Rollin Laetitia, Darmoni Stefan, Caillard Jean-François, Gehanno Jean-François
Institute of Occupational Health, Rouen University Hospital and University of Rouen, Rouen, France.
Scand J Work Environ Health. 2009 Dec;35(6):461-5. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.1362. Epub 2009 Oct 9.
Presentations at international meetings offer an excellent way to disseminate current research findings. One measure of the quality of research is its subsequent publication. Our study aimed to determine the publication rate of abstracts presented at a congress of the International Commission of Occupational Health (ICOH), and to identify predictive factors of publication and differences between presented abstracts and -subsequently published papers.
We identified a random sample of 318 abstracts presented at the 2000 ICOH meeting from the book of abstracts. Using Medline and Embase, we assessed their publication rate in the period ranging from 1998 to 2006 and investigated the factors associated with publication rate.
Of 318 abstracts originating from 51 countries, 105 articles [33%, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 27-38)] were subsequently published in 67 journals indexed in Medline or Embase. Mean time to publication was 17 months (95% CI 13-21). Multivariate analysis revealed that abstracts with quantitative data and written by authors originating from developed countries were significantly more published. From the time of abstract presentation to publication in a peer-reviewed journal, both the study sample size and the first author frequently changed (respectively 25% and 29%), but the overall conclusions remained stable, except in one case.
Most of the abstracts presented at the 2000 ICOH congress were not subsequently published as full research reports. If this is the case for most abstracts submitted to conferences, this may limit the ability of a reader to judge the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the research presented. Caution is advised when referencing or generalizing from abstracts that have not been subsequently published in full.
在国际会议上发表演讲是传播当前研究成果的绝佳方式。研究质量的一个衡量标准是其后续发表情况。我们的研究旨在确定在国际职业卫生委员会（ICOH）大会上发表的摘要的发表率，并确定发表的预测因素以及所发表摘要与后续发表论文之间的差异。
我们从摘要集中随机抽取了318篇在2000年ICOH会议上发表的摘要。使用Medline和Embase，我们评估了它们在1998年至2006年期间的发表率，并调查了与发表率相关的因素。
来自51个国家的318篇摘要中，有105篇文章[33%，95%置信区间（95%CI）27 - 38]随后发表在Medline或Embase索引的67种期刊上。平均发表时间为17个月（95%CI 13 - 21）。多变量分析显示，包含定量数据且由发达国家作者撰写的摘要发表的可能性显著更高。从摘要发表到在同行评审期刊上发表，研究样本量和第一作者都经常发生变化（分别为25%和29%），但总体结论保持稳定，只有一个案例除外。
2000年ICOH大会上发表的大多数摘要后来并未作为完整的研究报告发表。如果提交给会议的大多数摘要都是这种情况，这可能会限制读者判断所展示研究的有效性、可靠性和可推广性的能力。在引用或推广尚未全文发表的摘要时，建议谨慎行事。
