Introduction
Success in scientific publishing has long been measured by citations and impact factors. However, in today’s Medical Affairs landscape, the definition of value is rapidly changing. This article summarizes the ideas from the recent roundtable. “The future of research visibility: beyond traditional metrics,“ where experts from across the field explored how publishing success is evolving, what new impact measures matter most, and how digital transformation and artificial intelligence are reshaping the game.
The panel, which provided a wealth of diverse perspectives, included participation from Shehla SheikhHead of Medical Communication and Publications at Kyowa Kirin; Kim Della Pennadirector of scientific communications for lymphoma, myeloid and multiple myeloma at Johnson & Johnson; Myriam Cheriffounder of Kalyx Medical and former regional medical director of GSK; and Carlos AreiaSenior Data Scientist at Digital Science. The debate was moderated by Natalie Jonkenterprise marketing segment leader, who guided the conversation through the critical challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of research visibility.
Success: still a moving target
Defining success remains one of the biggest challenges. For some organizations, it is still as simple as get data published. For others, success means shaping clinical guidelines or influencing real-world decision making.
Kim explained:
“Many of these tools help us see who is engaging with our post. Are they sharing the post? Did they find it important enough to share? Where is the data being incorporated? Is it being used in policies and guidelines, cost data, real-world healthcare data, or by population health decision makers for access?”
Myriam emphasized how the lens has expanded over the last decade:
“A decade ago, people simply looked at impact factors and citations. Now, we discuss with healthcare professionals how the data applies to patients. Sometimes an article may be more practical for certain regions. We have moved towards a more holistic approach.”
Metrics beyond the traditional
Today, there is a wealth of data available, but the challenge is deciding which metrics are truly meaningful. Downloads, mentions and social media shares are only part of the story.
Carlos noticed the complexity:
“Things are changing quite quickly with the data. How do you track success when different publications have different goals? Sometimes the goal is to see how quickly new studies make it into clinical guidelines. Other times, it’s about reaching a very specific group of oncologists in a country.”
Sentiment analysis is also becoming a key tool:
“We can now see whether a publication has been well or poorly received, for example, by a group of cardiologists. Medical Affairs is quickly adapting to what real-time data can offer,” Carlos added.
The Discoverability Dilemma
Shehla raised a critical issue: ensuring that the right stakeholders can find the publications.
“Discoverability is very important. A lot of data ends up in supplementary indexes, which aren’t always accessible. If it’s not available directly through the article, that’s problematic. It begs the question: How much do we include in the main publication versus how much do we withhold for supplementary materials?”
The difficulty, he argued, is not only in publishing but in making materials traceable. Without DOIs or identifiers, measuring performance across channels becomes impossible.
Carlos emphasized that when any type of content is uploaded, including supplementary data, infographics and plain language summaries, shared fig and is assigned a DOI, it becomes accessible and trackable. This is a critical step that several Digital Science clients are already using to monitor and demonstrate the impact of their materials and gain truly deep insights into who interacts with their content.
Formats and channels that resonate
Visual and digital formats are transforming scientific communication. With tools like Altmetric and Figshare, it’s now possible to track which content resonates with different audiences, for example whether visual summaries work best for patients, short videos for doctors in training, or news or news platforms. medscape for high-level doctors.
Key takeaways from the discussion included:
- Infographics and visual summaries help make complex data more digestible for both healthcare professionals and patients.
- Social media engagement, accelerated since COVID-19, has expanded the demographic reach of posts.
- Podcasts, YouTube, and blogs are emerging as alternative channels for disseminating research.
Shehla summed up the opportunity:
“Data visualization has been a game-changer. It helps people understand complex results without simplifying them. But it has to be a true representation of the data.”
Strategic decision making with engagement data
Participation data is no longer just descriptive: it is strategic.
Myriam explained:
“This data helps us know which publications to expand and in what format. If a subgroup analysis is relevant to Asia or South America, we integrate it into the regional strategy. Members want to know how to use this data locally, whether in slides or field medical materials.”
Carlos added an example of reverse engineering success:
“We worked with a partner who presented two essays at the same conference. One became a guide in a specific country much faster than the other. By looking at the local attention it got on social media, news and so on, we tried to understand why.”
The future: AI, social networks and trust
Looking ahead, AI and digital platforms will further alter how success is measured.
Myriam highlighted new challenges:
“Citations and downloads will matter less. Healthcare professionals are already using AI tools to answer questions about diseases and treatments. But a recent study showed less than 15% overlap in references from Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity when asked the same question. Metadata and references will be critical to ensuring our publications are selected correctly.”
Kim added:
“We need to optimize what we create so that AI can collect data through correct labeling. Who interacts, what types of data it interacts with, and what channel it uses: these are all factors we need to plan for.”
Carlos warned about the risks:
“AI is a wonderful tool if used correctly, but as computer scientists used to say: it’s ‘garbage in, garbage out’. AI is very confident even when it’s wrong. The real value comes from using the right data together with AI to help people understand it better and extract the necessary information from it, while mitigating its potential for misuse and misinformation.”
Conclusion: towards a holistic and dynamic vision of impact
As the panel made clear, measuring publishing performance can no longer be reduced to a single number. Success is multidimensional, context-specific, and evolves alongside technology and stakeholder expectations.
Traditional metrics such as citations and impact factors are still useful, but they are no longer sufficient. Engagement data, sentiment, and discoverability are now critical to understanding whether a post is truly resonating and reaching its target audience. At the same time, artificial intelligence, social media, and new digital formats are reshaping how and who consumes research. And sometimes the most meaningful measures are the informal ones: when medical-scientific liaisons listen to healthcare professionals discuss an article, when KOLs reference it without being prompted, or when data directly influences patient care.
A call to rethink success
The future of journal success will depend on Medical Affairs teams embracing this broader, more dynamic definition of impact. By combining rigorous traditional metrics with innovative digital measures and ensuring content is discoverable, trackable, and presented in accessible formats, organizations can create lasting value. The most important thing is to reframe success around Real-world influence and patient outcomes ensures that research is not only published, but makes a difference.
continue the conversation
At Digital Science, we are committed to helping Medical Affairs professionals thrive in an era when the visibility and impact of research is being redefined. To deepen the insights shared on this panel, we invite you to explore our latest white paper, “Empowering medical affairs in the digital age“ written by a thought leader Maria Elena Bates. Inside, you’ll find practical strategies to meet changing challenges, demonstrate value, and drive measurable results.
Mary Ellen Bates will also lead our upcoming webinar, “From Data Chaos to Strategic Impact: Transforming Medical Affairs in the Digital Age” (Tuesday, October 28, 2025).
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