Publication rate of abstracts presented in ConsEuro meetings held between 2003 and 2019: a bibliometric analysis

This study aimed to assess the publication rates of abstracts presented at the ConsEuro Congress using a web-scraping method and to analyze factors correlated with these publication rates.

Abstracts presented at eight ConsEuro meetings held between 2003 and 2019 were evaluated for subspecialty, study design, number of authors, and the country of the principal investigator's institution. For abstracts confirmed as subsequently published using a web-scraping method, the following data were recorded: time to publication, the journal of publication, impact factor, quartile, index status, Scientific Journal Ranking of the journal at the year of publication, and changes in the number of authors after publication.

Out of 1,426 abstracts presented, 478 were published in peer-reviewed journals, yielding a publication rate of 33.5%. The median time to publication was 12 months. The leading journal in terms of publication rate was Clinical Oral Investigations. There was no statistically significant difference in publication rates across years. Abstracts related to laser therapy, caries, and dental materials had significantly higher publication rates compared to other subspecialties. Animal, basic, and clinical research studies were more likely to be published. Both study design and subspecialty influenced publication rates, which decreased over time.

A considerable amount of scientific data and preliminary results presented at conferences, which could contribute to scientific knowledge, are overlooked due to low publication rates. The findings of this study may encourage ConsEuro participants to submit well-planned and rigorous studies that are more likely to complete the full publication process.