The Academic Contribution of the United Kingdom in the Field of Minimally Invasive Surgery - A Comparative Study Between Two 5-Year Periods

Abstract

BackgroundThe UK has a long tradition of supporting academic and scientific research. Some have warned that the UK has been steadily losing its edge in terms of the impact it has on innovation and research. Previous research on the role played by the UK in the field of minimally-invasive surgery and endoscopic research revealed that it was ranked 5th globally. We aim to assess whether there has been any change in the amount of British research in the field, or if the UK has changed rank, ten years after a previous assessment.MethodsWe performed an observational study by extracting all published original articles from Surgical Endoscopy, the highest ranking journal on the topic, between 2016 and 2021, and evaluating them for the country of origin of the principal author(s). Abstracts, posters, and meeting reports were not included. These were then compared to previously published work.ResultsThe UK is currently ranked as number ten on the list, contributing 3.47% of all articles. It is preceded by the USA (28.46%), China (11.21%), Japan (9.18%), South Korea (8.22%), Italy (4.62%), France (4.47%), Canada (4.17%), the Netherlands (3.99%) and Germany (3.81%). There are a number of factors that may be responsible for this shift, including Brexit, increased global spending on research, reduced UK funding on research and innovation in general, and increased barriers to research.ConclusionSystematic changes need to be implemented in order to promote research culture and spending in the UK in general, and in healthcare specifically, for this trend to change.Copyright © 2025, The Authors. All rights reserved.