Scientific presentations and publications on odontological research in Argentina

The results of odontological research which are presented at the annual meetings of the Argentine Division of the International Association for Dental Research (A.D.I.A.D.R.) are proof of the scientific production of this country in this area. An analysis of the presentations allows for the quantitative evaluation of the activity of the area. A deeper appraisal of the reality of research, involves the analysis of quality and publication efficiency. A useful indicator is the relationship between the quantity of the presentations and subsequent publications (Publ./Pres. Ratio) in Journals with peer review. In 1990, the authorities of the Division presented an evaluation of the 10 previous years (Acta Odont. Latinoamer. 7(2):39-46, 1993). The current Board of Directors has considered timely to update that information. With this aim in mind the presentations at A.D.I.A.D.R. over the period 1990-1995 were considered. Employing the authors index of the A.D.I.A.D.R. meeting we searched for possible publications in Medline. The references were compared with the data from the presentations, disregarding those which had not been communicated previously in the Division. The data obtained were grouped according to Research Center and subject area. The Publ./Pres. Ratio was calculated. The time to publication and language of publication were considered. Of a total of 506 presentations, 61 were published, Ratio Publ./Pres. 1:8 (12%). Considering each Center individually the ratio was 1:6 for the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), 1:13 for the National University of Córdoba (UNC), 1:3 for the National University of La Plata (UNLP) and 1:2 for the National University of Rosario (UNR). There were no records of publications from the National Universities of Tucumán and of the North-East. The groups of investigation with greater quantity of presentations and better Publ./Pres. Ratio were Dental Mat./Restorative Dent./Endod. (ratio 1:8), Physiol./Pharmacol./Biochem. (Ratio 1:4) and Oral Pathol. (Ratio 1:4) of UBA, and Physiol./Pharmacol. (Ratio 1:1) of UNC. Most of the publications were in English (86%) and within 4 years of presentation. The current Publ./Pres. Ratios are similar to those communicated in 1990 in the area of the basic investigation and represent acceptable values. An increase in this proportion is expected in the future especially in the area of applied clinical research, since publication would imply prior peer review and thus qualitative evaluation of the work.