The fate of neuroradiologic abstracts presented at national meetings in 1993: Rate of subsequent publication in peer-reviewed, indexed journals

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Abstract presentations are a valuable means of rapi dly conveying new information; however, abstracts that fail to eventually b ecome published are of little use to the general medical community, Our goa ls were to determine the publication rate of neuroradiologic papers origina lly presented at national meetings in 1993 and to assess publication rate a s a function of neuroradiologic subspecialty and study design. METHODS: Proceedings from the 1993 ASNR and RSNA meetings were reviewed, A MEDLINE search encompassing 1993-1997 was performed cross-referencing lead author and at least one text word based on the abstract title, All ASNR and RSNA neuroradiologic abstracts were included. Study type, subspecialty cla ssification, and sample size were tabulated. Publication rate, based on stu dy design and neuroradiologic subspecialty, was compared with overall publi cation rate. Median duration from meeting presentation to publication was c alculated, and the journals of publication were noted. RESULTS: Thirty-seven percent of ASNR abstracts and 33% of RSNA neuroradiol ogic abstracts were published as articles in indexed medical journals. Publ ication rates among neuroradiologic subspecialty types were not significant ly different. Prospective studies presented at the ASNR were published at a higher rate than were retrospective studies. There was no difference betwe en the publication rate of experimental versus clinical studies, Neuroradio logic abstracts were published less frequently than were abstracts within o ther medical specialties. Median time between abstract presentation and pub lication was 15 months. CONCLUSION: Approximately one third of neuroradiologic abstracts presented at national meetings in 1993 were published in indexed journals. This rate is lower than that of abstracts from medical specialties other than radiolo gy.