Abstract Submission

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Abstract submission closes: 11th January 2009 midnight
Abstract selection announcement: week beginning 26th January 2009

There has never been a better time to submit an abstract to the ASiT Conference. Here are 5 reasons why it will be great for your career:

Authors of the best abstracts will be invited to present in the SARS Academic & Research Surgery prize, ASiT Medal, SARS/ASiT short-paper and Medical Student Prize sessions to some of the most influential members of the UK surgical community. There will also be a Poster Session as part of the conference.
The best presentations, from either the oral or poster sessions, will be invited to present at the Association of Surgeons of Great Britatin and Ireland Annual Scientific Meeting 2009.
The top abstracts will be published in the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
The SARS prize is a presitgious session reflecting high quality Clinical and Basic Science Research, and will be judged by members of the SARS council
The ASiT medal and poster prize are highly prestigious and include a significant cash prize.

Electronic submission of free papers

The meeting will feature a paperless electronic abstract submission system. This enables abstracts to be “copied & pasted” directly from word processing software facilitating quick and painless abstract submission. Tables and scientific characters can be included but not figures or diagrams.

Guidelines for the submission of abstracts

The association encourages the submission of Basic Science papers, Scientific papers, Clinical Research papers and well conducted Audit studies, with good clinical/training relevance. Case Reports will not normally be considered, unless of exceptional quality or interest and should normally contain a series of patients and add new information or experience. All papers should follow guidelines for scientific publications. Papers on issues related to Surgical Training are particularly relevant.

Abstracts should include the following sections: Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusions. These headings must be used, and the abstract submitted as four paragraphs under these headings. Abstracts are to be submitted as text and tables only (ie. no figures, or diagrams). The text should be no longer than 250 words and fit comfortably on a single page of A4 using 12-point font. As the abstract will be judged anonymously, the text must not reveal the institutional affiliation. The Authors of all abstracts selected for presentation, either as oral, or as a poster, will be expected to register for the ASiT conference.

Abstracts will be scored and all submitted papers will be eligible for the prizes. The review process will result in the abstract being accepted or rejected on the basis of quality. Authors may elect to present only in poster format. Otherwise the Research Committee will select the highest scoring abstracts for oral communication.

The material contained within a submitted paper must not have been previously published or presented at any major meeting. ASiT takes a serious view of Research Governance. Please ensure that the abstract has been seen and agreed by all of the named authors before submission. All authors have a responsibility to ensure that the data submitted is accurate, is not extrapolated and fairly represents the presentation to be given at the Association’s Annual Meeting. General advice about authorship, conflicts of interest, redundant publication and patient confidentiality in medical publishing can be found on the British Medical Journal website at http://bmj.com/advice. Commercial support and industry involvement must be clearly stated.

Categories of Abstracts

Authors are required to categorise their submission into type of abstract (a-f)

a) Clinical Research

b) Basic Science (including cell and small animal studies)

c) Training and Education

d) Audit and observation of current practice

e) Technical reports on new methods/techniques

f) Case reports

Individuals will be required to select if they wish to have their abstract considered for the SARS/ASiT Prize.

Audiovisual Arrangements and Poster Creation

Posters

Guidance on poster presentations

Posters should follow the format of the abstract and include the following sections: objectives, methods, results and conclusion. Follow advice on poster design include more detail than is possible in abstract and make effective use of tables, figures and illustrations to enhance your message. The following criteria are used to score Posters for prizes.

Sensible poster layout that allows flow of argument with appropriate title
Plan of study design with hypothesis/rationale and appropriate methods
Accurate presentation of results with appropriate use of figures and statistics
Conclusions clearly presented and are justifiable from the results presented
Excellence in the art of display that enhances and does not distract from findings

Guidance on poster layout

Posters should be in ‘Portrait’ layout (taller than they are wider) and A0 in size 1189 x 841 mm).
Making a good poster is an art. Packages such as “Powerpoint” make the task much easier and allow you to experiment. However avoid simply copying and pasting your abstract.
The poster board surface area will be 2m high and 1m wide.
Do not overload your poster. Remember, you are not writing an article.
Seek simplicity, keep text to a minimum, avoid redundancies.
Use 500 to 1000 words (including title, figure legends and tables), definitely no more.
The figures and tables should cover approximately 50% of the poster area.
Prepare a 20 cm high title strip that runs the full width of the poster. Use a black and bold typeface, not smaller than 30 mm in height for the title and at least 20 mm for authors names and affiliations (the height refers to capital and tall letters), Capital letters are usually more difficult to read than small letters.
The average reader spends 1-2 minutes on your poster. Highlight your main finding. Most of us start by reading the Conclusions. Thus, don't hide them in the right lower corner. Put them on eye level, either on top of the right column or alternatively start with the Conclusions. Otherwise, structure your poster by Introduction, Methods and Results. State your aims in the end of the introduction. A clear structure is important.
We suggest that the pathway (eye movement) is down the columns. Use 3 columns.
The poster is supposed to be readable from a distance of 1.5-2 m. The text should definitely be no less than 5 mm for capitals and tall letters, and preferably larger. Use a constant font throughout the poster.
Let your important points stand out. Use (but don't overuse) bold and colours.
If possible, avoid abbreviations and acronyms, especially in the Conclusions.
Feel free to provide one or more key references (in the right lower corner).
Handouts of your poster on A4 paper (with your addresses) to your interested readers may facilitate future research communication.

Audio visual arrangements

All presentations throughout this Scientific Meeting will be delivered using PowerPoint format.

Successful applicants will be informed by e-mail of acceptance of their abstract and the category in which it has been placed.

Prizes and awards

The judging of the Prize sessions, and posters, will be carried out by senior members of ASiT, in conjunction with a distinguished panel of referees with scientific, clinical, and educational backgrounds, including members of the SARS council.

ASiT Medal

The award consists of a Medal along with a significant monetary award, and is presented to the author of the best clinical or educational/training research work delivered in the ASiT Medal session at the Annual Meeting Scientific Paper session.

The person reading the paper must be the principal research worker and be a trainee in Surgery. In the case of multiple-author papers, the Medal will be presented to the person reading the paper and the award may be divided between the authors.

There will be runner-up awards for the 2nd and 3rd placed papers in this category. The top 3 abstracts from this session will be offered for publication to The Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

The top 5 clinical and education/training papers will be selected for oral presentation in the ASiT Medal session. The presentations will last for 8 minutes, with 2 minutes allowed for questions.

Papers submitted for the ASiT Medal Prize section, and not shortlisted, will be considered for the Poster Presentation section of the meeting.

SARS Academic and Research Surgery Prize

The Association is fortunate to have developed strong links with the Society of Academic and Research Surgery (SARS), recognizing the strong evidence base for surgical practice, and the role of surgeons in research. The SARS/ASiT Prize will be open to papers with a strong clinical, basic science, or training and education research background. It should be noted that the standard for this session is equivalent to the standard for the Society of Academic and Research Surgery Annual meeting.

The award consists of a monetary award, and is presented to the author of the best clinical or educational research work delivered at the Annual Meeting Scientific Paper session. The person reading the paper must be the principal research worker and be a trainee in Surgery. In the case of multiple-author papers, the prize will be presented to the person reading the paper and the award may be divided between the authors.

The top 5 clinical, basic science, and education/training research papers will be selected for oral presentation in the SARS/ASiT Prize session. The presentations will last for 10 minutes, with 5 minutes allowed for questions.

Papers submitted for the SARS prize section, and not shortlisted, will be considered for the ASiT Medal and Poster Presentation sections of the meeting.

ASiT Medical Student Prize

We are keen to involve trainees interested in surgery at all levels and we value the participation of those in medical school. The top four abstracts submitted by medical student will be selected for presentation in this session and the judges will award the ASiT Medical Student Prize to the best on the day. Abstracts not selected for oral presentation will also be considered for poster presentation so there is plenty of opportunity to demonstrate your work.

ASiT Poster Prize

ASiT values the quality of its poster session and this is recognised through the selection of the best poster for the ASiT Poster Prize. There will also be runner-up prizes in this category. Abstracts of outstanding quality may be invited to give an oral presentation at the ASiT session at the ASGBI Conference 2008.

There will be a display of scientific posters throughout the Meeting, representing all the specialities within Surgery, and there will be a number of Poster Prizes. Poster adjudication will take place throughout Saturday 7 March. The adjudication will be carried out by members of the Scientific Committee. Poster presenters are not required to be beside their poster during judging. The results of the Poster Competitions will be announced prior to coffee on Sunday Morning.

Please check the Instructions for the use of the Abstract Submission system, and the Terms and Conditions, prior to submission of abstracts by clicking here