A Comprehensive Evaluation of National Cardiology Congresses Abstracts on the Basis of the 2016 Academic Criteria

OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to describe the effects of new academic criteria established in 2016 on the abstracts of the National Congress of the Turkish Society of Cardiology.


METHODS
The abstracts presented at 13 consecutive annual congresses were obtained. A literature search was conducted with PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases to analyze whether the abstract was published in a scientific journal. The study was divided into 2 time groups according to the new academic criteria published in 2016. Group 1 included 4828 abstracts accepted at National Congress of the Turkish Society of Cardiology between 2009 and 2016, while Group 2 included 2284 abstracts accepted at National Congress of the Turkish Society of Cardiology between 2017 and 2021.


RESULTS
A total of 7112 abstracts were accepted for the 2009-2021 National Congress of the Turkish Society of Cardiology meetings scientific program. The publication rate (43.2% vs. 23.9%, P < 0.001), number of authors [7(5-9) vs. 4(3-6), P < 0.001], and rate of original investigation (72.3 vs. 56.5%, P < 0.001) were significantly lower in group 2 than in group 1. Among the quality parameters of the journals in which the abstracts were published, the impact factor (0.59 ± 1.71 vs. 0.26 ± 1.09, P < 0.001), the rate of journals in science citation index or science citation index-expanded indexes (70.4 vs. 57.9%, P < 0.001), and the rate of the second or third-quartile class (24.2 vs. 16.1%, P < 0.001) were significantly lower in group 2 as compared to group 1. Being in group 1 oral presentation, original investigation, and cardiac imaging were identified as independent predictors for publication in scientific journals.


CONCLUSION
This study showed that the 2016 new academic criteria negatively affected the publication processes of accepted abstracts in National Congress of the Turkish Society of Cardiology.