Inaugural Otology and Neurotology “Video Report”

In this issue of Otology & Neurotology, we present a new type of submission, the Video Report. Otologic videos have antecedents dating back to the 1920s when Dr. Julius Lempert took advantage of his connections to the New York silent film industry to create surgical videos that superimposed animated illustrations on live video ⁽¹⁾. Today, operative videos are omnipresent, and studies have demonstrated the efficacy of videos for communication and teaching ⁽²⁾. Indeed, we are fortunate to practice medicine in an era when we can readily capture and consume video-based media. Whether in the operating room or in the clinic, we have access to high-resolution recording technology at the touch of a button. Similarly, video-based media can now rapidly be viewed in the mobile setting.

Unfortunately, despite advances in technology, few scientific publishing platforms are optimized for video-based manuscripts. While most publishers of original research allow for video content, videos are commonly included as supplemental material and are not readily accessible. Ancillary videos in textbook chapters are also similarly challenging to locate and are not indexed on academic search engines, such as PubMed or Google Scholar. While a few online journals, such as JoVE, attempt to strike a balance between video- and text-based manuscripts, the videos are often filmed by hired videographers and audio is provided by voice actors, resulting in added time and cost for authors. On the other end of the spectrum, surgeons may self-publish videos through independently administered websites or video-hosting sites, such as YouTube; however, these videos are not peer-reviewed, commonly depict routine surgical approaches rather than innovative findings, and are also not easily searchable.

Obstacles for video publications are rapidly diminishing. “Video essay” pioneers, such as Evan Puschak and Tony Zhou, and media companies, such as Vox Media, revolutionized the blend of text, illustrations, and video to powerfully communicate content ^(3,4). Video editing tools, once requiring specialized technical expertise and expensive computing software and hardware, are no longer necessary. Freely available social media apps and consumer-level desktop-based applications, such as Apple iMovie, have simplified and democratized editing and distribution of videos. Video creation, editing, and publication are quickly becoming a basic scholarly skillset. As the majority of the scientific community is proficient in basic word processing and illustrating software, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Adobe Illustrator, it is not too far a stretch to extend these skills to video editing. In the not too distant future, investigators may fluently create multimedia videos in a way that is currently analogous to writing a manuscript. It is possible in the same way that figures are encouraged in manuscripts to illustrate data, independent videos or embedded video content may also become the norm.

With this new Video Report format, we seek to re-envision the way our specialty disseminates scientific findings to take advantage of emerging forms of communication. Consequently, the primary goals of O&N Video Reports are to: 1) Communicate novel scientific findings via video-based media; and 2) Increase accessibility to multimedia content. Current topics we are seeking for submission may include novel cases that have significant educational value, operative techniques or technology, educational tools and/or simulation devices, historic pieces, and basic science methodology. Similar to written manuscripts, videos will have subheadings, including Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion. Videos will be 5 minutes in length, accompanied by 150-word unstructured abstracts, and include up to five references. Submissions will be peer-reviewed for both content and production quality. Importantly, Video Reports will be given a PubMed ID and indexed in an identical way to O&N text-based manuscripts. The format will evolve as the videos harness the creativity and communication styles of investigators.

There are limitations to video-based scientific reports that need to be acknowledged. The medium does not lend itself well to depictions of large quantities of text-based data. There is a technical learning curve for authors. Peer review techniques may also need to be reformed to evaluate scientific findings in videos. In brief, there will need to be a trial period to determine the best type and quality of data for video-based communication. Ultimately, surgeons and scientists alike are both investigators and storytellers, attempting to effectively communicate new knowledge to their communities. The O&N Video Report will hopefully provide an effective new medium for communication in Otology and Neurotology.

In the current issue of O&N, there is a representative Video Report submission by Drs. Francis Creighton, Jr., Samuel Barber, Bryan Ward, Jeffrey Sharon, and John Carey ⁽⁵⁾. Building on previous studies by Yamauchi ^(6,7), the authors demonstrate an “underwater” approach to the repair of a superior canal dehiscence. The video provides an introduction to the procedure, technical approach, and discussion of outcomes. Through a video format, the article readily communicates to the reader a technical approach that may be challenging to appreciate in a text-based manuscript even with figure montage. In a second representative Video Report, Jonathan Garneau, Benjamin Laitman, Maura Cosetti, Constantinos Hadjipanayis, and George Wanna describe a novel use of the exoscope for a lateral skull base procedure. The video highlights advantages of this emerging technology.

The creation of Video Reports has been a team effort over the past 2 years. We would like to thank the senior investigators, including Drs. John Carey, George Wanna, and Eduardo Corrales, and peer reviewers who were early adopters of the platform. Marianna Hagan at Wolters Kluwer has shepherded the project from start to finish. Drs. Daniel Lee, Aaron Remenschneider, Kalil Abdullah, and Steven Rauch provided pivotal feedback on the format. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Samuel Barber for providing the initial technical expertise to take the Otology & Neurotology Video Report platform from conception to reality. Dr. Barber's video-editing prowess and creativity are on display in the current Video Report.

We look forward to future submissions.