The Fate of Abstracts Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurologic Surgeons

The purpose of this study was to determine the publication rate and time to publication following abstract presentation at a major neurosurgical meeting, namely the 2005 annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS). We reviewed all 754 abstracts presented at the 2005 CNS annual meeting to determine publication status and identify factors that are associated with publication. A standardized database search was conducted to determine publication status. Predictors of publication were examined. Of the 754 abstracts presented, 383 (50.8%) were published after 5.3 years. The median time to publication was 450 days (range-646 to 1953 days) with 16% being published prior to the meeting. Oral presentations had a publication rate of 64.0% compared to 48.3% for poster presentations. Of the abstracts not published prior to the meeting, 77% were published within 3 years of the meeting. In univariate analysis, neuro-oncology abstracts (OR 1.88; 95% CI 1.34 2.64; p < 0.001) and abstracts selected for oral presentation (OR 1.97; 95% CI 1.30 2.99; p = 0.001) had a significantly higher likelihood of publication. These associations remained independent in multivariate analysis. Neuro-oncology abstracts (p = 0.004), basic science research (p = 0.003) and abstracts selected for oral presentation (p = 0.036) were published in higher impact factor journals. Half of presentations at the annual CNS meeting will be published in peer-reviewed journals with a median time to publication of 450 days. Neuro-oncology abstracts and those abstracts selected for oral presentation have a significantly higher likelihood of publication.