Is medical research within the UK in decline? A study of publication rates from the British Society of Gastroenterology from 1994 to 2002

A number of reports have suggested that academic medicine within the UK may be in decline. This article assesses the number and outcome of abstracts presented at consecutive British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) meetings. All abstracts presented at the BSG between 1994 and 2002 were assessed (n=4,096). Full publication rates of abstracts were then compared between meetings. Other abstract characteristics were also analysed. There was a significant downward trend demonstrated for the percentage of abstracts going onto full publication (p=0.02). In 1994, 57.6% of abstracts were subsequently fully published but by 2002 this number had fallen to 30.7%. The results show that the number of abstracts at the BSG which are then fully published has fallen with a significant trend. This observation could be taken as an indicator that there is a decline in research activity within the UK gastroenterology community.