Introduction
Success in scientific publishing has long been measured by citations and impact factors. Yet in today’s Medical Affairs landscape, the definition of value is shifting rapidly. This article recaps insights from the recent panel discussion “The Future of Research Visibility: Beyond Traditional Metrics,” where experts from across the field explored how publication success is evolving, which new measures of impact matter most, and how digital transformation and AI are reshaping the game.
Bringing a wealth of diverse perspectives, the panel featured Shehla Sheikh, Head of Medical Communication & Publications at Kyowa Kirin; Kim Della Penna, Scientific Communications Director for Lymphoma, Myeloid, and Multiple Myeloma at Johnson & Johnson; Myriam Cherif, Founder of Kalyx Medical and former Regional Medical Director at GSK; and Carlos Areia, Senior Data Scientist at Digital Science. The discussion was moderated by Natalie Jonk, Enterprise Marketing Segment Lead, who guided the conversation through the critical challenges and opportunities shaping the future of research visibility.
Success: Still a Moving Target
Defining success remains one of the greatest challenges. For some organizations, it’s still as simple as getting the data published. For others, success means shaping clinical guidelines or influencing real-world decision-making.
Kim explained:
“A lot of these tools help us see who is engaging with our publication. Are they sharing the publication, did they find it important enough to share? Where is the data being incorporated? Is it being used in policy and guidelines, cost data, real-world healthcare data or by population health decision makers for access?”
Myriam emphasized how the lens has broadened over the past decade:
“A decade ago, people just looked at impact factors and citations. Now, we discuss with HCPs how data applies to patients. Sometimes a paper may be more practical for certain regions. We’ve moved toward a more holistic approach.”
Metrics Beyond the Traditional
Today, a wealth of data is available, but the challenge is deciding which metrics are truly meaningful. Downloads, mentions, and social media shares are only part of the story.
Carlos noted the complexity:
“Things are changing quite fast with data. How do you track success when different publications have different goals? Sometimes the goal is to see how quickly new studies get into clinical guidelines. Other times, it’s about reaching a very specific group of oncologists in one country.”
Sentiment analysis is also emerging as a key tool:
“We can now see if a publication has been well or badly received by, for example, a group of cardiologists. Medical Affairs is adapting rapidly to what real-time data can offer,” Carlos added.
The Discoverability Dilemma
Shehla raised a critical issue: ensuring publications are findable by the right stakeholders.
“Discoverability is super important. A lot of data ends up in supplementary indices, which aren’t always accessible. If it’s not directly available through the paper, that’s problematic. It raises the question: how much do we include in the main publication versus holding back for supplementary materials?”
The difficulty, she argued, isn’t just in publishing but in making materials trackable. Without DOIs or identifiers, measuring performance across channels becomes impossible.
Carlos emphasized that when any content type, including supplementary data, infographics, and plain language summaries, is uploaded to Figshare and assigned a DOI, it becomes both accessible and trackable. This is a critical step that several Digital Science customers are already using to monitor and demonstrate the impact of their materials and gain really deep insights regarding who is engaging 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 abstracts work best for patients, short videos for junior doctors, or news platforms or Medscape for senior clinicians.
Key takeaways from the discussion included:
- Infographics and visual abstracts help make complex data more digestible for both HCPs and patients.
- Social media engagement, accelerated since COVID-19, has expanded the demographic reach of publications.
- Podcasts, YouTube, and blogs are emerging as alternative channels for research dissemination.
Shehla summarized the opportunity:
“Data visualization has been a game changer. It helps people understand complex results without dumbing them down. But it has to be a true representation of the data.”
Strategic Decision-Making with Engagement Data
Engagement data is no longer just descriptive – it’s strategic.
Myriam explained:
“This data helps us know which publications to amplify and in what format. If a subgroup analysis is relevant for Asia or South America, we integrate it into the regional strategy. Affiliates 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 had two trials presented at the same congress. One made it into a guideline in a specific country much faster than the other. By looking back at the local attention it had on social media, news and others, we tried to understand why.”
The Future: AI, Social Media, and Trust
Looking ahead, AI and digital platforms are set to further disrupt how success is measured.
Myriam highlighted new challenges:
“Citations and downloads will matter less. AI tools are already being used by HCPs to answer questions on diseases and treatments. But a recent study showed less than 15% overlap in references across Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity when asked the same question. Metadata and referencing are going to be critical to ensure our publications are being picked up correctly.”
Kim added:
“We need to optimize what we create so AI can pick up data through correct tagging. Who is engaging, what types of data they’re engaging with, and what channel they use – these are all factors we have to plan for.”
Carlos cautioned on the risks:
“AI is a wonderful tool if used correctly – but like 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 needed insights from it, whilst mitigating its potential for misuse and misinformation.”
Conclusion: Toward a Holistic, Dynamic View of Impact
As the panel made clear, measuring publication performance can no longer be reduced to a single number. Success is multi-dimensional, context-specific, and evolving alongside technology and stakeholder expectations.
Traditional metrics such as citations and impact factors remain useful, but they are no longer sufficient. Engagement data, sentiment, and discoverability are now central to understanding whether a publication truly resonates and reaches its intended audience. At the same time, AI, social media, and new digital formats are reshaping how, and by whom research is consumed. And sometimes, the most meaningful measures are the informal ones: when medical scientific liaisons hear health care professionals discussing a paper, when KOLs reference it unprompted, or when data directly influences patient care.
A Call to Reframe Success
The future of publication 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 by ensuring content is discoverable, trackable, and presented in accessible formats, organizations can create lasting value. Most importantly, reframing success around real-world influence and patient outcomes ensures that research doesn’t just get published, it makes a difference.
Continue the Conversation
At Digital Science, we’re committed to helping Medical Affairs professionals thrive in an era where research visibility and impact are being redefined. To deepen the insights shared in this panel, we invite you to explore our latest white paper, “Empowering Medical Affairs in the Digital Age,” authored by thought leader Mary Ellen Bates. Inside, you’ll find practical strategies to navigate evolving challenges, demonstrate value, and drive measurable outcomes.
Mary Ellen Bates will also be leading our upcoming webinar, “From Data Chaos to Strategic Impact: Transforming Medical Affairs in the Digital Age” (Tuesday 28 October 2025).
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