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

Abstract

Background: Knowledge dissemination is paramount so physicians may practice the most up-to-date, evidence-based medicine to best serve their patients. Medical conferences are a commonly employed method of facilitating this. By determining the publication rate of research presented at a conference, the quality of the conference is indirectly assessed. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the publication rate, along with other conference metrics, of abstracts presented at the Canadian Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (CSOHNS) meetings from 2008 to 2018. Methods: All abstracts presented at the CSOHNS Annual Meetings from 2008 to 2018 were reviewed from publicly available records. Presentation year, presentation type (i.e. oral or poster), whether each abstract was presented in the Poliquin Resident Research Competition, and the country in which the lead author’s institution was located, were collected. Publication status of each abstract was then determined using a six-tiered search strategy in PubMed and Google Scholar. All data were then analyzed using SPSS Version 27.0. Results: From 2008 to 2018, 1947 abstracts were analyzed, yielding an overall publication rate of 58.7%. There was a significantly increasing trend in publication rate over the 11 years (p = 0.015). The rate of publication differed based on type of presentation (oral 65.1%, poster 50.2%; p = 0.001). Most presentations were presented by a first author associated with a Canadian institution (94.4%). The top journal in which research was published was Journal of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery (37.3%). The mean impact factor of the journals in which presentations were published was 2.92. Finally, the median time to publication was 14 months (IQR: 9.0–25.0). Conclusions: Research presented at 2008–2018 CSOHNS annual meetings was published in academic journals at higher rates than research at comparable conferences. Oral presentations have a significantly greater publication rate, compared to poster presentations. Additionally, the upward trend in publication rate over the 11 meetings suggests a steady increase in the quality of research being presented. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].