Some say surgical research is an oxymoron, maybe because they do not know how much surgeons long for high-quality clinical investigation when they have to make decisions on how to treat their patients. Unfortunately, hard evidence obtained by rigorous surgical research is not always available, and, when it is, not all surgeons have equal access to it. Peer-reviewed articles and presentations at surgical conferences have been the main means of promoting and disseminating scientific surgery for decades. The rate at which publications grow, the impossibility of reading the majority of what is published in the field, and limited resources (money and/or time) to attend surgical meetings hinder research advancement.

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