Introduction: Injury of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve can cause a hoarse or weak voice due to the functional loss (dysergia) of the cricothyroid muscle. Defining the anatomical variations of the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve and estimating the frequency of it, it makes crucial for surgical interventions. Aim: To reveal the topography of the external branch in the Anatolian population, to prevent injury of it during the surgical intervention in the anterior neck region.Materials and Methods: Twenty-six bilateral hemilarynges (4 females, 22 males) were dissected. The morphometric and morphological features of the external branch were examined. The obtained results were compared statistically left and right. Results: Landmarks such as the thyroid gland and laryngeal prominence were determined for the detection of the external branch. The variations of the course of the external branch and the points of piercing the cricothyroid muscle or inferior constrictor pharyngeal muscle were evaluated. Discussion: Although safe approaches have been described for nerve protection during neck surgeries, it can expose injuries during preliminary surgery approaches as the nerve is thinner and more superficial than other branches of the vagus nerve. However, it can be detected more easily and safely during the surgical approach by knowing the defined anatomical landmarks and morphological variations of the external branch.Conclusion: The anatomical variations described can be a safe and important guide in surgical approaches to be applied in the anterior neck region.

The conversion of a study to publishing in international peer-reviewed journals demonstrates both the study's quality and the congress's scientific level. The paper quality scales have been shown to be effective in converting a work presented as a paper into a publication. Abstracts presented at national medical education congresses and symposiums between 2010 and 2014, when the 5-year period required for publication had expired, were reviewed. The papers were assessed using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) scale. In international and national peer-reviewed journals, 11.3% (n=51) of all articles were published. The publication rate was 26.6% for oral presentations and 8.1% for poster presentations. Oral presentations had a statistically higher publication rate than poster presentations (p=.000). Of the reports, 85.9% included single-group cross-sectional studies, 7.5% included pre-post-test design studies, and 5.7% included a comparison group. 0.6% were randomized trials. 84.1% of the studies were conducted in a single institution and 15.8% of them included objective data. In 93.9 % of the studies, satisfaction, perception, or opinion outcomes were provided, while knowledge-skill results were examined in 5.7%. For all reports, the lowest MERSQI score was 5 and the highest was 15.5. The mean MERSQI score for poster presentations was 7.61±2.6, for oral presentations it was 8.28±2.46, and for all articles, it was 7.73±2.59.The oral presentations had higher MERSQI mean ratings (p=.032) than poster presentations. The MERSQI mean score of the published papers was 10.07±2.74, and the MERSQI mean score of the unpublished papers was 7.43±2.41 (p=.000).

There are many parameters that could be used to evaluate the quality of scientific meetings such as publication rates of meeting abstracts as full-text articles after the meeting or scoring with validated quality scales/tools that evaluate individual papers, project proposals, or submitted abstracts. This study aimed to determine the full-text publication rates for abstracts presented at Turkish National Medical Education Congresses and Symposia and to assess the quality of given abstracts. Abstracts presented at national medical education congresses and symposia between 2010 and 2014 in Türkiye were evaluated. Initially, the abstracts were evaluated if they were published as full-text articles in international and national peer-reviewed journals following the meeting. Secondly, the quality of presented abstracts was assessed with the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI) scale. Overall publication rate for the abstracts was 11.3%. The publication rate of oral and poster presentations were 26.6% and 8.1%, respectively. Oral presentations had a statistically higher publication rate than poster presentations (p = .000). The mean MERSQI score for abstracts was 7.73 ± 2.59. The oral presentations had higher MERSQI mean scores than poster presentations (8.28 ± 2.46 vs. 7.61 ± 2.6; p = .032). Similarly, published abstracts had a significantly higher score compared to unpublished abstracts (10.07 ± 2.74 vs. 7.43 ± 2.41; p = .000). Interestingly, there was no statistical difference between the mean MERSQI scores of the published oral and poster presentations (9.33 ± 2.45 vs. 10.61 ± 2.72; p = .101). This study showed that the main factor for a meeting abstract to be published as a full-text article is the scientific quality of the study. The quality of presentations at annual medical education meetings in Türkiye were low compared with international meetings which did not improve over five years. An institutional policy that would set quality standards for medical education research and increase the awareness of researchers on the topic might help improve the design, execution, and reporting of such studies in Türkiye. The MERSQI could be a valuable tool to monitor the quality of submitted abstracts and to increase the awareness of novice researchers on high quality research.