Publication rates of scientific presentations in Turkish National Surgical congress

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate the publication rates of scientific presentations in Turkish National Surgical Congresses (Conferences)

Materials and Methods: Congress abstract books, including oral and poster presentations from 1996 to 2004 were reviewed to determine publication rates. We searched Medline indexed journals using the PubMed and the Web of Science servers, to see which presentations ended up as publications. The rates of publication of the abstracts and the journals in which the presentations have been published were investigated.

Results: There were 2118 presentations and 120 of them were published (5.7%). The numbers of oral presentations and posters were 1131 (46.6%) and 987 (53.4%), respectively. Out of total 2118 presentations, 1774 (83.8%) were clinical and 344 (16.2%) were experimental studies. Of those clinical studies, the highest number of presentations and publications were in the breast and endocrine surgery with 309 (17.5%) presentations and with 15 (4.9%) publications, respectively. Of those experimental studies, the highest numbers of presentations and publications were in the hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery with 82 (24.8%) presentations and with 13 (15.9 %) publications, respectively. The number of presentations and the number of publications increased steadily over the years; however the ratio of publication to presentation remained the same. British Journal of Surgery, World Journal of Surgery and Ulusal Travma ve Acil Cerrahi Dergisi were the most commonly selected journals for publications.

Conclusion: The publication rates of abstracts presented at Turkish National Surgical Congresses are lower than the previously reported publication rates.