Video Abstracts: Publication Professional's and Academic Author's Perspectives

It is commonly believed that videos represent a great way to enrich scientific articles; however, we know very little about how authors and publication professionals working to support them, value these in their publication activities.

In this study, we surveyed academic authors and publication professionals independently in order to understand the differences and similarities in the perception and issues around developing video abstracts.

Summary and conclusions

Video abstracts are perceived as adding value to an article but many barriers prevent authors from initiating them.
The publication professionals’ and academic authors’ perspectives differ when it comes to the factors that would influence them to create a video abstract.
‚‚Publication professionals are more focused on cost and return on investment.
‚‚Academic authors are more preoccupied by logistics and ease of creating the videos.
This is not surprising considering that publication
professionals create the work for commercial enterprises, whereas academic authors generally do not.
Attitudes towards developing video abstracts may change if publishers can provide authors with as much guidance and support as possible, and when data showing the actual impact of video abstracts on the dissemination of the research results are readily available, to increase confidence and uptake.