Instructions

Please ensure that you read the instructions set out below before submitting an abstract online.  Abstracts must conform to the requirements below, in particularly the section under “For all abstracts” below. 
Guidance on writing a high quality abstract is available here (See link to right).

Submission Facility is now closed

Categories
Please select the most appropriate general topic category for your submission from this list below:
    Case Report 
    Education and Training 
    Quality Improvement 
    Research 

Trainee Prize
The online system will ask you to indicate if you wish to be considered for the Trainee Prize Presentation (see below for Criteria for Trainee Status (See below).

Abstract Submitter (User)
In order to submit online you will need to set yourself up as a User. Once set up, you can submit numerous abstracts via your Profile.
It is the responsibility of the Abstract Submitter (User) to pass on any relevant information regarding the meeting to the other authors, and to ensure that all authors approve the submission and presentation.
The Submitter will often also be the Presenting Author. Abstracts chosen for oral presentation will be published in the journal Pediatric Anesthesia. The E-Mail address of the Submitter will be included in the publication. Please indicate if you would like a different E-Mail address used for this purpose, after acceptance of oral presentation.   

Presenting Author
You will be asked to confirm the Presenting Author.  All presentations (oral or poster) must be made by a listed author who has been directly involved in the project. All Presenting Authors must register (and pay) to attend the ASM.
Please note that to qualify for the trainee poster presentations the trainee must be listed as the first author and also be the Presenting Author. (See below)

Disclosures
Funding sources or other acknowledgements should be declared, as should any conflict of interest, where prompted under “Disclosures to declare”.

Acceptance of Abstracts
Following the submission deadline on 1st February 2021, each abstract will be assessed by adjudicators appointed by the Scientific Committee. Only those accepted will be invited to present or exhibit at the Meeting. You will receive notification confirming if your abstract has been accepted or declined 3-4 weeks after the deadline.  Abstracts submitted after 23:00 on 1st February 2021 will not be considered or accepted.

Reproduction of Abstracts
By submitting an abstract you automatically give us permission to reproduce your submission in the Meeting materials – eg on the event website.  Abstracts accepted for oral presentation will be published in the journal Pediatric Anesthesia.

Judging Process 
All abstracts submitted will be peer reviewed and only submissions of high enough quality will be accepted.  Abstracts, considered to be of highest quality, will be accepted for oral presentation.  Details of prizes are given below.
Guidance on writing a high-quality abstract is available here.

Free Paper Oral Presentations
Approximately eight of the abstracts submitted for oral presentation will be selected by the judging panel for presentation during the meeting. Abstracts submitted for oral presentation but not accepted will be considered for poster presentation if this is indicated on the submission form.

Prizes
If the first author and presenter of an oral paper or poster is a Trainee, s/he may elect to be considered for the appropriate prize. If the trainee who did the work was subsequently appointed to a consultant post, they remain eligible for the trainee prize. (See next section).
The prizes will be awarded based on the scientific merit and quality of the presentation by a panel of judges appointed by the Chair of the Scientific Committee.
Strict time limits will be applied for the oral presentations, with additional time allocated for questions from the judging panel. A list of the selected oral presentations will appear in the final programme once they have been scheduled.

Criteria for Trainee Status
1.    A Trainee is eligible if they are in professional training or studying for a higher degree on 1st February 2021, or had completed training or study no more than one year prior to this date.
2.    This includes:
a.    nursing, allied health professional, or medical students in a university or recognised professional training post;
b.    students from science, medical, nursing or allied health professional backgrounds undertaking a higher degree (i.e. Masters, PhD or MD);
c.    graduates within a specialist training/board certification scheme
3.    A tick box is included on the submission form and trainees are required to complete this stating that the presenting author fulfils the above definition of a trainee.
4.    Work done by consultants is encouraged but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

Ethical Guidelines
Abstracts must conform to international ethical guidelines for human (https://www.who.int/ethics/research/en/) or animal (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/research-and-testing-using-animals) research and abstracts that do not conform will be rejected. Where relevant, details of Ethics Approvals must be listed in the Ethical Approval section of the on-line system.
Where information given is potentially identifiable to an individual patient or if any patient image (including radiographs) is included it must be clearly stated that consent was given.
Some types of work will not require ethical approval: for example, some QI projects, surveys or anonymous retrospective data collection. A clear statement of this should be made including any governance arrangements in place (such as ‘the project was registered with the hospitals audit department’).  The authors should be prepared to justify this decision if requested. Guidance can be found at http://www.hra-decisiontools.org.uk/research. 

Preparation and Display of Posters
On notification of acceptance of your poster, you will be sent details of the size of the pdf that should be provided for display at the Online ASM. The poster should identify the title of the paper and name the authors and their affiliations across the top.  It need not include the allocated Poster Number. Drawings and charts should be kept simple.

Abstract Formatting Guidelines

Abstracts must use the following outline (with the exception of case reports and submissions in the Quality Improvement category):

▪    Introduction and aims
▪    Methods
▪    Results
▪    Discussion and conclusion

For case reports ONLY use the following section headings:

▪    Description
▪    Discussion
▪    Acknowledgements

For Quality Improvement submissions ONLY use the following section headings:

▪    Background/Context
▪    Problem
▪    Strategy for change
▪    Measure of improvement
▪    Lessons learnt
▪    Message for others

For all abstracts:

1.    The maximum length of an abstract is 450 words; this count excludes the abstract title and
references. No further additions can be made once the word limit has been reached.

2.    A maximum of 4 references may be included, Vancouver style. i.e.
-    Citations to someone else's work in the text, indicated by the use of a number.
-    A sequentially numbered reference list at the end of the document providing full details of the corresponding in-text reference.

3.    A single graphical image may be included if desired. This will not affect the word limit. Images included in the abstract should be simple, illustrative of the text and clear in meaning. Photographs, overly complex diagrams or images containing more than a minimal amount of text will be rejected.

GUIDANCE ON WRITING A HIGH-QUALITY ABSTRACT:

Tips from APAGBI