[Assessment of the scientific impact of presentations at Spanish National Dermatology and Venereology Congresses from 2000 through 2003].
BACKGROUND
The percentage of presentations at congresses that are later published is a measure of the scientific impact of these meetings. Our objective was to investigate how many studies presented in four Spanish national conferences (2000-2003) had been published in Spanish and international biomedical and dermatology journals, with or without an impact factor.


METHODS
A search for publications in international indexed journals (using PubMed) or publications in unindexed Spanish journals (using Dermabase/Indice Médico Español) was undertaken by the name of first author, the first and last author, and the key words of the article.


RESULTS
Of a total of 1,471 scientific presentations, only 200 (13.5 %) were published (118 in Spanish journals and 82 in international ones); that is, 1,271 studies (86.5 %) were not published either in a Spanish or an international journal.


CONCLUSIONS
We found a low impact in terms of the publication rate for abstracts presented in 4 consecutive Spanish National Dermatology and Venereology Congresses compared to the rate of publication for other dermatology meetings such as the British Association of Dermatologists Annual Meeting.
García-Muret
M P
MP
Servicio de Dermatología, Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, España. mgarciam@santpau.es
Pujol
R M
RM
D015706:Bibliometrics; D003226:Congresses as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D003880:Dermatology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D055811:Journal Impact Factor; D010506:Periodicals as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013030:Spain; D014686:Venereology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*