Southern Orthopaedic Association Abstract Publication Rate

The purpose of this study was to determine the publication rate of manuscripts presented at the Southern Orthopaedic Association's (SOA) annual meetings. An extensive literature search was performed using Google Scholar and PubMed search engines and all accepted abstracts (posters or podium presentations) presented at an SOA annual meeting from 2005 to 2011 were evaluated. A total of 568 abstracts were presented at SOA meetings between 2005 and 2011. Of these, 234 (41%) were published in the peer-reviewed literature. The publication rate was 66% in 2005 and 28% in 2010. The average time from presentation to peer-reviewed publication was 1.6 ± 0.24 years (range, 2 years in 2006 to 1 year in 2011). The SOA publication rate was comparable with other major orthopaedic conference publication rates, yet more than half of all abstracts remain unpublished. SOA attendees should be aware that approximately 40% of all accepted presentations will go unpublished.