Unveiling publishing patterns in the European Society of Endocrine Surgeons congress abstracts: a retrospective multicentric publication analysis

Since 2004, the European Society of Endocrine Surgeons (ESES) has hosted biennial congresses as a platform for presenting key research. However, the publication rate of abstracts presented at these congresses is unknown. We searched for full publications using titles and authors of abstracts presented orally or as posters at ESES congresses from 2004 to 2018. Abstract factors, such as type of study and number of patients, were investigated in relation to publication rate, journal impact factor, and citation rates of published studies. Out of 733 abstracts presented at ESES during this period, 207 (28%) were presented orally and 528 (72%) as a poster, Overall, 456 of the abstracts (62%) were published, with a median time of 11.4 months from the ESES congress to publication [range - 64.5 to 156]. The median number of citations per published abstract was 21 [range 0-821], the average annual citation rate was 2.3 [0-54], and the median journal impact factor was 2.2 [0-21.3]. The median number of patients included per study was small, accounting for 71.5 [range 1-22,580]. While factors predicting higher chances for publication were oral format (OR 5), 2006 and 2008 ESES congresses (OR 21 and 12.6, respectively), larger sample sizes, oral presentation format, native English authorship, and randomized trials had higher annual citation rates. While the publication rates of ESES congress abstracts are high, collaborative efforts to conduct multicentric prospective studies could increase the publication rate of abstracts and enhance the overall scientific impact of the ESES congresses.