The IAO Systematic Review Award is awarded every year to the best articles in systematic review, including meta-analyses, published in the International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology that seeks to highlight articles that form the foundations and concepts of universal knowledge.[1] In 2022, it was awarded to the three best systematic and/or literature reviews that were published in the journal in the year 2021 ([Table 1]).[2] [3] [4] This award was established to encourage the submission of high-quality systematic review articles.

Systematic review is a method of evidence synthesis that critically assesses and interprets all relevant research available regarding a particular issue, area of knowledge, or phenomenon of interest. Statistical methods (meta-analysis) are usually included in the analysis and synthesis of results, allowing the increase of the sample size and accuracy of the assessed outcomes.[5] Systematic reviews and meta-analysis are at the top of the pyramid of evidence. They provide the highest level of evidence to verify the effectiveness of interventions, help health professionals to stay up to date with latest developments, provide evidence for decision making, enable evaluation of the risks and benefits of interventions, provide inputs for assistance guidelines development, and provide information on prior studies for potential funding sources for new research.[1] We suggest the use of guidelines for elaboration and conduction of systematic review using well-defined and explicit methods aimed at minimizing biases.[5] [6]



The competing works must be published in editions 1 to 4 in the year before the award. The rules for manuscript submission are available at http://www.thieme.com/iao. The judging commission, comprising of members of the editorial board, will be coordinated by the chief editor of this journal. Articles will be judged based on scientific merit, including originality, consistency, significance, and impact. The winning authors and co-authors will receive certificates for their work. The best systematic reviews will be announced in the last edition of each volume of the following publication year, thus providing enough time to accumulate citations needed for analyses.



With this effort, we wish to honor and show our appreciation to the deserving authors, and encourage new talents in international otorhinolaryngological research with a commitment to stimulate education and technological development through research and training.



We are pleased to announce the studies IAO Systematic Review Award 2022, as shown in [Table 1].



Best Original Articles
We would like to recognize the outstanding original articles published in the journal IAO in 2021. The articles were selected based on the number of citations received in the Web of Science database ([Table 2]).

In 2021, 102 articles were published in IAO: 84 Original Articles, 8 Systematic Reviews, 6 Editorials, 2 Update Articles, 1 Letter to the Editor, and 1 Opinion Article ([Figure 1]).

Fig 1. Document type - IAO 2021



To analyze the most frequently used terms in the titles and abstracts of all the articles published in 2021, we created a map based on the text data in the VOSviewer software.[7] The 4 most frequently used terms were "COVID," "Head," "Pandemic," and "Dizziness." The thicker the connecting lines, the stronger the connection; the larger the points (nodes), the more their relevance. Clusters are the groups formed through affinity or proximity, and an item's color is determined by the cluster it belongs to ([Figure 2]).

Fig 2. Map based on text data by VOSviewer



These exceptional articles are extremely valuable contributions to IAO. On behalf of the Editorial Board, we would like to congratulate all the authors for their excellent work.



We reiterate that all articles in IAO are published open access and do not incur article processing charges.



Conflict of Interests
The authors have none to declare.



References
1 Jotz GP, Bittencourt AG, Montefusco AM. IAO Systematic Review Award 2021. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2022; 26 (01) e003-e004 DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1742354.
2 Hariyanto TI, Rizki NA, Kurniawan A. Anosmia/Hyposmia is a Good Predictor of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Infection: A Meta-Analysis. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2021; 25 (01) e170-e174 DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1719120.
3 Prasetyo A, Sadhana U, Budiman J. Nasal Mucociliary Clearance in Smokers: A Systematic Review. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2021; 25 (01) e160-e169 DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1702965.
4 Saraniti C, Chianetta E, Greco G, Mat Lazim N, Verro B. The Impact of Narrow-band Imaging on the Pre- and Intra- operative Assessments of Neoplastic and Preneoplastic Laryngeal Lesions. A Systematic Review. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2021; 25 (03) e471-e478 DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1719119.
5 Ministério da Saúde (BR). Diretrizes Metodológicas: Elaboração de Revisão Sistemática e Metanálise de Ensaios Clínicos Randomizados [Methodological guideline: development of systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials] [Internet]. Brasilia-DF: Ministério da Saúde; 2015. [cited 2020 Sep 22]. 92 p. Available from: http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/diretrizes_metodologicas_ensaio_clinico_randomizado_1edicao.pdf
6 Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J. et al, Eds. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.1 (updated September 2020) [Internet]. Cochrane; 2020 [cited 2020 Sep 22]. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook
7 Montefusco AM, Jotz GP. Contribution of the International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology to COVID-19 Publications: A Bibliometric Analysis. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2021; 25 (03) e329-e333 DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1733778.



Address for correspondence
Geraldo Pereira Jotz, MD, PhD
Rua Sarmento Leite, 500, Prédio do ICBS, Porto Alegre, RS, 90050-170
Brazil
Email: iaorl@iaorl.org



Publication History
Article published online:
16 November 2022
© 2022. Fundação Otorrinolaringologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)



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