A study of productivity and participation at IADR and AADR annual meetings from 1970 to 1981.

An analysis was conducted of the scientific research productivity and participation in the International Association for Dental Research and the American Association for Dental Research annual meetings between 1970 and 1981. The study was designed to describe the overall level of participation, most productive institutions by year, and percent change in total research productivity of participating institutions and countries from 1970 to 1981. The results indicate that a total of approximately 687 different institutions representing 49 countries participated during the 12-year period. The total number of presentations increased by 77%, while the total number of participating institutions increased by 63%. The top 20 most productive institutions in any given year accounted for between 38 and 51% of all research presented. Of these top 20 participating institutions, approximately 83% were universities. An analysis by year and most productive institutions from 1980 to 1981 is presented.