Purpose: Medical congresses allow scientific production to be appropriately disseminated and discussed. However, most of the scientific papers presented at medical congresses do not go on to be published in indexed journals. The present study aimed to determine the publication rate of papers presented at the Brazilian Breast Cancer Symposium (BBCS) and trends associated with publication over that timeframe.

Methods: This was a retrospective, observational study evaluating scientific papers presented at the BBCS between 2012 and 2017. All the abstracts presented at the event within this timeframe were recorded. Next, a search for papers was made using online databases (BIREME/LILACS and MEDLINE/PubMed) and in the curricula of the authors on the Lattes Platform.

Results: Overall, 543 abstracts of papers presented at the BBCS between 2012 and 2017 were included. Of these, 112 (20.6%) had been published in an indexed journal, mostly in English (67.0%), in journals with an impact factor of 2.0–3.0 (21.4%) and ≥1 year after presentation at the event (75.9%). The factors associated with publication were: study conducted in a public institution (p = 0.01), oral or commented poster presentation (p > 0.001) and study concerning rehabilitation following breast cancer (p = 0.04). There was a downward trend in the rate of publication of articles over the years (p = 0.01). Conversely, the impact factor of the publications increased significantly between 2012 and 2017 (p = 0.04).

Conclusion: The publication rate of papers presented at the BBCS is low and remains consistent over the study period despite academic incentives and substantial awards.