Call for Abstracts Guidelines

The online paper/e-poster abstract submitter for AAGL 2020 will open February 24, 2020 and close June 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM (pacific time).

General Information

Abstract Submission

Complete all three required sections of the abstract submitter – in English. Failure to complete the required fields will result in an incomplete abstract. Incomplete abstracts will not be reviewed. All selected paper and e-poster abstracts for AAGL 2020 are to be presented in English.

Completed submissions will be anonymously graded by the Abstract and Video Review Committee. Name(s) of author(s) and statements of affiliation are not allowed in the title or abstract text.

Prepare the abstract components below in advance. Submissions are assessed for presentation and the quality of the abstract. Review the Frequently Asked Questions and Submission Policies for more information.

To access the online program to submit your abstract, you will need to use one of the following browsers, listed in order of recommendation:

• Google Chrome – all versions
• Mozilla Firefox – Version 4.0 or higher (download the newest version free at mozilla.org)
• Safari – Version 6.0 or higher
• Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge – Version 7, 8, 9 or 10 (Compatibility mode only)

Abstract Types

The Scientific Program Committee chooses submissions to be presented as oral presentations based on relevance, significance, innovation and originality, scientific rigor, conclusion and clarity.

All abstracts are reviewed as possible paper or e-poster presentations with the Scientific Program Committee making the final decision. Submitting authors may wish to limit the abstract to oral presentation only or e-poster only or no preference.

• Oral Presentation: Original scientific paper presentations will be followed by audience discussion that may require author interaction. If an author has two scientific papers scheduled for presentation within conflicting sessions, an alternate speaker must present one of the papers.
• e-Poster Presentation: e-Poster presenters submit a digital version of their poster prior to the meeting. e-Posters will be available online during AAGL 2020. Selected e-posters will be invited to participate in Poster Theater presentations or Poster Discussions at e-poster stations.

Submission

Title

Use title case when entering your abstract (both upper-and lowercase letters as appropriate). No special formatting is needed. Do not bold, underline or italicize the title.

Is the title descriptive of the abstract? Does the title avoid gratuitous statements and irrelevant information? Name(s) of author(s) and statements of affiliation are not allowed in the title of the abstract. Abstract review is anonymous.

Signature Award Competitions

Please select which competitions you would like to enter. Please note that e-posters will NOT be eligible for competitions.

Overview

Category Selection

Please refer to the list of primary and secondary categories within the abstract management system. Please assign your abstract to both a primary and secondary category. This determines where the abstract will be assigned in the program, if accepted. You must select two categories for each abstract.

Abstract Body

The following headings with formatting are required for oral presentation/e-poster submissions and are pre-populated in the abstract management system:

• Study Objective: Begin with a clear, concise statement of the precise objective or question put forth in the study.
• Design: Describe the basic study design, and duration of any follow-up.
• Setting: Describe the OR setting, i.e., patient positioning, ergonomics.
• Patients or Participants: State the manner of selection and numbers of patients who were enrolled in a completed study.
• Interventions: Describe the exact treatment or intervention.
• Measurements and Main Results: Describe the methods of assessing patients and state the key results. This section must include data, even if preliminary.
• Conclusion: State clearly the conclusions and clinical applications that are supported by the data. Advise if additional study is required before this information should be used in clinical settings.

When you write your abstract, ask yourself: is the abstract as specific as possible? The following are frequently forgotten sample size, study duration and follow-up, and descriptions of novel and/or non-standard techniques used. Abstracts with statements such as “will be done,” “will be studied,” “will be underway,” “will be analyzed,” are not considered a strong abstract. Abstracts cannot be appended once the grading process has started.

300 Word Maximum – The overall limit for all segments is 300 words. Each segment must be completed before the abstract can be successfully submitted. If any segment does not apply to your abstract, please enter N/A for that segment’s heading. If the abstract is too long, it will not be successfully submitted.

Abbreviations used in abstracts must be defined. Abbreviations are permitted in titles if they immediately follow the term being abbreviated and are enclosed in parentheses. If used in the text, they should be defined at first mention if not already defined in the title.

ACCME guidelines require generic names be used for pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices. The trade name of the particular product used in a study may be included in parentheses the first time the product is referenced. The trade name may be used if the product is the only one of its general type and use of the generic name would encumber the reader.

Before submitting, did you proofread your abstract? Concise and clear abstracts are graded well. Misspellings and typographical errors reflect badly on the research. Changes to abstracts cannot be made once the deadline passes. The AAGL will not review any abstract submitted as hard copies or via email.

Authors

Presenting Author / Co-author(s)

Each author for paper and video is limited to four submissions as Presenting Author, and inclusion on up to ten total abstracts per meeting. This allows for six co-authored papers and videos.

• The author listed first is considered to be the Presenter.
• Changes to author lists will not be allowed after the submission if the change would result in the limits being exceeded.
• If a presenter change is requested, financial disclosures for the proposed presenter will be evaluated by the Scientific Program Committee before the change is approved. Presentation limits apply to the new presenter.
• The AAGL reserves the right to disqualify submissions that exceed these limits.

Submitting authors are required to provide contact information for all co-authors. Use the lookup feature in the abstract management system to add authors by their email address. If an author cannot be found in the database, provide their full, professional name, as well as an accurate and unique email address. The AAGL will contact the author using the email address provided and request that the author create a user account.

Members of the AAGL are invited to submit paper/e-poster abstracts as an Author. Accepted abstracts must include at least one AAGL FMIGS Fellow, AAGL Member or Candidate for Membership.

Other Information

Submitters should be prepared to enter the following information into the application:

• Do any of the authors have any financial interest? (YES/NO)
• Is the Presenting Author industry employed? (YES/NO)
• I verify that the abstract follows submission policy regarding copyright as described in the submission guidelines. (YES/NO)
• I understand that submission of an abstract constitutes a commitment to present if selected. If my abstract is accepted, I will be required to prepare a presentation two weeks from the date of your acceptance notification.

Copyright Policy

The AAGL holds copyright on all scientific material presented at its annual meeting until and unless such material is found unsuitable for publication. Should an author wish to publish his or her material elsewhere, it may not be submitted for consideration until AAGL has released the presenter from any copyright obligations.

Professional Education Department Staff
If you are unable to locate the information you need, contact abstracts@aagl.org.

NEW: The AAGL Scientific Program Committee follows a “blinded” abstract review process. DO NOT include names of institutions, cities or authors in the title or the text of the abstract and video.

The online video abstract submitter for AAGL 2020 will open February 24, 2020 and close June 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM (pacific time).

Submitting a Video Abstract

Failure to complete the required fields of the abstract submitter will result in the abstract not being successfully submitted.

All video abstracts will be peer-reviewed by the Abstract and Video Review Committee.

Title

Use title case (both upper-and lowercase letters as appropriate). No special formatting is needed.

Signature Award Competitions

Please select which competitions you would like to enter. Please note that e-posters will NOT be eligible for competitions.

Presenting Author /Co-Author(s)

• Each author for paper and video is limited to four submissions as Presenting Author, and inclusion on up to ten total abstracts per meeting. This allows for six co-authored papers and videos.
• The AAGL reserves the right to disqualify submissions that exceed these limits.
• Accepted abstracts must include at least one AAGL FMIGS Fellow, AAGL Member or Candidate for Membership.

Submitters are required to provide contact information for all co-authors. If an author does not exist within the AAGL’s database, please add the author by providing their name along with an accurate and unique email address.

Category Classification

Please refer to the list of primary and secondary categories within the abstract management system. Please assign your abstract to both a primary and secondary category. This determines where the abstract will be assigned in the program, if accepted. You must select two categories for each abstract.

Abstract Body

If the segments below do not apply, please enter N/A for that segment’s heading.

The word limit per submission is approximately 300 words. If the abstract is too long, it will not be successfully submitted. Abstracts should be submitted in the following structured format:

• Study Objective: Begin with a clear, concise statement of the precise objective or question put forth in the study.
• Design: Describe the basic study design, and duration of any follow-up.
• Setting: Describe the OR setting, i.e., patient positioning, ergonomics.
• Patients or Participants: State the manner of selection and numbers of patients who were enrolled in a completed study.
• Interventions: Describe the exact treatment or intervention.
• Measurements and Main Results: Describe the methods of assessing patients, and state the key results. This section must include data, even if preliminary.
• Conclusion: State clearly the conclusions and clinical applications that are supported by the data. Advise if additional study is required before this information should be used in clinical settings.

Additional Questions

Authors should be prepared to enter the following information into the application:

• Do any of the authors have financial Interest? (YES/NO)
• I verify that the final, edited version of my video will be no longer than 6 minutes: (YES/NO)
• I verify that the final, edited version of my video will not contain any music: (YES/NO)
• The AAGL Scientific Program Committee follows a “blinded” abstract review process. DO NOT include names of institutions, cities or authors in the title or the text of the abstract and video.

Submitting a Video

Videos will be judged according to relevance, significance, innovation and originality, scientific rigor, conclusion and clarity. To help you prepare your video submission, please follow the following specifications:

• The maximum length of video presentations is 6 minutes.
• Videos may be formatted in MPEG4 with a minimum resolution of 1280×720 or 1920×1080.
• MPEG-4 is the preferred format.
• Videos must be in the final, edited version with narration in English.
• Videos should not promote the use of any commercial product.
• DO NOT include names of institutions, cities or authors in the title or the text of the abstract and video as the videos will be blinded during the grading process.
• Please ensure that you have permission to use any image presented as part of the video. This includes a license for copyrighted material and release forms from any patient(s) recognizable in the video.
• Use of music is forbidden.

Professional Education Department Staff

If you are unable to locate the information you need, contact abstracts@aagl.org.

• Abstracts should be written and submitted by the author. Abstracts written and submitted by industry personnel on behalf of a doctor are not allowed.
• Accepted abstracts must have at least one AAGL Fellow or Member or Candidate for Membership as an author of the presentation.
• Paper/e-Poster abstract submissions are limited to four submissions as Presenting Author, and inclusion on up to ten total abstracts per meeting. This allows for six co-authored papers and videos.
• Do not use proprietary names alone in the title or body of the abstract. If necessary, you may include a proprietary name in parentheses directly after the generic name on first use in the body of the abstract. The AAGL reserves the right to replace proprietary names with generic names.
• All submissions must be made online by the deadline. Changes to abstracts may not be made once the deadline passes. The AAGL will not review any abstract submissions submitted as hard copies or via email.
• Submission of an abstract constitutes a commitment by the authors to present if selected. Failure to present may result in exclusion from the scientific program for two years.
• All presenters are required to register for the annual meeting and pay all applicable fees.
• The AAGL does not pay honoraria or travel/housing expenses for any presenters at the annual meeting.
• The AAGL will notify the presenting author of the status of submitted abstracts by email. It is the responsibility of the presenting author to contact the AAGL if notification is not received within two weeks of the published notification dates.

For membership questions or to join, email our Gerardo Galindo at ggalindo@aagl.org or call 714-503-6205.

Copyright

The AAGL holds copyright on all material presented at the annual meeting.

The AAGL holds copyright on all material presented at the AAGL’s annual meeting until and unless such material is found unsuitable for publication.

Submitting Scientific Papers to JMIG

It is not mandatory that all manuscripts based on annual meeting presentations be submitted to the AAGL’s journal, JMIG. However, we encourage you to submit manuscripts electronically to Elsevier.

Financial Interest Disclosure Policies

All persons in a position to control the content of an activity must disclose any and all financial interests.

• The presenting author listed on an abstract must disclose whether or not s/he has any financial interest. This is required even if s/he has no financial interest.
• Submission of this information indicates that presenting author has complied with the AAGL’s policy and will disclose all financial interest at the time of his/her presentation.
• Failure to comply with the disclosure policy when known and deliberate will result in exclusion from the program for two years.
• Financial interest will be disclosed through the online Program Search and in the Mobile Meeting Guide.
• Even though disclosure has been made, presentations and handouts should not promote the use of any commercial product.
• Presenters who are employed by a commercial interest may NOT present. AAGL presentations can not be used for commercial promotion.

Disclosure of financial interest should also be made at the time of the presentation.

• Oral presenters are required to display a financial interest slide at the beginning of their presentation and to verbally disclose all financial interest.
• E-Poster presenters are required to post all financial interests on their e-poster.
• Video presenters are required to announce all financial interests at the beginning of their video.

Control of Content

The AAGL considers presenting authors, not co-authors, to be in control of the educational content. It is the AAGL’s policy and traditional scientific publishing and professional courtesy to acknowledge all people contributing to the research, regardless of CME control of the live presentation of that content. Though they are acknowledged, co-authors do not have control of the CME content and their disclosures are not published or resolved.

Important Dates and Deadlines

What is the submission deadline?

The deadline for AAGL 2020 is June 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM (pacific time).
All submissions are to be in English.

When will I be notified about the status of my abstract?

Paper/e-Poster abstract status (accepted or rejected) will be sent by email to the Presenting Author in August.

It is the responsibility of the Presenting Author to contact the AAGL in the event that notification is not received within two weeks of the published notification date.

Final schedule for accepted presentations will be emailed to the Presenting Author by the first of August. The Presenting Author is the author listed first.

Accepted presenters are expected to register and pay any applicable fees to attend AAGL 2020 in Aurora, Colorado.

Do I need to be a member of the AAGL to submit an abstract?

No, but all accepted abstracts must include at least one AAGL FMIGS Fellow, AAGL Member or Candidate for Membership.

• The Presenting Author must be a member of the AAGL.

Obtain information regarding AAGL membership or send an email to ggalindo@aagl.org.

Is there a maximum length for the abstract?

300 Word Maximum – The overall limit for all segments is 300 words. Each segment must be completed before the abstract can be successfully submitted. If any segment does not apply to your abstract, please enter N/A for that segment’s heading. If the abstract is too long, it will not be successfully submitted.

My video is longer than 6 minutes. Can I still submit my video?

No, the maximum length of video presentations is 6 minutes.

Preparation Tips:

• Avoid hidden formatting characters, which will count against the total character limit. You may type directly into the abstract text box.
• Keep a backup copy of your abstract as PLAIN TEXT: Sticky notes, Notepad or save your source document to ensure that your text being copied is in plain text.
• Do not add special formatting (underlining, unnecessary bolding, bullet points, hard returns after main headings) when preparing the submission. Only the main headings should be bolded.

Is there a maximum length for titles?

Do not repeat the title in the abstract body field.

Do co-authors need to submit financial interest disclosures?

The AAGL considers the Presenting Author, not co-authors, to be in control of the educational content. Though they are acknowledged, co-authors do not have control of content and their disclosures are not published or resolved.

I’m employed by a commercial interest. May I submit an abstract?

If you are employed by a commercial interest you can NOT present. AAGL presentations may not be used for commercial promotion.

If my abstract is accepted, how do I follow the disclosure policy at AAGL 2020?

Presenters are required to display financial relationships on the first slide of their presentation. This is required even if the presenter has no financial interest. The presenter should also verbally disclose any financial interest.

Even with disclosure, presentations should never promote the use of any commercial product.

Can I submit my research if it has already been published somewhere else?

Yes. However, you cannot participate in Signature Award Competitions.

Can I submit research that I have presented elsewhere?

Yes, previously presented material may be submitted for review but ONLY when the presentation given is not bound by the copyright of another organization. It is the responsibility of the submitting author(s) to clarify if their work is under copyright with another organization.

I want to submit as e-POSTER ONLY or PAPER ONLY, how should I indicate this on my submission?

If a paper/e-poster abstract is selected for presentation, the committee will choose either paper or e-poster unless the author selects PAPER ONLY or e-POSTER ONLY.

Can I submit a Late Breaking abstract?

No, the AAGL does not have a Late Breaking abstract submission process. Abstracts cannot be submitted after the deadline.

How do I check my AAGL membership status?

To verify your membership status, contact Gerardo Galindo in the membership department at ggalindo@aagl.org or (714) 503-6205.