SynthesisBMC medical research methodology2003
More insight into the fate of biomedical meeting abstracts: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC medical research methodology, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Full publication of results initially presented in abstracts.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The journey from congress to journal: publication patterns of ECR 2019 oral presentations.Insights into imaging · 2026Article
- From conference to journal: Analyzing the path to publication for EUGA and JOGS 2022 abstracts.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Article
- Analyzing resuscitation conference content through the lens of the chain of survival.Resuscitation plus · 2025Article
- Publication Rates of Oculoplastic Surgery and Orbit Abstracts Presented at Turkish Ophthalmological Association National Congresses: 10-Year Analysis.Turkish journal of ophthalmology · 2024Article
- Publication rates of research presented at the Canadian Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Annual Meetings from 2008 to 2018: an 11-year review.Journal of otolaryngology - head & neck surgery = Le Journal d'oto-rhino-laryngologie et de chirurgie cervico-faciale · 2023Review
- The high scholarly value of grey literature before and during Covid-19.Scientometrics · 2022Article
- Article
- Crossing the Death Valley of publication process in cornea and ocular surface diseases: from abstracts presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting to full-text manuscripts.Arquivos brasileiros de oftalmologia · 2021Article
- How should systematic reviewers handle conference abstracts? A view from the trenches.Systematic reviews · 2019Article
- Publication of Abstracts with Peruvian Affiliation Presented to the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2006-2010.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2019Article
- Publication rate of abstracts orally presented at the Turkish Society of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation National Congresses.Turkish journal of anaesthesiology and reanimation · 2019Article
- Contribution of national congress presentations to scientific literature: An analysis of efficiency.Turkish journal of emergency medicine · 2019Article
- Publication rate of abstracts presented at the American College of Physicians Japan Chapter Annual Meetings (2013-2014): A retrospective observational study.Journal of general and family medicine · 2018Article
- A descriptive analysis of abstracts presented at the Turkish National Cardiology Congresses between 2011 and 2015.Anatolian journal of cardiology · 2018Article
- Article
- Publication rates of podium and poster abstract presentations at the 2010 and 2011 society of gynecologic oncology conferences.Gynecologic oncology reports · 2018Article
- Publication rate of abstracts presented at Japan Geriatrics Society Annual Meetings (2011-2012): a retrospective observational study.BMC research notes · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIt has been estimated that about 45% of abstracts that are accepted for presentation at biomedical meetings will subsequently be published in full. The acceptance of abstracts at meetings and their fate after initial rejection are less well understood. We set out to estimate the proportion of abstracts submitted to meetings that are eventually published as full reports, and to explore factors that are associated with meeting acceptance and successful publication.
methodsStudies analysing acceptance of abstracts at biomedical meetings or their subsequent full publication were searched in MEDLINE, OLDMEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, BIOSIS, Science Citation Index Expanded, and by hand searching of bibliographies and proceedings. We estimated rates of abstract acceptance and of subsequent full publication, and identified abstract and meeting characteristics associated with acceptance and publication, using logistic regression analysis, survival-type analysis, and meta-analysis.
resultsAnalysed meetings were held between 1957 and 1999. Of 14945 abstracts that were submitted to 43 meetings, 46% were accepted. The rate of full publication was studied with 19123 abstracts that were presented at 234 meetings. Using survival-type analysis, we estimated that 27% were published after two, 41% after four, and 44% after six years. Of 2412 abstracts that were rejected at 24 meetings, 27% were published despite rejection. Factors associated with both abstract acceptance and subsequent publication were basic science and positive study outcome. Large meetings and those held outside the US were more likely to accept abstracts. Abstracts were more likely to be published subsequently if presented either orally, at small meetings, or at a US meeting. Abstract acceptance itself was strongly associated with full publication.
conclusionsAbout one third of abstracts submitted to biomedical meetings were published as full reports. Acceptance at meetings and publication were associated with specific characteristics of abstracts and meetings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.