Full text publication rates of research abstracts presented at the European Society of Endodontology (ESE) Congresses in the last 20 years

Conference abstracts-what gets published, when, and from where?

BACKGROUND

Scientific meetings provide a platform for disseminating new research. Abstracts presented at these meetings are frequently published as full-length papers in peer-reviewed journals. The primary aims of this study were to determine the publication rate and time to publication of abstracts presented at the European Orthodontic Society (EOS) and World Federation of Orthodontists (WFO) congresses in 2015. The secondary aim was to identify factors predicting the publication of abstracts.

METHODS

The congress abstracts were identified from the congress report or organizers. Systematic searches of the PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were performed to identify papers based on the abstracts identified. Abstract titles, first and last authors' last name, and keywords were used to identify whether an abstract resulted in a publication. Abstracts published as full-length articles were then analyzed.

RESULTS

In total, 208 abstracts were identified, of which 46.6% were published as full-length articles. The median time to publication was 17 months after the EOS congress, and 8.5 months after the WFO congress. Abstracts presented orally were more likely to be published than those presented as posters. Abstracts from Europe were more likely to result in publication. The subject and setting of the study were poor predictors of publication.

CONCLUSIONS

Less than half of the abstracts presented at the EOS and WFO congresses in 2015 led to full publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The mode of presentation and the region of origin of the research were good predictors of publication.

Abstracts presented at the European Association for Osseointegration (EAO) Congresses: Publication fate and discrepancies with full-length articles

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the full publication proportion (FPP) of abstracts presented at the 2010 and 2011 EAO Congresses, analyse the discrepancies between abstracts and their full publications, and explore potential predictors of FPP and discrepancies.

METHODS

Abstracts presented at the 2010 and 2011 EAO Congresses were retrieved. Associated full publications were identified by searching PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar. Discrepancies between abstracts and full publications were identified, classified and evaluated using a discrepancy score. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to describe cumulative FPP over time. Predictors for FPP and the discrepancy score were analysed using cox regression modelling and a linear regression model, respectively.

RESULTS

850 abstracts were included. The overall FPP was 36.4% with a median time lapse of 12 months. Higher FPP were significantly associated with oral presentation (HR=2.33; 95% CI: 1.68 to 3.22; p<0.001), multiple affiliations (HR =1.32; 95% CI: 1.00 to 1.73; p=0.048) and presence of statistical tests (HR =1.78; 95% CI: 1.36 to 2.32; p<0.001). 91.3% pairs had at least one minor change from the abstract and 70.9% had at least one major change. Greater discrepancy score was significantly associated with longer time lapse (B=0.06; 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.08; p<0.001) and being clinical research (B=1.30; 95% CI: 0.52 to 2.08; p=0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Thirty-six percent of abstracts presented at the EAO Congresses were published. Among these, more than two-thirds showed at least one major change in their full publications. Abstracts presented in oral implantology conferences should not be relied upon to inform practice.