Technology and archives in radiology research: A sampling analysis of articles published in the AJR and Radiology

OBJECTIVE. Our aim was to determine the use of advanced technology and arch iving and the contribution of countries other than United States in the art icles published in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) and Radiolog y. We analyzed the association of these features with the type of research, the main technical features of the modalities used, and the countries of o rigin. MATERIALS AND METHODS. We determined the proportion of articles published i n 18 randomly selected issues of the AJR and Radiology that required advanc ed imaging techniques and relied on the analysis of archived data. "Advance d technology" was defined as imaging techniques that serve a purpose other than simple anatomic imaging or that are not widely available because of th e high cost of the technology, such as functional imaging and computer prog ramming designed for an individual study or simulation studies. We analyzed the association of these features with the country of origin, the topic, a nd the methodology used. RESULTS. Sixteen percent of the studies required advanced technology. MR im aging, CT, and sonography were the most frequently used modalities (31 k, 2 7%, and 15% of studies, respectively). Archiving was used in 37% of the stu dies, and 67% of the original articles were prospective. The articles most commonly originated in North America (67%), Europe (20%), and Asia (12%). CONCLUSION. Only a small percentage of published research studies required advanced technology and approximately one third of the studies used archivi ng. These results may suggest that other criteria, such as the design of th e study, its relevance for daily clinical use, and the originality of the p aper, have a major impact on the acceptance of papers in clinically oriente d radiology journals.