Fate of abstracts presented at the 2008 congress of the French Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Society.
Publication of abstracts presented at a scientific meeting is a measure of the latter's scientific quality.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the publication rate for abstracts presented at the 2008 congress of the French Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Society (SOFMER) and to identify (i) factors that were predictive of publication and (ii) the main reasons for non-publication.


METHODS
We searched the PubMed database for publications related to SOFMER 2008 abstracts. We then screened the abstracts' characteristics for features that were predictive of publication. Authors of abstracts that had not been published were contacted (by e-mail) in order to establish the reason(s) for non-publication.


RESULTS
Of the 231 abstracts presented at SOFMER 2008, 49 (21.2%) had been published. Original studies submitted by French university teams were more likely to be published. Most of the unpublished abstracts had never been submitted to scientific journals. A heavy workload (limiting the time available for drafting a publication) and unwillingness to submit incomplete or preliminary studies were the main barriers to submission for publication.


CONCLUSIONS
SOFMER 2008s abstract publication rate was lower than those of other national or international medical congresses. University status and the performance of original research were predictive of publication.
Service de MPR, hôpital Pierre-Swynghedauw, CHRU de Lille, rue André-Verhaeghe, 59037 Lille, France. Electronic address: etienne.allart@chru-lille.fr.
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Allart
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Beaucamp
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Thevenon
D000043:Abstracting and Indexing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D010810:Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine; D011643:Publishing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013997:Time Factors
Abstract; Congress; Congrès; Médecine physique et de réadaptation; Physical and rehabilitation medicine; Publication rate; Résumé; Taux de publication