Publication rate of scientific papers presented at the XXVI Annual Convention of National Neonatology Forum (NEOCON 2006)

Abstract

Objectives: To document the publication rate of papers presented at the Annual Convention of National Neonatology Forum of India (NNF), and study the factors associated with their subsequent publication.

Methods: All papers presented at the NEOCON 2006, the XXVI annual convention of NNF at Varanasi, India, were searched for subsequent full publication, by an internet-based search using Pubmed, Google Scholar and Indmed. Publication of the presented paper was looked for in English language, peer-reviewed, indexed journals over the next five years (1st January 2007 to 31st December, 2011). The full published papers were compared with the abstract and differences noted.

Results: One hundred and two papers and posters were presented at the conference and 14 (13.7 %) of these were published in the next five years. None was published in any un-indexed journal. The highest percentage of paper publication was from the Award paper category (83.3 %) and least from Innovation category (none). The only factor significantly associated with subsequent publication was presentation as an Award paper (P < 0.001). On comparison of the presented abstracts and the published papers, there was a change in authors in 78.5 %, title in 42.8 %, and the data in 35.7 %.

Conclusions: The subsequent publication of conference abstracts as a full-paper is sub-optimal in the field of neonatology. Further research is needed to identify the factors responsible for the poor subsequent publication, and efforts need to be made to address them both at the institutional and the researchers' level.