Fate of abstracts presented at the World Congress of Endourology: are they followed by publication in peer-reviewed journals?
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the acceptance rate of peer-reviewed journals, to describe the time course of subsequent full publication, and to identify those with characteristics associated with publication of the abstracts presented at the World Congress of Endourology (WCE).


METHODS
All abstracts accepted for presentation at the 2001 and 2002 WCE meetings were identified from the published supplements to the Journal of Endourology. The subsequent publication rate for the corresponding studies was evaluated by scanning MEDLINE for the 5-year period after the meetings.


RESULTS
Overall, 20.5% of the abstracts were followed by publication in peer-reviewed journals. Abstracts on transurethral, laparoscopic, and percutaneous procedures had the highest publication rates (25.5%, 25%, and 24.3%, respectively). Studies from North America had the highest publication rate (29.2%). The mean time to publication was 14.6 months. There was an 80% chance that an eventually published abstract was in print 2 years after presentation. The largest number of the reports were published in the Journal of Endourology (75 of 234; 32%), the official publication of the society that sponsors the WCE.


CONCLUSIONS
Only one fifth of the abstracts presented at the WCE are ultimately published in peer-reviewed journals. Attendees should be aware of this limitation, and scientific committees should be encouraged to be more selective. Although presentation at major urological congresses constitutes an invaluable method for rapid scientific dissemination, abstracts contain data that usually are difficult to access and of questionable validity. In this respect, investigators are encouraged to publish their data.
Autorino
Riccardo
R
Urologic Clinic, Second University, Naples, Italy. ricautor@tin.it
Quarto
Giuseppe
G
Sio
Marco De
MD
Lima
Estevao
E
Quarto
Ernesto
E
Damiano
Rocco
R
Oliviero
Rosario
R
Osorio
Luis
L
Marcelo
Filinto
F
D'Armiento
Massimo
M
D015706:Bibliometrics; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D005843:Geography; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D017712:Peer Review, Research; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D014572:Urology