From Abstract to Publication in a Peer-Reviewed Journal: Evaluation of the 63rd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery

Background The presentation and academic discussion of the latest scientific research is the central purpose of meetings like the annual meeting of the German Society of Neurosurgery (DGNC). The aim of this study was to investigate the publication rate of all oral and poster abstracts of the DGNC meeting 2012 held in Leipzig, Germany, in peer-reviewed journals and to identify factors that are associated with a higher publication rate. Material and Methods We reviewed all accepted oral and poster presentations of the meeting. Then a search in PubMed was performed to determine the publication rate within 3 years after the abstract submission deadline. We used the information to identify factors associated with a higher publication rate. Results The publication rate in a peer-reviewed journal was 40.4% for all presented abstracts. Overall, 41.5% of all poster presentations and 40.1% of all oral presentations were published within 3 years. Abstracts presenting prospective studies or university research had a statistically higher chance of publication. The average journal impact factor for all published abstracts was 2.99, and 81 different journals were chosen for publication. Conclusions Overall, 40.4% of all presented abstracts at the 2012 DGNC were published in a peer-reviewed journal indexed in PubMed, which reflects the high scientific standard of this meeting. Prospective studies and studies presented by authors from universities had a higher chance of being published.