Introduction
The publication of research results is necessary for the progress of science. The unpublished research is considered incomplete. Unpublished research takes away from the researchers the opportunity to exchange information, modify, improve or even reject the scientific studies done [1]. In specialized courses, the thesis is an integral part of the graduation program. The content of these theses can reflect the Universities’ credibility in academic research [2]. It has been shown that there is a significant relationship between the publication of an article extracted from a thesis and the applicability of its results [3]. Considering that more than a decade has passed since the publication of the articles extracted from theses approved by Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) [4], this study aims to determine the publication rate of articles extracted from the theses in medical residency and master’s degree for GUMS from 2008 to 2018.

Methods
In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the theses in medical residency and master’s degree that were defended from 2008 to 2018 at GUMS (Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti School of Nursing and Midwifery, Langeroud’s School of Nursing and Midwifery, Langeroud’s Paramedical School, and Faculty of Health) were examined. The data from each thesis, including the department, subject of thesis (clinical, epidemiological, and basic sciences), type of study (observational or interventional), the academic rank of the supervisor professor, the presence of the advisor professor, the presence of statistic advisor, the presence of methodological advisor (epidemiologist or specialist in community medicine), and the year of thesis defense were extracted by experts in library and information sciences of GUMS using SANA library software and registered files. 
Then, to find articles extracted from the theses, a search was conducted in national databases (The Scientometrics system of the Ministry of Health, Noormags, Iranmedex, MagIran, and SID) and international databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar) using thesis title, keywords, name of supervisor, name of advisor, and name of student. Finally, the data related to the language of the published paper, the year of publication, the indexing of journals published papers, and the type of the study (original research, systematic review/meta-analysis, case report, or case series) were collected. The obtained data entered into SPSS software , version.16 and reported using frequency (percentage) and the median of the time of publication.

Results
In this study, 774 theses were screened. Of these, 515, 198, 45, 11, and 5 belonged to the Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti Nursing and Midwifery School in Rasht, Faculty of Health, Paramedical School in Langeroud, and School of Nursing and Midwifery in Langeroud, respectively. A total of 449 papers (58%) extracted from these theses had been published. Of these, 51.2%, 75.2%, 55.5%, 81.8%, and 40% were extracted from these theses belonged to the Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, Paramedical School in Langeroud, and School of Nursing and Midwifery in Langeroud, respectively. 
The median of time from the thesis defense date to the publication of the article was two years for the Faculty of Medicine and Shahid Beheshti School of Nursing and Midwifery, one year for Langeroud’s Paramedical School, and six months for Langeroud’s School of Nursing and Midwifery. In the Faculty of Health, the half of the articles extracted from the thesis had been published in the same year of defense (Table 1).


In all faculties, original research articles were the most published papers extracted from theses. Only the theses defended in the Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti School of Nursing and Midwifery, and the Faculty of Health had a statistician advisor with a prevalence of 12.1%, 19.5%, and 20%, respectively.

Conclusion
In comparison with the period from 2004 to 2008, the number of English articles published in journals indexed by ISI/PubMed and Scopus had increased from 41.6% to 53%. Also, the number of articles published in journals indexed by other international systems has increased significantly by 46.5% compared to the number of Persian articles (13.9%) [4]. There is a noticeable difference by 51.2% in articles extracted from GUMS theses Compared to those from Qazvin University of Medical Sciences (28.8%) from 2001 to 2006 [5].
 In a study, the publication rate of articles extracted from the master’s thesis for the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Mashhad from 2001 to 2006 was 74.4% (n=52) in Persian language in national scientific research journals and 12.8% (n=9) in English language in ISI-indexed journals [6]. The number of articles published in the Persian language and in journals indexed by ISI/PubMed for the Shahid Beheshti School of Nursing and Midwifery was 90 (60.4%) and 16 (10.7%), respectively, which are comparable to the results of School of Nursing and Midwifery in Mashhad [6].
 It seems that the publication rate of articles extracted from the medical residency and master’s degree theses belonging to GUMS and the quality of journals where they have been published are remarkable and even higher than other universities of Iran in some cases. However, the lack of comprehensive data and the different periods of research make it difficult to make precise comparisons.

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
This study was approved by the ethics committee of Guilan University of Medical Sciences Guilan University of Medical Sciences (Code: IR.GUMS.REC.1398.332).

Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Authors' contributions
Conceptualization, design, drafting the manuscript, and supervision: Abbas Darjani and Soheil Soltanipour; Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors; Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Abbas Darjani, Sedigheh Norouzmehr, Hassan Abbaspour, Fataneh Imani; Statistical analysis: Soheil Soltanipour; Administrative, technical, or material support: Sedigheh Norouzmehr, Hassan Abbaspour, Fataneh Imani.

Conflicts of interest
According to the authors, there is no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Ms. Seyedah Fatemeh Hashemi and Ms. Farah Jahid Nama for their assistance.

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