title: [The scientific value of society reports in the Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To obtain an objective appraisal of the scientific value of abstracts of scientific meetings published in the Dutch Journal of Medicine (Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde; NTvG).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective.
  
  
  METHODS
  Editorial office of the NTvG.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search in MEDLINE was conducted for articles about research presented in 803 abstracts of 54 meetings (29 scientific associations), which appeared in the NTvG in 1988 and January 1989. Scientific associations were assigned to 4 groups (surgery, medicine, non-clinical medicine and a remaining group).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall publication percentage was 48 (385 articles out of 803 presentations). Pathology abstracts showed a significantly higher percentage (65%; p < 0.01), rehabilitation and dermatology abstracts a significantly lower percentage than the overall value (6%; p < 0.00001, 27% respectively; p < 0.04). The larger part of the abstracts was published in the first 2 years after the scientific meeting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The scientific relevance of abstracts presented at Dutch scientific meetings is reasonably high, considering the publication percentage. A more rigorous selection by the scientific associations could improve the quality of the abstracts.
authors.affiliation: Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Koene
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Overbeke
mesh_terms: D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D009426:Netherlands; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D011643:Publishing; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012955:Societies, Medical
vernacular_title: De wetenschappelijke waarde van verenigingsverslagen in het Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde.