From abstracts to published articles: Assessing the scientific publications from the annual meetings of the German Spine Society (DWG) in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022

Pantel T, On J, Hackel S, Hubertus V, Ille S, Kalbitz M, Keller J, Klingler JH, Onken J, Schmidt H, Younsi A, Zwingenberger S, Czabanka M, Vajkoczy P, Mohme M (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Brain and Spine Elsevier

Article Number: 104242

DOI: 10.1016/j.bas.2025.104242

Abstract

Introduction: The annual meeting of the German Spine Society (DWG) serves as a platform for discussing the latest academic findings. This study assessed the scientific quality of these conferences by investigating the publication rate of abstracts presented at DWG Annual Meetings (2017–2019, 2022) in peer-reviewed journals and analyzing factors influencing publication rates. Research question: How did the publication rates of the annual meeting of the DWG evolve, and what factors influenced them. Material & methods: We reviewed all accepted oral and poster presentations and conducted a PubMed database search (up to 10/2023) to determine publication rates, time to publication, research type, and topic distribution. Results: A total of 730 abstracts were presented, with 275 (37.6 %) published in peer-reviewed journals: 27.9 % (2017), 52.7 % (2018), 39.1 % (2019), and 29.9 % (2022). A subset of 61 (8.4 %) abstracts had already been published before the conference. The mean time to publication was 35.4 ± 22.3 months. Basic research and experimental studies constituted 22.1 % of abstracts, achieving a 44.1 % publication rate. Key research fields included spinal cord injury (16.9 %), biomechanics (14.8 %), spinal oncology (8.8 %), and bone and cartilage (4.4 %), while 55.1 % covered other spinal surgery topics. Discussion & conclusions: With 37.6 % of abstracts published in PubMed-indexed journals, our findings highlight the scholarly impact of DWG meetings. These results reflect the scientific quality of submissions and provide insights for future improvements to enhance the DWG's research focus.

Authors with CRIS profile

Miriam Kalbitz Professur für Traumaimmunologie

Involved external institutions

Berliner Institut für Gesundheitsforschung (BIH) DE Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg DE Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden DE Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt am Main (KGU) DE Germany (DE) Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) DE Germany (DE) Inselspital, Universitätsspital Bern CH Switzerland (CH) Universitätsklinikum Freiburg DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Pantel, T., On, J., Hackel, S., Hubertus, V., Ille, S., Kalbitz, M.,... Mohme, M. (2025). From abstracts to published articles: Assessing the scientific publications from the annual meetings of the German Spine Society (DWG) in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. Brain and Spine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bas.2025.104242

MLA:

Pantel, T., et al. "From abstracts to published articles: Assessing the scientific publications from the annual meetings of the German Spine Society (DWG) in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022." Brain and Spine (2025).

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