Estimating clinical research project duration from idea to publication

The scientific response to the COVID-19 pandemic has elicited commentaries on the quickening of biomedical research,1–3 contrasting with literature on prolonged time to publication for clinical research projects.4–6 We investigated research project duration for three clinical departments (emergency medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics) with centralized research leadership in a community-based US medical school. Following institutional review board (IRB) approval, we identified original research reports published or accepted in academic year 2019–2020, originating at our institution, and involving faculty from these departments. Of 39 eligible publications, we reconstructed study timelines (table 1) for 17 publications based on departmental records, and 10 publications based on a survey of corresponding authors.\n\nView this table:\n\nTable 1 \nData points on project stages, by project type\n\n\n\nThe median overall project duration was 18 months (IQR 10–26). Median durations of …