LAUSR

Not all abstracts accepted for oral presentation at the American Podiatric Medical Associations (APMA) annual conference ultimately go on to successfully navigate the peer review process to achieve journal publication despite its obvious merits. The purpose of the present study was to identify the factors associated with, and barriers to the journal publication and time to publication for oral abstracts from the APMA conference from 2010 to 2014. Databases containing information on the abstracts were procured and predictor variables categorized as abstract-or author specific. Bivariate analysis was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U-Test, Fisher's exact test, chi-square test of independence, or Spearman's rank correlation. Multivariable logistic regression, and generalized linear regression models were utilized to analyze predictor variables. A questionnaire was distributed to the primary authors of any unpublished abstracts to determine the current status of the abstract, as well as the reasons for the failure to pursue, or achieve journal publication. Overall, oral abstracts by authors without a formal research degree were published more often than abstracts by authors with a research degree, as were funded projects (p=0.031). No other associations were identified between any of the abstract and author specific variables and successful conversion of an oral abstract to a journal publication or the time to publication. Six barriers questionnaires were completed. At the time of the survey, 2 oral abstracts had since achieved publication, 2 had been submitted for publication but were rejected, and 2 had never been submitted. The principal reason citied by the authors for the failure to pursue or achieve journal publication was insufficient time for manuscript preparation.