The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology’s number of articles and turnaround time before and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study

Abstract

This case study investigated changes in research articles from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) during the COVID-19 pandemic to share information with stakeholders in the research and publishing communities. Data on research published from 2017 to 2024 were collected by searching the database for the number of research articles indexed in Web of Science’s Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), and then extracting the publication date of research articles from the KRIBB’s paper management system. After the number of WoS-SCIE research articles was scaled down by the corresponding number of KRIBB’s SCIE articles in 2017, we analyzed differences in the publication turnaround times of KRIBB’s research articles based on whether MDPI was involved. In both WoS-SCIE and KRIBB data, the impact of MDPI exhibited a clear decline in 2023, a trend that continued into 2024. Generally, KRIBB’s non-MDPI research articles were published more rapidly in high-frequency journals, journals with low impact factors, and for COVID-19？related topics; however, this difference gradually diminished. In 2023, there was a notable reversal from a decrease to an increase in publication speed following COVID-19, along with a narrowing of the gaps between different stages of publication. It remains uncertain whether this trend will continue. Collecting additional similar case studies could provide a more accurate understanding of the changes and trends in the article publishing industry during the COVID-19 period.