Currently looking at taking research route ---- so did you stay at your home institution? Go to a big powerhouse for an organized fellowship? How productive were you and how did you ensure your productivity (if you can)?
None of the above in that didn't stay at my home institution nor did I go to a big powerhouse. Objectively, you wouldn't say my year has been productive research-wise, but that's also not what I was attempting to do. My goal was to impress the crap out of the people I was working with, whether that meant a lot of research papers or simply keeping them organized. I knew my best shot at matching was at my research program (either to match me directly or make calls for me) so I did everything to make them love me.
Research years come in a lot of different flavors and should play to the weaknesses of your application. For example, if you have an average Step 1 score and are taking a research year between MS3 and MS4, then you should have a very productive year with lots of research output. If you're below average on Step 1 (but not too bad) and also between MS3 and MS4, then you should be productive but also find a program that offers some mentorship so you develop good relationships that can make phone calls for you (phone calls are more essential the crappier your Step 1 score). For both of those situations, it's not as vital to go to a place that has a history of matching its research fellows; you're there to have solid research output and aren't as "desperate" to match since you still have aways, etc.
On the other hand, if you're unmatched and have a crappy Step 1 score (my situation), then you need to go to a program that has a history of matching its research fellows. That should be your number 1 priority in a program. It doesn't matter if they match at where they're doing research or elsewhere, as long as the program has shown that it cares about that research fellow enough to get them to match ortho. You need an advocate more than anything!
I knew my application was going to be lost in a sea of 800 apps for 4 spots, so I needed my program to love me enough to advocate for me, and make phone calls so someone would lay eyes on my application and see past the Step score. This was advice I got from another applicant I met during my first reapplication cycle and it stuck with me. It worked for him and seemed to work for me as well.
For those reasons, I didn't go to my home program since they had told me for years that they wouldn't match me due to my Step score. "We love you, we'd hire you as an attending, but we won't train you," were their words to both me and my dean. I had also done a prelim elsewhere prior to the research year so I was already a year removed from that department. I also didn't go to a powerhouse because I wanted a closer/more intimate mentorship model since I thrive on being a big fish in a little sea.
My research year has been relatively unproductive in that I don't have many papers to show for it. But I did my job well, schmoozed up the wazoo, and did everything and anything anyone asked of me. Can you walk the mail over to clinic because you're headed that way anyway? Sure, no problem! Want to do this IRB for a RCT? Definitely, even though you have a bunch of other stuff on your plate and you're not even working with that attending.
Mostly, I made myself available whenever an extra hand was needed, since everyone was so stretched thin. I won over the executive director of the department (the chairman's right hand man) this way, as well as other research project managers, attendings, and clinic and inpatient staff. I was EVERYWHERE and it showed based on the support I received during the interview season and awaiting match results.
