H. L. Minton2, S. Goyer1, K. Feng1, H. Chen1, B. L. Corey1,3 1University Of Alabama at Birmingham,Department Of Surgery,Birmingham, Alabama, USA 2University Of Alabama at Birmingham,School Of Medicine,Birmingham, Alabama, USA 3Birmingham Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center,Department Of Surgery,Birmingham, AL, USA
Introduction:
As medical school and residency programs encourage increased student and resident research, thousands of abstracts are submitted to conferences annually. The purpose of this study is to determine the rate of publication of the oral and plenary presentations from the 2017 Academic Surgical Congress (ASC) and assess factors that influence the likelihood of publication.
Methods:
Abstracts selected for oral and plenary presentations at the 2017 ASC were evaluated for publication status via PubMed, Google Scholar, and NIH Reporter searches. Publication status, including date of publication and journal title, the academic rank of first and senior authors, and the type of study, such as basic science (BS), clinical outcomes (CO), and education (Edu) were collected. The impact factor of each journal was determined using the 2017 Journal Citations Report. Impact factors were categorized as low (0-3), moderate (3.1-7), or high impact (7.1-10+). In addition, senior author funding status, source, and amounts were cataloged. Statistical analysis was conducted using SAS.
Results:
There were a total of 360 oral and plenary presentations. 41.4% (n=149) of oral and plenary presentations were published, including one by correspondence. BS, CO, and Edu presentations had publication rates of 31.7%, 51.1%, and 57.7%, respectively. Senior authors with an academic rank of Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor had publication rates of 41.8%, 49.4% and 43.3% respectively. First authors were primarily residents, students, or fellows and had publication rates of 40.4%, 59.5%, and 45.7%, respectively. None of these factors were statistically significant (p= 0.07, 0.697, and 0.183).
159 (44.2%) senior authors had a source of funding, of which 129 (35.8%) were from the National Institute of Health. 57.8% of abstracts with a source of funding were published. 36.6% of abstracts without funding were published. Funding sources had a positive association with publication (p <0.001). Manuscripts were published 1 to 16 months after ASC. Published abstracts were primarily printed in low or moderate impact journals, with 51.9% in low, 35.9% in moderate, and 12.2% in high impact journals. The majority of manuscripts were CO (62.8%) in nature, followed by BS (25.6%), then Edu (11.5%).
Conclusion:
After 16 months, 41.4% of the oral and plenary presentations had achieved publication, a rate similar to previous studies within other fields. Academic rank of first or senior authors had no influence on publication rate, while a funding source increased the likelihood of publication. Further investigation of factors that influence publication should be completed, as well as a follow-up study including additional ASC conferences.