The results of research projects have been disseminated more as abstracts at conferences than as articles in scientific journals. However, conference abstracts are aimed at scientific dissemination and peer feedback so that the manuscript can be refined and published in qualified scientific journals.

To evaluate the publication rate of scientific abstracts presented within the scope of pulmonary rehabilitation at the European Respiratory Society International Congress (ERSc) and American Thoracic Society International Conference (ATSc).

Abstract searches were carried out in the electronic annals of these 2016 to 2018 conferences. The identified abstracts were categorized by type of presentation. The number of authors and country of origin of the corresponding author were recorded. The publication rate after three to five years of abstract submission was analyzed. After sorting the abstracts, the articles were searched in the Google Scholar and Medline databases. When the article was not found, three e-mails were sent to the authors to identify the publication status. When the article was not found and no response was obtained from the author, it was classified as “uncertain publication”. Abstracts published as articles had the following data extracted: journal name, impact factor (IF), study design, affiliation, and whether the result was statistically significant or in a positive direction from their primary outcome analysis. Descriptive analyzes were performed, with categorical data presented as frequency and/or percentage and continuous data as median (interqualitical range).

A total of 964 potentially eligible abstracts were identified, of which 20.7% were excluded. 764 abstracts were analyzed, most of which were thematic posters (54.8%), followed by poster discussions (36.1%) and oral presentations (9.0%). The average number of authors was 6, and most were from the USA (18.7%). At the ERSc, the UK had the highest number of submissions (16.4%) while the US had the highest number at the ATSc. The authors responded to e-mails about the publication in 41.9% of the contacts. In 322 (42%) abstracts, no journal article related to the study was found and no response from the author was obtained. A total of 323 published articles related to pulmonary rehabilitation abstracts were found, resulting in a publication rate of 42.3%. Categorization by proportional mode of presentation showed that 66.7% of oral presentations, 46.4% of poster discussions and 35.5% of thematic posters were published as articles. The median IF of the journals was 3.4(2.6–6.4). Significant and positive results were reported in 78.4% of the identified articles.

Over half of the abstracts on pulmonary rehabilitation presented at the ERSc and ATSc between 2016 and 2018 remain unpublished.

This observation supports the idea of potential publication bias in the wider literature. The low publication rate may be due to the difficulty in obtaining funding for research, the lack of resources for authors to develop their research and the difficulty for authors to find a suitable journal to publish their work. Incentive strategies are needed to improve the conversion of submitted abstracts into journal articles.