Traditionally, dissemination of scientific research ends at the point where a paper is published in a peer-reviewed journal. However, most clinicians and patients to whom the work is relevant will never read it. Given the enormous resources invested, this limited reach can be disappointing to authors, patients, funders, sponsors and participants. Yet there are ways to enhance reach, which begins by first recognising that the scientific process does not finish with publication. This is challenging, as the process might have been so arduous that there is no energy or money left for communication activities. There are, nevertheless, five steps or levels of scientific dissemination, and each level up increases the reach of a paper (Fig. 1). However, reach, as defined by the total number of people who see your content, can be estimated by several methods. Unfortunately, each has major flaws.

传统上，科学研究的传播在论文发表在同行评审期刊上时结束。然而，与该工作相关的大多数临床医生和患者永远不会阅读它。鉴于投入的巨大资源，这种有限的覆盖范围可能会让作者、患者、资助者、赞助商和参与者感到失望。然而，有一些方法可以提高影响力，首先要认识到科学过程不会随着出版而结束。这是具有挑战性的，因为这个过程可能非常艰巨，以至于没有精力或金钱用于交流活动。然而，科学传播有五个步骤或级别，每个级别都会增加一篇论文的范围（图 1）。但是，根据看到您的内容的总人数来定义覆盖面，可以通过几种方法来估计。不幸的是，每个都有重大缺陷。