Crowdsourcing in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: A Systematic Review with Reporting Recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Crowdsourcing uses online platforms to collect large data from laypersons and has been increasingly used over the past 5 years to answer questions about aesthetic and functional outcomes following plastic and reconstructive surgery. This systematic review evaluates crowdsourcing articles in plastic and reconstructive surgery based on study topic, participants, and effect size in the hopes of describing best practices. METHODS: A systematic search strategy was developed with a licensed librarian and attending plastic surgeon to query all articles using crowdsourcing in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Covidence systematic review manager was used by two independent reviewers to import articles, screen abstracts, evaluate full texts, and extract data. RESULTS: A search run on October 8, 2021, yielded 168 studies, of which 45 were ultimately included. Craniofacial surgery and aesthetic surgery collectively constituted over half of studies. Participants in plastic surgery crowdsourcing studies are more commonly from the United States, female, straight, 25 to 35 years old; have completed college; and earn $20,000 to $50,000 per year. Studies typically assessed aesthetic perceptions, cost approximately $350, ran a median of 9 days, included approximately 60 unique survey items, and included approximately 40 unique human images. CONCLUSIONS: Crowdsourcing is a relatively new, low-cost method of garnering high-volume data from laypersons that may further our understanding of public perception in plastic and reconstructive surgery. As with other nascent fields, there is significant variability in number of subjects used, subject compensation, and methodology, indicating an opportunity for quality improvement.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Manuscript Submission by Women to Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had far-reaching consequences, occasionally amplifying preexisting disparities. This study examines the impact of COVID-19 on Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (PRS) manuscript submissions by female authors. METHODS: All manuscripts submitted to PRS during the months of March and April of 2018 through 2021 were examined. Gender of the first, corresponding, and senior authors was confirmed using Gender API; the country of the author was abstracted; and appropriate statistical comparisons were made. RESULTS: There were 2512 submissions to PRS during the study period, with a statistically significant increase observed between 2019 and 2020 ( P = 0.008). Despite this significant increase, the proportion of publications by female corresponding and senior authors decreased significantly with the onset of the pandemic ( P < 0.001 for both). This decrease was mirrored by a significant increase in the proportion of male senior and corresponding author publications ( P < 0.001 for both) and female first author publications ( P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Despite a significant increase in overall submissions to PRS during the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion submitted by senior and corresponding female authors declined. Although causality cannot be determined by the authors' methodology, their findings suggest a disproportionate burden on senior female authors during the pandemic with unclear academic repercussions.