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PODIUM OR POSTER, PUBLISH OR PERISH – CONVERSION RATES OF COMBINED SERVICES ORTHOPAEDIC SOCIETY ABSTRACTS

Presentation and subsequent publication has become ‘the holy grail’ of surgical trainees. This perceived importance of presenting work is further reinforced by the fact that over sixty percent of information contained in standard orthopaedic texts is quoted from published abstracts and not full papers. There is concern that increasing reliance is placed on such work and there are calls to restrict the routine use of abstracts in this manner.

This concern is born out of evidence that conversion of presented work into peer-reviewed publication is globally poor throughout the medical specialities.

The purpose of this study is to determine the conversion rate of work presented at the Combined Services Orthopaedic Society into peer review publication.

A Medline search of 81 consecutive published abstracts over six years was carried out. Further cross-referencing was established using Dialog Datastar with a search strategy. The rate of publication of papers presented at these meetings was then compared against other medical specialities across national and international forums.

26 full paper publications were identified. This yields a conversion rate of 32%. This figure is on a par with meetings such as the BOA (35%), the AAOS (34%) and EFORT (40%). It is also a similar level to that seen with work presented at other speciality meetings.

The conversion rate of papers presented at the Combined Services Orthopaedic Society is competitive with other orthopaedic and medical meetings. Overall conversion of presented works to robust literature is poor. Reasons for low publication rates include pressures of time, insufficient planning and disputes amongst colleagues.

In light of increasing pressure on selection of trainees and the perceived need to present work at meetings, this paper reinforces the need for thorough planning when undertaking research & audit and strict acceptance criteria from organising bodies.

Correspondence should be addressed to Major M Butler RAMC, Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, Devon.

Correspondence should be addressed to Major M Butler, CSOS, Institute of Naval Medicine, Crescent Road, Alverstoke, Hants PO12 2D