Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the academic production of health researchers from public universities of the State of São Paulo, Brazil

Introduction: Knowledge about what may influence the academic output of researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic may help direct efforts to improve individual researchers’ capacity and minimize the impact of other aspects on their academic output.  Aim: To evaluate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the academic production of researchers from public universities in the health area in the State of São Paulo. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional, online survey. Health researchers from public universities in the state of São Paulo were evaluated anonymously. Questionnaires addressed sociodemographic and professional characterization of researchers, their academic production and the scientific production related to research projects on COVID-19. Data were collected using the SurveyMonkey® program. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were performed using IBM-SPSS v.21.0 software; significance was determined by p<0.05. Results: 568 researchers answered all questionnaires. Regarding research partnerships, 297 (50.51%) said they were negatively affected. 231 (39.29%) confirmed difficulty in obtaining financial support. The pandemic changed the way 91.1% of researchers deal with their work routine. The greatest workload of the research team was associated mainly with nurses (46.7%). Biologists have greater chance (OR=4.8) of encountering difficulties in relation to physicians, and researchers from UNIFESP (OR=2.75) are the ones who are more likely to encounter difficulties. FAPESP was the agency that most funded studies related to COVID. Conclusion: These findings reinforce the need to establish funding targets and research incentives, especially for early career researchers. Future studies are needed to determine the impact of the pandemic on researchers’ scientific output over time.