Factors affecting subsequent full-text publication of papers presented at the Annual Conference of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics.

Objective: To study the factors associated with the subsequent (over next 9 years) full-text publication of papers presented at the 44 National Conference of Indian Academy of Pediatrics (PEDICON), 2007. Methods: All papers presented at PEDICON 2007 were searched for subsequent full-text publication over the next 9 years in English-language journals by an internet-based search. The published papers were compared with the conference-abstracts. Results: 74 (16%) of the 450 abstracts presented were subsequently published; 61 (82.4%) in Medline-indexed journals. Majority (50, 67.6%) of the papers was published within the first 36 mo in journals with mean (SD) impact factor of 2.62 (1.63). The factors significantly associated with subsequent publication were papers presented as award papers ( P<0.001), those reporting on Interventional trials ( P<0.001), and those from medical colleges ( P<0.05). On comparison of the conference abstracts with the subsequently published full-papers, 55% had a change in title; authors were changed in 65%, and participants' numbers were dissimilar in 8.6%. Conclusions: There is a need to identify the factors responsible for this low rate of subsequent publication, and interventions to improve it both at institutional and researchers' level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]