Factors affecting peer-reviewed publication of abstracts presented at meetings of the European College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (2008–2012)

Purpose: To review abstracts presented at five consecutive meetings of the European College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ECVO), and identify abstract characteristics that affect the probability of their publication in peer-reviewed journals. Methods: An online search was conducted for peer-reviewed publications (PRPs) stemming from abstracts from five ECVO meetings (2008–2012). Time to publication and journal were noted. Effects of ocular tissue/discipline, species, type of presentation and study, funding acknowledgment and affiliation, professional qualifications, and nationality of the first and last authors on probability of publication were analyzed. Results: Of presented abstracts, 29% (87/299) were published as PRPs in Veterinary Ophthalmology (n = 50), other veterinary journals (n = 22), and nonveterinary journals (n = 15). During the 5 years studied, there was no significant difference between the impact factor of Veterinary Ophthalmology and the 25 other journals in which PRPs were published (P = 0.369). Median time to PRP acceptance or publication was 468 days. Independent variables most significant in determining the probability of PRP were oral presentation (P = 0.002), resident authorship (P < 0.0001), and species (P = 0.002), with food animal abstracts having the highest odds ratio. Ocular tissue/discipline (P = 0.13) and type of study (P = 0.33) did not affect publication probability. Funding acknowledgment (P = 0.02), author nationality (P = 0.02), and academic affiliation (P = 0.04) were also significant factors. Conclusions: Publication rate of ECVO abstracts is lower, but time to publication is similar, compared with most biomedical meetings.