Have you ever seen a spider web that is only one single strand?  Unlike the robust web constructs we often marvel at, a single strand web can be very hard to see.  The single strand web is the perfect metaphor for following a traditional approach to publishing scientific articles in today’s environment. 

Virtually all industry-sponsored scientific communications are now being published in digital form on the Internet.  But scientific communicators are only now scratching the surface of how to amplify those online publications.  The pandemic has shown the need to better understand how to amplify scientific communications.  It is estimated (based on Google analytics), there are ~56 billion web pages on the Internet.1  That means every published scientific manuscript holds an incredibly small fraction of space on the Internet.  However, thanks to modern software engineers and code writers, we have tools that can search for exactly what we want…or can they? 

Unfortunately, search engines cannot do it all for us.  As most of us have found out at some point or another, search engines such as Google or PubMed can’t always find what we are looking for or uncover all the information due to how the search engines look for information.  Search engines use highly sophisticated algorithms, but they are all based on what the user determines is the best term to use to produce the information being sought.  In scientific publishing, this becomes problematic as we want people to be able to easily find our cutting-edge science, but simple search terms don’t always match up.  

In the old analogue publishing world, scientific information was published to a peer-reviewed journal which was then distributed to the subscribers.  Subscription-based publishing could almost be thought of as publishing along that one strand of a web.  The article strand was only accessible through purchase or borrowing of the printed journal.  In today’s online-based publishing, scientific communicators are still publishing articles as “one strand” whether in a pay wall journal or an open-access journal. However, publishing online offers numerous possibilities and avenues to create access to an article that were not available in the traditional print setting.  By incorporating a few new steps early into the development and submission of a manuscript, it is possible to use internet tools and expertise to develop a robust web of access for the article.  This access allows researchers and readers to find the information easier and faster than ever before.   

Developing access is the key objective of what we call publication search optimization (PSO), one of the three pillars of Audience Amplification. PSO is an effort that starts with the development of the manuscript.  As mentioned, by taking certain steps such as keyword inclusion and proper meta tagging when published, an article can be easily identified by search engines.  Although this calls for extra work during development, it is offers tremendous opportunities to increase access after publication (at Omni-HC, we include PSO steps as part of our regular manuscript effort).   

When done properly, PSO will result in better search rankings for both general search engines (e.g., Google and Yahoo) and specialized search engines (e.g., PubMed).  This creates a greater opportunity for expanded access to potential readers, which in turn, increases readership.  Recently, Omni-HC assisted a client with an oncology review publication incorporating Audience Amplification techniques and was able to generate significant growth in the readership over other publications in the same peer-reviewed journal.  At last check, the publication had garnered more readers and downloads of the article than more than half of all other publications from that journal since the journal began keeping track.   

Every scientific communicator should have the option to undertake Audience Amplification after publication, if desired.  However, without taking the proper PSO steps in the development stage of the manuscript, Audience Amplification opportunities are not as wide ranging nor as effective.  Omni-HC experts can guide you through the process. Contact Omni-HC if you are interested in learning more about Audience Amplification. ​

[1] The size of the World Wide Web (The Internet), accessed at www.worldwidewebsize.com 3 Nov 2020

In my last post, Challenges/Barriers to Stakeholder Integrated Plan Development, the need and execution outline for a cross-functional “Vison Workshop” was introduced.  This workshop forms the foundation of short-and long-term stakeholder planning.  Once the consensus on cross-functional objectives are identified for the next 1 to 3 years, you are ready to begin tactical planning designed to accomplish your targets.
There is no shortage of companies with electronic tools to facilitate stakeholder planning and tactical execution.  Monocol, Pharmaspectra and PulsePoint all have stakeholder tools. Whether you are in the early stages of Stakeholder Engagement and require tactics like identification, profiling and mapping or in more advanced stages of engagement, the tools you utilize to document the tactics developed by the cross-functional team should demonstrate a number of characteristics:

• Utilizes the “KISS” Principle (Keep it Simple Stupid) - The level of simplicity will vary depending on:
  • The commercialization stage of the product (early/mid/late-stage development or post-launch)
  • The company experience in the marketplace
  • The number of cross-functional disciplines involved in the planning
  • Manpower and financial resources available to facilitate the planning and execution process
• Cross-functional‒friendly
  • Is sensitive to the lexicon and tactics of your stakeholder planning team?
• Commercialization stage adaptive
  • Can easily mirror the objectives of the Vision Workshop rolling 1 to 3-year plan
• Facilitates and tracks a continuum of engagements with KOLs
  • Identifies a progressive level of collaboration based on mutual interest and benefit
• Capable of tracking (and measuring) activities from strategic to transactional engagements
  • Interactions at annual congresses or KOL offices

So, let’s get specific about some simple tools for planning that will help to ensure cross-functional alignment for Stakeholder engagements.  My organization, Omni Healthcare Communications, has made a number of these available on our website (https://www.omni-hc.com/tools.html).  Several of these key tools are addressed below: 

• Stakeholder Engagement Plan Template – A basic general template that can accommodate cross-functional planning.  Once all of the individual team member plans have been created using this document, a consolidated plan can be established.
• Stakeholder Analysis Matrix – This template expands the traditional thinking of external stakeholders as only HCPs to additional influencer categories of government, societies, patient advocacy groups, etc.
• Individual Stakeholder Analysis – As stated previously, there are many organizations that can support your needs for identifying, profiling and mapping stakeholders.  The systems they provide can create great volumes of data on an individual target.  However, this Individual Stakeholder Analysis template should be sufficient for initial use.   
• Tactical Plan – Once stakeholder strategies are identified by segment, it will be critical to identify tactics designed to accomplish those strategies.  The tactical plan template will help to ensure that strategies and tactics (by stakeholder segment) are linked.  The strategies and tactics should be updated with the annual plan.
• Engagement Planning – Two templates are provided—one for centralized, strategic engagements and another for transactional, MSL interactions.  The forms can be useful in identifying collaborative opportunities between your organization and the targeted stakeholder.
• Engagement Tracking – Again, there are many highly sophisticated tools available.  However, the basic needs of documenting your interactions can be accomplished with the MS Access Database, Stakeholder Simple Database, which is available on our Omni-HC.com/tools.html page.

Ok, we’ve now looked at the history of stakeholder relations, challenges/barriers to integrated plan development, as well as planning tools to achieve cross-functional alignment.  Our next series of posts will focus on various ways to engage external stakeholders, whether they be strategic or transactional. 

Leading up to an American Urology Association (AUA) meeting in the mid-1990s, my colleagues and I had been hearing about a new product for erectile dysfunction (ED) coming out from Pfizer.  Since this was a competitive product, we were closely monitoring the information and data coming out of the studies and learned this new agent was going to change the ED landscape. 

During a plenary session at this meeting, data from the trials of the ED product was released. I recall going up the longest escalator I had even seen at the same moment that the session ended, and waves of health care providers came streaming onto the down escalators.  Even in those early days of cell phones, there were numerous physicians making calls. I must have overheard 10 conversations where they were talking to stockbrokers and telling them to buy Pfizer.  I remember being stupefied — didn’t they know about this project before this meeting? What I had forgotten was that the scientific community would not take note until they were given access to the data and reviewed all the information.  This plenary session at the AUA was the first time they were able to access the data and information. 

Ensuring access is a critical component of solid scientific exchange.  As we navigate the sea of changes driven by the digitalization of scientific communications, it is critical to remember awareness and access of scientific data and information is critical to effective scientific exchange.  The new tools that digitalization offers us can ensure productive ways to increase access and awareness for the targeted community.  One avenue that should be considered at the earliest stages of publication development is the use of Open Access (OA).

OA is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment.  OA ensures that anyone can access and use these results.[1]

Recently, researchers found that the proportion of OA papers published by 23 large drug companies, such as Pfizer and Roche, almost doubled between 2009 and 2016.[2]  OA publishing models and licenses vary widely.  The researchers used two major types of OA publications, the gold route and the green route.  Publishing via the gold OA is usually on a publisher’s site with a CC-BY license. This approach offers both free and immediate access to the article and allows the research to be shared and reused.  However, publishing through the green route is usually separate from the publisher, does not require a CC-BY license, but usually requires waiting until the embargo period from the publisher is over.  Unfortunately, gold routes may be restricted as most medical journals with a high impact factor (>15) do not currently permit pharmaceutical companies to publish under a CC-BY license.[3]

Yegros-Yegros and van Leeuwen found in their research that there is a growing tendency towards the publication in OA by large biopharma companies.  Their data shows a trend for gold OA publishing gaining momentum, especially when it comes to trial results, but the majority of publications are still going through the green OA route.  Whether it is the green or gold route, OA can offer significant advantages to various publications and should be considered at the early phases of communication and publication planning.  Some advantages that OA publishing can offer include:

• improve transparency and increase the credibility of the research
• increase scientific exchange due to potentially broader audience
• improve access for all readers
• maximize control over identifier creation, and
• tremendously improved feedback, both in real time and enduring.

Depending on the objectives of each publication, OA should be considered as an increasingly important and unique avenue to broaden the community understanding of the science.  In fact, due to increasing university system traditional publication subscription cancellations and increased emphasis on open science, OA may be the best way to allow the entire scientific community to participate in the scientific discussion and cite your data.  In the last year, the University of California System joined several others in cutting back on traditional publication subscriptions relegating researchers who produce close to 10% of scientific research access to only OA journals.

At Omni-HC, we routinely investigate OA opportunities while creating publication plans, as well as other ways to increase the awareness and access of your communications and publications to the entire community. To learn more about our capabilities, please visit our site @omni-hc.com or contact us for more detailed information about how we can enhance your communication or publication plans.

[1] SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition.
[2] Yegros-Yegros A & van Leeuwen TN. Proc. 23rd Int. Conf. Sci. Tech. Indicators. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/zt6kc (2019). Accessed 18 Sep 2020.
[3] Sherwood D. Opportunities and challenges in open access publishing of industry-sponsored research.
International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) Blog Post. Available at: https://thepublicationplan.com/2020/09/18/opportunities-and-challenges-in-open-access-publishing-of-industry-sponsored-research/. Accessed 18 Sep 2020.

As I stated in my last post, gaining agreement on the need for an integrated Stakeholder Relations plan is easy to accomplish.  However, there are significant challenges and barriers to accomplishing a truly integrated plan that satisfies the needs/objectives of all internal partners, as well as the external stakeholders targeted for engagement.

Having sat on “both sides of the desk,” at a Pharma company creating cross-functional planning and engaging stakeholders and, now in an agency supporting the needs of clients in developing integrated plans, I can provide some unique perspectives.  There is saying indicating that “your ability to be objective is in direct proportion to your distance from the problem.”  Internal stakeholders are “close to the problem,” having a number of individual objectives that may not be compatible with those of their colleagues.  Therefore, there are some benefits in employing an independent third party to facilitate the creation and coordination of cross-functional planning meetings.

One way to identify and address barriers/challenges to the development of an integrated Stakeholder Plan is through the creation of a cross-functional planning workshop.  These types of programs are called different names in various organizations, but at Omni-HC, we refer to them as Vision Workshops.  The word Vision addresses the need for a long-term “view or perspective” on the various internal and external stakeholders regarding mutually beneficial collaborative opportunities. 

Key steps in the creation and execution of this Vision Workshop include:

• The identification of the cross-functional team
  • Who are they?
    • What departments, which individuals?
• The creation of a Stakeholder Engagement Survey
  • For internal Stakeholders
    • What are their expectations/objectives and needs for external engagement over the next 1-3 years?
    • What are the specific roles/responsibilities identified for external stakeholders?
  • For potential External Stakeholders
    • What are their goals in collaborating with Pharma companies?
    • What type of responsibilities (prioritized) are they interested in performing (research, consultation, education)?
    • How much time are they willing and able to allocate?
    • What are their preferences for mode of communication?
• Cross-functional Planning Meeting(s)
  • Sharing of survey results
  • Identification of cross-functional gaps
  • Identification of opportunities to mitigate gaps
  • Creation of consensus complimentary Stakeholder Engagement objectives for next 1- 3 years
  • Creation of a visual depiction or map of achieving these evolving objectives over time with specific milestones
  • Agreement on the frequency and mode of cross-functional team interactions

Having completed this Vision exercise, we are now better prepared to develop the Stakeholder Relations  Integrated Plan.  The tools and techniques for accomplishing this next important task will be the subject of my next blog.

When I was growing up, all the kids in the neighborhood had paper routes.  Every day after school I carried 64 newspapers to 64 separate houses who subscribed to the paper.  There were many times when a resident was waiting for me to hand the paper directly to them.  As a teenager, I recall waiting with all my classmates for the latest issue of Sports Illustrated to be delivered.  Similarly, I remember my dad, sitting down the night he received the New England Journal of Medicine and reading it cover to cover.  In the current lexicon, we would call that a “highly engaged audience”. 

​Back in the old print medical journal days, attracting and engaging readers were quite different. The best we could do to reach our desired audience(s) was to publish or communicate via other means through targeted journals.  All of our work to develop and communicate our information was dependent on the journal’s existing audience and the hope that they would read our article. There was no way of knowing of we were successful aside from checking with each individual HCP.  Today’s publishing environment is much different. Today, the vast majority of medical journals have websites and distribute their content digitally, as well as in print form.  The move to digital publication in healthcare communication is almost universal. Even the prestigious NEJM has more online than print subscribers. Research has also shown that the younger generation of HCPs prefer to read their scientific content in a digital format. The research also shows that there are a portion of older HCPs with a similar preference.  
With this tremendous shift to digital distribution, it is important to remember the main objective of scientific exchange; dissemination of the scientific information to as many members of the desired audience as possible.  In terms of the old print methodology and metrics, the digital environment obviously offers the greatest opportunity to impact a larger audience. However, if you are using the old print metrics, we are still looking at the journal and not the article.  Our focus in scientific exchange is not the value of the journal, but the value of the article. No matter where the article is published, it is all about how many people have read the article. Fortunately, our new digital environment allows us to track and measure “engagement” (readership, viewership, etc) of the audience with the article.  The value and depth of digital metrics in comparison to the old print metrics cannot be understated for enhanced scientific exchange.

As many of us have come to realize, today’s digital environment offers many new tools for publication planning and all types of scientific exchange. From open access, to author tools and article metrics, there are numerous ways to improve your scientific exchange and enhance the community’s understanding. At Omni Healthcare Communications, we have identified several different ways to take advantage of digital publishing and improve the effectiveness and productivity of your scientific exchange.  In the coming weeks, we will be discussing ways in which current medical communications efforts can be enhanced, some of our unique Audience Amplification strategies and tactics, as well as the benefits of Audience Amplification for measuring your publication planning. Be sure not to miss the next installment and sign up to receive notification when our next posting occurs.