TALKING THE TALK AND POSTING THE PAPERS: UNVEILING PUBLISHING PATTERNS IN ESES CONGRESS ABSTRACTS

AUTHORS:
M. Schneider (Vienna, Austria) , A. Dukaczewska (Berlin, Germany) , D. van Beek (Utrecht, Netherlands) , K. Van den Heede (Aalst, Belgium) , G. Sharma (Vienna, Austria) , M. Almquist (Lund, Sweden)
Background:
The biannual congresses of the European Society of Endocrine Surgeons (ESES) have been a valuable platform for presenting research since 2004. However, the publication rate of abstracts presented at ESES congresses is unknown.
Methods:
We searched for full publications using titles and authors of abstracts presented orally or as posters at ESES congresses from 2004 to 2018. Abstract factors, such as type of study and number of patients, were investigated in relation to publication rate, journal impact factor, and citation rates of published studies.
Results:
Out of 733 abstracts presented at ESES during this period, 207 (28%) were presented orally and 528 (72%) as a poster. The median number of patients included per study was 72 [1-22,580]. Overall, 456 of the abstracts (62%) were published, with a median time of 11.4 months from the ESES congress to publication [range -64.5 - 156]. The median number of citations per published abstract was 21 [range 0-821], the average annual citation rate was 2.3 [0-54], and the median journal impact factor was 2.2 [0-21.3]. Abstracts that were published were more often presented orally, and were more often prospective.
Conclusions:
While the publication rates of ESES congress abstracts are high, studies involved a limited number of patients. Collaborative efforts to include more patients in prospective studies could increase the publication rate of abstracts and enhance the overall scientific impact of the ESES congresses.