A continued growth in the volume of scientific literature may strain the practice of peer review possibly leading to delays in publication. While this appears true anecdotally, exact statistics are lacking. The study goal was to quantify delays in publication in the field of orthopaedic surgery. Eight orthopedic surgery journals with available publication dates between January 2010 and December 2015 were included. Main outcomes were (1) acceptance delay (time from submission to acceptance) and (2) publication delay (time from acceptance to publication). Temporal trends for both outcomes were assessed graphically while simple linear regression was applied to assess statistical significance. 12,811 manuscripts were included that released both acceptance and publication delays. From 2010 to 2015, the median overall acceptance delay decreased from 168 (interquartile range [IQR] 115–225) to 113 (IQR 62–176) days. Similarly, there was a decrease in publication delay from 55 (IQR 26–83) days in 2010 to 16 (IQR 9–54) days in 2015; both trends p < 0.0001. Per unit increase in impact factor, there was a 19.1% (95% CI 16.1, 22.2%) increase in acceptance delay and a 15.8% (95% CI 13.5, 17.9%) decrease in publication delay. In contrast to the hypothesis, there was a decrease in delays of the peer review process in the orthopaedic surgery literature. These data are encouraging in light of the timely availability of evidence to a wide audience.

中文翻译：

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2010-2015年骨科手术稿件审稿过程中发表延迟的评价

科学文献数量的持续增长可能会给同行评审带来压力，从而可能导致出版延迟。虽然这在轶事上似乎是正确的，但缺乏确切的统计数据。该研究的目标是量化骨科手术领域的出版延迟。八种骨科外科期刊的出版日期在 2010 年 1 月至 2015 年 12 月之间。主要结果是（1）接受延迟（从提交到接受的时间）和（2）发表延迟（从接受到发表的时间）。以图形方式评估两种结果的时间趋势，同时应用简单线性回归来评估统计显着性。包括 12,811 篇手稿，这些手稿消除了接受和出版延迟。从 2010 年到 2015 年，总体接受延迟的中位数从 168（四分位距 [IQR] 115-225）减少到 113（IQR 62-176）天。同样，发表延迟从 2010 年的 55（IQR 26-83）天减少到 2015 年的 16（IQR 9-54）天；两种趋势 p < 0.0001。影响因子每增加一个单位，接收延迟增加 19.1%（95% CI 16.1，22.2%），发表延迟减少 15.8%（95% CI 13.5，17.9%）。与假设相反，骨科手术文献中同行评审过程的延迟有所减少。鉴于向广大受众及时提供证据，这些数据令人鼓舞。影响因子每增加一个单位，接收延迟增加 19.1%（95% CI 16.1，22.2%），发表延迟减少 15.8%（95% CI 13.5，17.9%）。与假设相反，骨科手术文献中同行评审过程的延迟有所减少。鉴于向广大受众及时提供证据，这些数据令人鼓舞。影响因子每增加一个单位，接收延迟增加 19.1%（95% CI 16.1，22.2%），发表延迟减少 15.8%（95% CI 13.5，17.9%）。与假设相反，骨科手术文献中同行评审过程的延迟有所减少。鉴于向广大受众及时提供证据，这些数据令人鼓舞。