title: Subsequent publication of oral and maxillofacial surgery meeting abstracts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies in various medical specialties have shown that fewer than 50% of abstracts presented at meetings are subsequently published. The purpose of the present study was to determine the publication rate of abstracts presented at the annual meetings of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
  
  
  METHODS
  The titles and authors of the abstracts from all oral abstract session presentations and posters by American contributors were collected from the Final Programs of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons annual meetings for 2006 to 2009. A PubMed search for published articles through December 2010 was then performed using the authors' names, abstract titles, and key words.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 311 abstract presentations were done at the 4 annual meetings. Of these, only 85 (24%) were subsequently published. No difference was found between abstracts from oral or poster presentations. Most of the articles were published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Because of deficiencies that can occur in abstracts and the need to disseminate the information they contain, it is important to take the appropriate measures to ensure that full articles are subsequently published.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry, 521 North 11th St, PO Box 980566, Richmond, VA 23298-0566, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Laskin
mesh_terms: D000043:Abstracting and Indexing; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D011643:Publishing; D012953:Societies, Dental; D013515:Surgery, Oral; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States