Data Velocity in HIV-related Implementation Research: Estimating Time from Funding to Publication

BACKGROUND: Given available effective biomedical and behavioral prevention and treatment interventions, HIV-related implementation research (IR) is expanding. The rapid generation and dissemination of IR to inform guidelines and practice has the potential to optimize the impact of the Ending the Epidemic Initiative and the HIV pandemic response more broadly. METHODS: We leveraged a prior mapping review of NIH-funded awards in HIV and IR from January 2013-March 2018 and identified all publications linked to those grants in NIH RePORTER through January 1, 2021 (n=1,509). De-duplication and screening of non-original research reduced the count to 1,032 articles, of which 952 were eligible and included in this review. Publication volume and timing were summarized; Kaplan-Meier plots estimated time-to-publication. RESULTS: Among the 215 NIH-funded IR-related awards, 127//215 (59%) published original research directly related to the grant, averaging 2.0 papers (sd:3.3) per award, largely in the early IR phases. Many articles (521/952, 55%) attributed to grants did not report grant-related data. Time from article submission to publication averaged 205 days (sd:107). The median time-to-first publication from funding start was 4 years. Data dissemination velocity varied by award type, trending towards faster publication in recent years. Delays in data velocity included: 1) time from funding to enrollment, 2) enrollment length, and 3) time from data collection completion to publication. CONCLUSION: Research publication was high overall and time-to-publication is accelerating, however over 40% of grants have yet to publish findings from grant-related data. Addressing bottlenecks in the production and dissemination of HIV-related IR would reinforce its programmatic and policy-relevance in the HIV response.