From abstract to peer-reviewed publication: country matters

Medical conferences are key in the sharing of new scientific findings. However, results reported as conference-abstracts are generally not considered final before publication in a peer-reviewed journal. It is known that approximately 1/3 of the scientific results presented as abstracts at large medical conferences are published within 2 years of presentation [1] and [2]. Cardiovascular research has increased substantially in the last decade, and low- and middle-income countries have now a greater share of citations than before [3]. Less is known about the relative difference between countries in regard to likelihood of publication and a comparison of abstract-to-publication conversion rate between countries is of interest [4]. By identifying and quantifying country differences, the scientific community could identify barriers for publication and publication bias.