Background: The New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons (NZAPS) hosts an annual scientific meeting (ASM) to bring clinicians and researchers together to discuss the latest advancements in plastic surgery and showcase the results of up-to-date research through podium and poster presentations. However, it is unclear if these presentations ultimately achieve publication into a peer-reviewed journal. This study aimed to identify the proportion of conference abstracts which are successfully converted to formal journal articles and specifically investigating the effect of variables such as the presenter’s training level and country of origin, presentation type and topic, and time to publication.
Methods: NZAPS ASM conference programs from 2016 to 2021 were reviewed to identify all research presentations. Desired information was extracted such as presentation type, presenting author, the presentation sub-specialty topic and presenting author country of origin.
Results: Out of the 252 abstracts, 24.6% of abstracts had an associated publication with a statistically significant variation depending on the training level of the presenter. Out of the 62 published abstracts, 33.9% were published prior to conference presentation. Accounting for this, the true conversion rate of abstracts to publication after conference presentation was 16.3%.
Conclusion: Abstracts presented at the NZAPS ASM have a modest publication and conversion rate after presentation. The multi-ethnic populations in Australia and New Zealand produce studies that may not be directly applicable to overseas populations; however, this underscores the importance of establishing and maintaining regional journals to facilitate the publication of local research.