Publication rate of abstracts on breast cancer presented at different scientific events in Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Medical congresses allow scientific production to be appropriately disseminated and discussed. However, most of the scientific papers presented at medical congresses do not go on to be published in indexed journals. The present study aimed to characterize the abstracts presented at three different congresses on breast cancer held in Brazil, and to determine the publication rate of these three events. Methods: Observational, retrospective study, where the observation unit consisted of the scientific papers presented at the Brazilian Congress of Mastology (CBM), Jornada Paulista de Mastologia (JPM) and Brazilian Breast Cancer Symposium (BBCS) in 2017. Initially, we recorded all the abstracts of works presented at the event. Subsequently, the works were searched in digital databases (BIREME/LILACS and MEDLINE/PubMed) and in the respective resumes of the authors on the Lattes platform. Results: The study included 266 abstracts of scientific papers presented in the three selected events, of which 21 (7.9%) were published in an indexed journal. Most of these studies were conducted predominantly in public institutions (71.1%), located in the State of São Paulo (30.5%) and were presented in the form of a poster (77.8%). The publication rate from the BBCS, CBM and JPM was 13.4, 5.4 and 3.4%, respectively (p = 0.03). Considering the published articles, there was no difference in journal impact factor between the congresses (p = 0.49). “Mastology” was the journal that received the largest number of publications (n = 8; 38.1%). Conclusion: In 2017, less than 10% of the abstracts on breast cancer presented at Brazilian congresses were published in an indexed journal. Among the main specialty events in the country, the Brazilian Breast Cancer Symposium has a significantly higher publication rate.

Publication rate of scientific papers presented at the largest event on breast cancer research in Latin America

“…The differences between this event and others held in Brazil for which publication rates are below 10% [9,18] may be due to the quality control applied by the respective scientific committees reviewing and selecting the papers submitted and to the methodological characteristics of the papers accepted for presentation at the congress [3,19]. Nevertheless, the fact that the BBCS is an event that focuses on scientific research and that offers a range of incentives to speakers and considerable awards and prizes for the best papers presented may also have contributed to this better performance [3].…”

“…Despite the diversity of authors and institutions of origin, there was a predominance of studies originating in Goiás. This can probably be explained by the fact that the event takes place in that state and emphasises the importance of this symposium for the scientific development of the region [3]. There was also a predominance of papers on studies conducted in public hospitals and universities, reflecting the importance of these institutions in scientific production in Brazil [13].…”

“…The publication rate was higher in the case of studies developed in public institutions, possibly due to the authors' academic experience and the scientific incentives present in the majority of these institutions in Brazil [7,12,13]. Studies dealing with rehabilitation following breast cancer were also more likely to be published, reflecting not only the quality of these studies but also the encouragement provided for multidisciplinary participation in the BBCS [3]. Finally, the publication rate was higher for papers given as oral or commented poster presentations, reflecting the effectiveness of the event's organising committee in selecting the studies with greatest scientific impact [16,19].…”

“…Disseminating knowledge gained from scientific research is the first step for healthcare advancement. Safe and reliable sources of information are of vital importance, and priority must be given to scientific studies conducted with appropriate methodology [1][2][3]. In recent years, scientific development in the field of breast cancer has contributed to progress in the diagnosis of the disease, to consolidating new treatment strategies and to achieving more favourable oncologic outcomes [3][4][5].…”

“…At the Brazilian Congresses of Angiology and Vascular Surgery held between 2001 and 2003, the mean publication rate was 6.3% [9]. Of the papers presented at the Brazilian Congress of Mastology held in 2017, the publication rate was 5.4% [3]. However, there are no data available on the temporal evolution of the publication rate for the same congress.…”