Introduction

We expect that the issue discussed in this article will contribute to this academic debate and reveal the question of publishing scientific research results in one of the extremely important social areas of knowledge, namely medicine. In our opinion, it will provide arguments to answer the question concerning the ways in which institutional and environmental pressure influenced the publication activity of scientists in this scientific discipline at Polish medical universities.

Aim of the research

The aim of this article is to present the results of a survey of the intensity of publication activity among medical science researchers at Polish universities. This intention was accomplished using bibliometric analysis based on quantitative indices depicting the publication activity of medical university employees in Poland who located the results of their research efforts in the field of “medicine”, which were published between 2017 and 2023. Additionally, we wish to unveil the main topic clusters.

Material and methods

The bibliometric study included publications that were published between 2017 and 2023 by employees of public medical universities in Poland, and at the same time these entities are included in the World University Rankings 2024 in the field of clinical and health for the region of Poland, which is commonly used in such studies.

Results and conclusions

The results of our research in this area completed a subset of the broad scientific landscape associated with the ‘publishing game’. In medicine, as in other socially high-status disciplines, competition for prestige is the norm and publishing is a way to gain recognition in the community.