Conference Presentation Characteristics of Studies Published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have determined the percentage of studies presented at national orthopaedic surgery meetings that are eventually published in peer-reviewed journals. Purpose: To determine the proportion of articles in The American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) that are presented at national or international meetings. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: The AJSM archive of 2014 online issues was searched. All original research articles were searched for corresponding presentations as listed at the beginning of the manuscript. An email was sent to the corresponding author of all articles, including those with a presentation listed. Corresponding authors were asked if the published study was presented at a national or international meeting and, if so, at which meeting and year the study was presented. If the study was not presented at a national meeting, the corresponding author was asked why this was the case. Results: A total of 315 articles met the inclusion criteria. Presentation information was obtained for 264 of these articles (84%). Of these 264 studies, 218 (83%) were presented at national or international conferences. A total of 341 presentations were listed, including 144 (42%) at international conferences. The average time from first presentation to publication was 12.9 months. Seventy-two studies (72/218, 33%) were presented at more than 1 meeting. Of those studies presented at more than 1 meeting, the average number of presentations was 2.7 (range, 2-6). The most common conferences at which AJSM-published studies were presented were the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) Annual Meeting (n = 56) and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting (n = 43). Seven authors stated that their published studies were not presented because the study was not accepted for presentation at a national meeting. Conclusion: A high proportion of studies accepted for publication in AJSM are presented at national and international meetings. AOSSM and AAOS Annual Meetings are the most common conferences at which these studies are presented, although international conferences account for a substantial proportion of AJSM-published study presentations.