Table 2.

Program Director Prose Responses to Question #14: How Many Peer-Reviewed Publications Are Necessary For You to Consider a Research Gap-Year as “Productive?”

Program Director Textual Responses
Letters of recommendation from that research year is more important
No strict cut-off number
Not sure
No set minimum
Depends on location of gap year
At least one! We will give a nod to presentations (natl mtgs) in place of PMIDs
10 submitted
It depends on the type of research, the journals that are published, and where they are doing the research. If at a big power house and they didn’t publish a lot it is a red flag
Likely 4-5, with about 10 ‘deliverables’ which includes abstracts/posters/podiums. More important: learning skills they can continue to apply

Abbreviations: natl: national; mtgs: meetings; PMID: PubMed Identification Numbers