Logistic regression was performed to identify associated factors of misrepresentation and of match success.

RESULTS: Of 257 applicants, 204 (79.4%) reported 1098 total manuscripts and 142 (55.3%) reported 371 unpublished manuscripts. About 5% (13 of 257) of applicants misrepresented 1 or more publications: 10 listed nonexistent manuscripts, 1 listed a publication for which he/she was listed a lower author rank than reported, 1 listed an accepted manuscript in a nonpeer-reviewed publication and for which he/she was not listed as an author, and 1 listed 4 in-press manuscripts in a nonpeer-reviewed publication. Only 55.8% (139 of 249) of "submitted" manuscripts were published within 12 months, with 41% (51 of 139) published in a journal of a lower impact factor than the reported journal of submission. Higher number of unpublished manuscripts was associated with misrepresentation. Higher Step 1 score, number of away sub-internships, and publication ratio were associated with match success.

CONCLUSION: Research misrepresentation is a persistent issue in urology residency applications. However, misrepresentation in this cohort did not confer a significant advantage in match success.