The Impact of a Research Year on Scholarly Output Among 2025 Otolaryngology Residency Applicants

Objective Research productivity among otolaryngology‐head and neck surgery (OHNS) residency applicants has increased substantially in recent years, alongside growing participation in dedicated research years. However, the extent to which a research year contributes to meaningful scholarly output remains unclear. This study characterizes and compares research productivity among OHNS residency applicants with and without a dedicated research year. Methods We retrospectively reviewed applicants to a single OHNS residency program during the 2025 application cycle. Applicants were categorized by completion of a dedicated research year. Students with ambiguous reasons for a gap in medical education (e.g., personal) were excluded. Research products listed in ERAS were categorized by type, authorship, publication status, and presentation characteristics. Outcomes were compared using the Wilcoxon rank‐sum test and reported as medians with interquartile ranges (IQR). Results The median number of total research products among all 196 applicants was 26 [IQR 17–37]. Applicants with a dedicated research year ( n = 55) had more total research products than those without ( n = 90) (32 [21–37] vs. 24 [15.75–37]), comprised primarily by unpublished work (5 [3–8] vs. 3 [1–5]) and oral presentations (6 [3–9] vs. 4 [2–7]). Published articles (5.5 [3–11] vs. 7 [3–12]) and first‐author manuscripts (Median 1) did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusion A dedicated research year is associated with modestly increased research productivity among OHNS applicants; however, this increase is largely driven by unpublished and middle author work. These findings suggest that volume‐based metrics may incompletely capture scholarly engagement and may contribute to increased expectations without proportionate gains in research experience. Level of Evidence N/A.