Publication Extenders: The Digital Shift in Scientific Storytelling

Publication Extenders: What They Are and Why They Matter

Publication extenders are derivative formats designed to amplify the reach, impact, and comprehension of core scientific publications. They translate dense, technical manuscripts into more engaging, accessible, and actionable formats - without diluting scientific integrity.

They typically fall into three broad categories:

The effective use of publication extenders supports medical affairs publications in enhancing reach and compliance, while contributing to transparent communication across stakeholders.

Publication extenders are not just "nice-to-have add-ons." They matter because they directly address the biggest gaps in modern scientific communication:

Extend the reach of findings

Increase the impact of research

Enhance grasp of information

The Adoption Paradox: High Potential, Low Adoption

Despite the promise of publication extenders, many organizations stumble when it comes to adopting them effectively. The challenges are not abstract—they're the frequent questions that regulatory, medical, and publication teams wrestle with:

Choosing the Right Format

Selecting the most effective extenders (infographic, video, patient summary) to match both the data and the target audience.

Workflow Bottlenecks

Integrating extenders into already stretched publication processes without causing delays or inefficiencies.

Balancing Science & Creativity

Conveying complex findings in engaging ways while ensuring accuracy and scientific rigor.

Ethical Considerations

Maintaining transparency and neutrality, avoiding perceptions of bias or promotional intent.

Demonstrating Impact

Measuring the true effect of extenders on awareness, understanding, and decision-making.

Cost & Scalability

Justifying investments and ensuring extenders remain sustainable within limited budgets.

From Challenges to Solutions: What It Takes to Create a Publication Extender

Creating a publication extender requires moving from ad-hoc, tactical use to a systematic, well-planned approach. Based on industry practices and current gaps, we recommend six solution levers that organizations can adopt:

1. Tailored Selection, Not One-Size-Fits-All

Publication extenders are not one-size-fits-all. The choice of an extender used in a publication should be based on both the content of the publication and the target audience preferences.^1,2 Selecting a suitable publication extender for the scientific content is essential to effectively reach a wider target audience. Visual representations, such as figures, if poorly designed and not well-crafted for specific audiences, can lead to confusion and misinterpretation.³

For e.g., it can be challenging for a non-specialist reader to understand a complex heat map that compares the relative expression of a gene (low/high) between disease and healthy states, but the same information can be explained easily using simple bar graphs in an infographic format. Similarly, data presented in complex spider plots or flow cytometry graphs can be easier to understand when presented as bar graphs. Different visualizing elements can be employed based on the type and amount of data. For instance, when presenting categorical data, vertical bar graphs are ideal for comparing fewer categories, whereas horizontal bar graphs can be used for comparing multiple categories.

A vertical bar graph reprenting fewer categories

A horizontal bar graph representing multiple categories

New research on targeted cancer therapy would attract wide readership when the extenders are tailored as per the target audience — patients, oncologists, and HCPs. While a patient may better understand a lay summary or a simple infographic about the study, an oncologist may prefer an audio or a visual abstract of the research. Therefore, taking target audience preferences into account is also important.

2. Embed Extenders Into the Publication Workflow

Don't treat extenders as afterthoughts. Build them into the publication planning timeline, with clear resource and budget allocations. Standardize operating models by aligning with journal guidelines early to avoid rework and delays.

It is imperative to plan and seamlessly integrate the development process for these extenders alongside the timeline of the main publication, as they require additional time, budget, and resources.⁴ Very often, HCPs and researchers may not be aware of all the pertinent details regarding extenders, such as submission formats, timelines, and target journal requirements.²

This highlights the importance of closely examining the journal guidelines to ensure that the scientific information is presented in the most effective and appropriate format. Engaging in open discussions with all stakeholders regarding the benefits and concerns of including an extender with the main publication as well as the choice of extenders can be tedious and time-consuming. This could potentially impact the publication timelines and data dissemination.

3. Balance Science With Design Through Collaboration

Collaboration between cross-functional teams is crucial to balance visual appearance and scientific accuracy, which can be achieved by leveraging the scientific expertise of writers and the creative skills of graphic designers that complement each other.

It is often difficult for authors to spend sufficient time and resources on planning and developing publication extenders. Thus, collaborative efforts among multiple stakeholders are necessary to develop effective and balanced digital content.⁴ Further, it is essential to ensure that the extenders do not appear commercial, which is a difficult feat to achieve, especially when trying to balance aesthetic appeal and scientific accuracy. Certain measures can be undertaken to achieve this, such as aligning the content/messaging of the extenders closely with the manuscript content and avoiding extrapolation of the results and conclusions from the manuscript in the extenders.

Many high-quality extenders convey complex concepts through interactive elements or digital features using animations, making the content more engaging, informative, and impactful for the readers.^4,5 Characteristic features of extenders can be further designed and improved by applying advanced graphic tools such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign (for infographics, graphical abstracts, and interactive posters) and Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro (for video abstracts and podcasts).

4. Ensure Compliance and Ethical Integrity

Limited guidance is available on the appropriate and permissible use of digital extenders.⁴ It is important to consider legal and copyright issues that may arise for publication extenders in published articles, as these are generally hosted on websites such as Figshare and distributed widely over social media platforms.^{4, 6} Sharing digital content online may present challenges as they may encounter barriers to obtaining the copyright license for the extender, which is sometimes owned by the journal.⁷

One crucial aspect of these extenders is the perceived risk of appearing promotional rather than scientific or informative, particularly for visually appealing content.⁴ Consequently, the challenge is to create an extender that effectively communicates the data in a clear, balanced, and ethical way. As per the Good Publication Practice (GPP) 2022 guidelines, the extenders' content must be consistent with that of the corresponding publication and it should not appear promotional in language, tone, or style. GPP recommends that the extenders follow the ethical and quality principles similar to the corresponding publication.⁸ It is crucial to involve the legal and compliance teams during the early stages of publication extenders development to ensure alignment with the concerned regulations/policies. Thorough compliance checks should be performed, specifically related to adherence to data privacy regulations and intellectual property, to ensure ethical integrity.

5. Measure What Matters

While journal metrics (e.g., impact factor) and article-level metrics (e.g., Altmetrics) are available to assess the importance of a journal or the impact/reach of specific articles, respectively, the impact and engagement of publication extenders should be assessed through “content performance metrics” that incorporate the number of visitors or views, time spent on a page, video view duration, downloads, and traffic sources.⁹ The metrics for publications are evolving rapidly; however, they are yet to be standardised to accurately estimate the performance of the extenders.

Representative journal metrics and Altmetrics

Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ftr/10.1609/aimag.v38i3.2741

The EMpirical publication impact and reach evaluation (EMPIRE) index is a value-based metric framework that is used to evaluate the multidimensional impact of medical publications. It considers various factors beyond traditional metrics (e.g., citations), and combines related article-level metrics to provide three meaningful component scores: social, scholarly, and societal impact scores.¹⁰ It can be used to gauge and track the real-time effectiveness and impact of extenders among readers, but its reliability is limited by the lack of strong evidence.¹⁰ For example, it can be used to identify publications with higher or lower impact than expected, the insights of which can be used to guide additional communication efforts in the form of publication extenders.

Metrics for publication extenders are simple to evaluate when the extenders are hosted on specific platforms (e.g., HCP education platform).⁹ The specific reach and impact of the extenders can be evaluated by leveraging the already existing metrics for online content (e.g., time spent on page, overall views).⁹ Given the comprehensive and detailed nature of these extender metrics, it is imperative to increase awareness among readers through easy-to-understand information guides.

6. Make Costs Sustainable

The developmental cost of extenders can pose a significant challenge to their execution.⁴ High expectations of capturing as much information as possible in one/few extenders in a publication may lead to a higher cost. Thus, implementing innovative features using digital tools within available budgets could be challenging for the stakeholders. Further, amplifying the use of these extenders often involves additional costs. Planning and execution of the extender often require resources with an appropriate skill set and the use of advanced graphic tools and software. The publication extenders published in journals that work on a subscription-based model may not be freely accessible to the stakeholders. However, these extenders are freely accessible if published in open-access journals.

Appropriate expertise

Advanced graphic tools

Additional costs

Amplifying reach

Summary

Publication extenders convey complex concepts through interactive elements or digital features, such as animations, making the content more engaging, informative, and impactful for the readers. However, the challenges of limited time and skilled resources, ambiguity in acceptable formats for journal submission, balancing visual appeal and scientific accuracy, lack of well-defined metrics (to assess reach), and high cost during execution should be kept in mind, and best practices should be followed to develop accessible, discoverable, and inclusive publication extenders.

Extenders should be designed as per the intended audience, and the fact that not all publications require extenders should be kept in mind during the initial publication planning. Developing extenders alongside the main publication ensures consistency in the messaging, and due diligence should be taken to avoid any promotional language, tone, or style. Careful early planning in terms of budgeting and resources can be pivotal in managing the costs associated with developing these extenders. Real-time metrics monitoring the performance of the extenders can be instrumental in assessing their reach and impact on the intended audience.

At Indegene, we help life sciences organizations integrate these best practices to make extenders both impactful and widely reachable. If you'd like to explore how, reach out to the authors — or connect with us directly to learn how Indegene can support your publication strategy.

References

Adobe sources for advanced graphic tools