Abstract Guidelines

Please make use of the following guidelines when submitting your abstracts for the conference. An abstract template has been provided (please download) which should be used as basis for creation of the submission. Please keep in mind that the Scientific Committee, assisted by external reviewers, reserves the right, on review of the abstract, to re-assign an abstract to a category deemed more appropriate.

Abstract deadline

The deadline for Late-breaking poster abstracts is 31 July.

Abstract structure

• Abstracts should not exceed 300 words
• The abstract must be structured into the following sections: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusion
• When abbreviations are used, spell out fully at first mention in the text, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses [e.g. Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV)]. Thereafter, the abbreviation should be used throughout.
• References, tables and figures are not allowed
• Where appropriate, financial disclosure or conflict of interest should be indicated

Abstract title

• The abstract title should be written in sentence-casing, with no abbreviations
• The abstract title should be concise and clearly convey the subject of the abstract as a simple description. This should be captured in the form of a short sentence outlining the main message of the work. Please avoid asking questions in the title, but rather be direct (e.g. instead of ‘Does laboratory turnaround time impact on clinical hospital practice?’ it is recommended that you write more directly giving an idea of the outcome of the study in the title i.e. ‘Laboratory turnaround time impacts on clinical practice: Outcomes of a local hospital-based study’)

Presenting author responsibilities

The person who submits an abstract is considered the presenting author and is responsible for the following:

• Presenting the content as oral or poster presentation, if accepted
• Providing complete and accurate contact and affiliation information for all co-authors
• Assuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the abstract’s content.
• Providing an appropriate version of the presentation at the conference

The author noted as the presenting author on an abstract is responsible for delivering either the oral or poster presentation if the abstract is accepted. In case of an emergency, an alternate may take the presenting author’s place. The new presenting author must update the abstract submission to disclose information for the new presenter and her or his institution. The new presenter must be listed as co-author on the abstract and must be registered and accepted for attendance.

Notification of abstract review outcome

After the Scientific Committee and external expert reviewers complete the review and scores all abstracts submitted for consideration, the corresponding author will be informed via e-mail notification of the abstract review outcome. The following outcome categories will be used:

• Accepted for Oral Presentation
• Accepted for Poster Presentation
• Requires reworking
• Rejected

Common reasons for abstract rejection

• Subject matter is not appropriate for the conference
• Information is outdated and does not add new knowledge to the scientific field
• Abstract is duplicative of other submissions
• Submission is poorly written and difficult to understand
• Background does not summarise the hypothesis
• Methodology described is of poor scientific merit and is inadequate or insufficient to support conclusions
• Statistical description and evaluation is inadequate or absent
• Summary of essential results is inadequate or absent
• Data are not included or sample size inadequately supports conclusions
• Copyright infringement

Copyright information

By submitting the abstract to the conference, the applicant transfers all copyright ownership of the abstract, including all rights incidental thereto, to the conference in the event that the abstract is accepted and published by the conference. The contents of the conference program and abstracts are protected by copyright. We require that permission to replicate or reproduce any part of all conference abstracts be obtained from the conference secretariat; however, study data are the property of the author(s) and study sponsors as relevant.