Guidelines for Submitting an Abstract

ACADEMY POLICIES FOR THE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

1. The submitting author is required to assure that the abstract complies with each of the following standards, insofar as they are applicable:
• Research involving human subjects was conducted in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Declaration of Helsinki and in adherence of applicable national and local human subjects requirements.
• Research involving animal subjects was conducted in accordance with international standards for animal treatment and care, as published, for example, by the Society of Neuroscience and ARVO.
• All coauthors have read the final, submitted version of the abstract and consented explicitly to including their names in the list of authors. The submitting author is responsible for assuring that all coauthors have had the opportunity to do so, and should indicate compliance as instructed on the web submission form.
• Conflicts of Interest, or lack of, are disclosed as instructed on the abstract submission form. Any conflicts of interest should also be disclosed as part of your presentation, whether a paper or poster presentation
2. Please note: Authors presenting their work at the Annual Meeting must be registered for the meeting.
3. The Academy does not accept for presentation any material that is copyrighted (e.g. identical or essentially the same abstract previously submitted to ARVO or any other organization requiring a copyright transfer at the time of submission). The academy does not accept for presentation any material that has already been published in archival form. By submitting an abstract the authors affirm their compliance with this policy.

AAO ABSTRACT EVALUATION CRITERIA:

• the report is of material that is not already in the literature.
• the report is of sufficient interest to a significant portion of attendees.
• the abstract does not duplicate substantial material from another abstract or other publication from the same author(s).
• the report is not preliminary or of an incomplete study.
• the scientific and/or clinical significance is clearly stated in the abstract.
• the methods appear to be adequate to test the stated hypothesis.
• the control group is appropriate.
• the sample size is sufficient to address the question.
• the results of the study are described in sufficient detail.
• the abstract contains sufficient evidence of a significant, new result that adds to the body of knowledge.
• the conclusions in the abstract appear to be justified by the results presented.

• the report is not solely a review of information already in the literature.
• the report highlights cutting edge information, a unique treatment/management.
• presenters must adhere to HIPAA rules regarding patient confidentiality.

• The case generates a new theory or possible explanation for pathogenesis of disease, treatment or adverse event.
• The case leads to questions regarding a new theory or conventional clinical wisdom
• The case demonstrates the application of a new technology that provides new information about a condition or a disease.

• The case content (management or diagnosis) is controversial.
• The case contains an unusual combination of conditions, events or rare features that confound the diagnosis or management.
• The case highlights a significant and unexpected adverse response to therapies.
• The case demonstrates unique therapies.
• The case demonstrates an important concept that can be generalized to other cases.

• The abstract meets all the criteria listed under research study (scientific presentation).
• The abstract describes a scientifically sound investigation of the idea or product.

• Submit the abstract as a scientific presentation.
• Include an evaluation of the method/assessment/curriculum

HOW TO SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT

1. Submitted abstracts will be accepted only through this website. The Academy will not accept e-mail submissions, submissions on printed forms, or by fax.
2. Abstracts will be accepted from April 15, through 11:59 PM EDT May 15, 2008.
3. Click on the “Course/Abstract Enter” button, located above. There you will find specific instructions on how to submit your abstract. Academy members must first log in with their member ID and password, while non-members must register as a non-member author before submitting an abstract. (If you do not remember your log in information, please contact Ellenr@aaoptom.org or Helenv@aaoptom.org. Please do NOT create a duplicate non-member author record.)
4. Authors must specify a preference for the format of their presentation from among the following choices:
• Scientific Presentation: Paper first choice, poster second
• Scientific Presentation: Poster first choice, paper second
• Scientific Case Report/Case Series: Poster first, paper second
• Educational Case Report/Case Series: Poster first, paper second
• Academy information poster (typically highlights training/educational programs)
5. Authors will be provided with the following set of standard headings to structure their abstract: PURPOSE, METHODS, RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS. Authors who submit a Case Report (CR) abstract are asked to structure their abstracts using alternate headings: BACKGROUND, CASE REPORT(S), CONCLUSIONS.
6. Select the general topic/section that most closely describes the content of your abstract. Choices are:
• Academy Information
• Binocular Vision
• Cornea and Contact Lenses
• Low Vision
• Ocular Disease
• Optics and Refraction
• Optometric Education
• Other
• Pediatric Optometry
• Primary Care
• Public Health & Environmental Optometry
• Vision Science
• Visual Biology
7. Select a Primary Topic from the following list. This will be used to group your abstract with others of similar topics.
• Academy Information
• Binocular vision
• Contact lenses – gas permeable
• Contact lenses – hydrogel
• Cornea/anterior segment/external/dry eye
• Glaucoma
• Health policy/health care delivery
• Low vision
• Neuro-ophthalmic & orbit
• Ocular physiology
• Optics/refractive error/refractive surgery
• Pediatric optometry
• Posterior Segment
• Optometric education
• Systemic & other disease
• Visual function/perception
8. Select from 1 to 3 keywords from the drop-down lists. These keywords will be used to categorize abstracts, and in abstract searches. (Note: At least one keyword must be selected.)
9. Residents in resident training at the time of abstract submission must check the box to indicate they are currently a resident. Residents currently in residency training will receive notification of the status of their abstract during the first week of June.
10. Authors who wish to present an abstract containing information or announcements of general interest to Academy members and other meeting attendees (e.g., “How to Become a Diplomate in...”) should submit an abstract using the AI (Academy Information) General Topic/Section and Primary Topic. AI posters generally convey information of a non-scientific and non-clinical nature and are usually presented for multiple days.
11. Each accepted abstract will be allocated one-half page (one column), including the title, author names, and affiliations. In order to fit within one column, text is limited to 2200 characters (including spaces, punctuation, etc). Submissions that exceed this limit will not be accepted by the web site; the submitter will immediately be given the opportunity to modify the submission so that it fits within this size limit. Authors are encouraged to keep abstracts succinct, to avoid long author lists, and to list only one institutional affiliation per author.
12. Special characters and formatting (e.g. superscripts, accents, underlining) are limited to those that can be specified with HTML tags. A pop-up window available on the submission screen will assist with special characters. Special formats and codes (e.g. for tables, columns, graphics) will not be interpreted correctly by the web site, and should not be included.
13. Application for Student Travel Fellowships can be made through the Abstract submission process. These $750.00 awards are available to optometry students, optometric residents, and students in vision science graduate programs. The Research Committee hopes to ensure the broadest awareness of the program among eligible student researchers. The highly successful fellowship program was created to promote the research aims of the Academy and to infuse a mix of young members into the Academy. Eligible researchers who wish to be considered for a Student Travel Fellowship (STF) should check the box on the abstract submission form. An email will be sent to you with the Student Travel Fellowship information and application form. The application form is available here.
14. Primary authors will receive immediate confirmation that their abstract was received, via an e-mail confirmation sent to the address listed for the primary author. If an e-mail confirmation is not received within a few minutes, authors should send an e-mail query to SciProg@aaoptom.org. Include the words “receipt confirmation” in the Subject field of your message.
15. Multiple author presentations accepted as a paper presentation will be presented by a single presenter, the first author.