Introduction: A lot of works presented in scientific events don't conclude the cycle of research with their respective publications. Objective: To characterize the works presented in national medical student forums carried out in Cuba in 2016 and 2017 and to identify the factors associated with their publication. Material and Methods: An observational analytical cross-sectional study that evaluated the characteristics of the works presented was conducted. A Google Scholar search strategy was carried out in order to check if these works had been published in scientific journals. Prevalence ratios (PR), 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) and p values using generalized linear models were obtained. Results: Of the 537 works, 272 (50,65 %) were presented in the presence-based modality; 2 works (0,37 %) were presented in English; 420 (78,21 %) were research works, and 1 (0,24 %) was a multicentric study. Internal Medicine was the work session with the greatest number of presentations (n=110; 20,48 %), the greatest number of works had three authors (n=351; 65,36 %) and one tutor/advisor (n=249; 46,37 %). The publication frequency was 11,55 % (n=62); only 11 works (17,74 %) were cited and 52 (83,87 %) had changes in authorship. In the bivariated analysis, topics related with Dentistry (PR: 6.59; CI 95 %: 1,58-27,5; p=0,010) and surgical sciences (PR: 4,52; CI 95 %: 1,03-19,8; p=0,045) had greatest publication frequency in scientific journals. Conclusions: Only one in ten works presented in national medical student forums is published. New strategies should be implemented and the existing ones should be reinforced in order to increase the publication rate of the works presented.