Scientific Abstracts

Call for Scientific Abstracts—2024 ACVS Surgery Summit

The 2024 ACVS Surgery Summit will be held October 24–26 at the Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, AZ.

Submission deadline: 11:59 pm (ET), Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Sections

  • Small Animal Residents’ Forum (ACVS residents): Thursday, October 24
  • Large Animal Residents’ Forum (ACVS residents): Thursday, October 24
  • Scientific Poster Presentations: Thursday, October 24–Saturday, October 26 (until noon)
  • Surgery Summit program: October 24–26
Residents' Forums

To qualify for the Residents’ Forum, residents must be actively enrolled in an ACVS-registered residency program at the time of abstract submission. Each resident may submit only one abstract for the Residents’ Forum.

Residents are encouraged to submit abstracts for either clinical or basic science research projects. Residents may submit other abstracts for the general scientific program and poster session. Abstracts will be blinded and scored by a committee based on the criteria listed below.

The top 15 abstracts in small animal and the top 15 abstracts in large animal are placed in the Residents’ Forum. Abstract presentations will be 15 minutes: 10–12 minutes for set up and presentation and 3–5 minutes for questions and discussion.

Scientific Poster Presentations

Poster presentations are available for viewing from Thursday, October 24, through Saturday, October 26. All veterinary professionals may submit abstracts to be considered for poster presentations.

Poster format:

4’ x 4’ poster setup: 5–8 pm, Wednesday, October 23
Presentation and final resident poster judging: 6–7:30 pm, Thursday, October 24
Teardown: Saturday, October 26, by noon

Residents’ poster competition:

To qualify for the residents’ poster competition within the Scientific Poster Presentations, residents must be actively enrolled in an ACVS-registered or ECVS residency program at the time of abstract submission and must be present during the Scientific Poster Presentations and Reception on Thursday, October 24, 2024, 6–7:30 pm in the exhibit hall.

NOTE: If a resident is selected to present in the Residents’ Forum, they cannot also have a poster for consideration in the residents’ poster competition.

Flash poster presentations:

Up to 15 large animal and 15 small animal poster presenters may volunteer to participate in the flash poster presentation. Volunteers will give a 2-minute presentation of their poster following the completion of the respective large or small animal Residents’ Forum. Additional information will be provided to selected presenters.

Surgery Summit Program

Small and large animal scientific abstracts will be presented throughout the meeting. All veterinary professionals may submit abstracts.

Abstract presentations will be 15 minutes: 10–12 minutes for set up and presentation and 3–5 minutes for questions and discussion.


Abstract submission

Abstracts must be submitted online by 11:59 pm (ET), Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

To submit your abstract
  1. Log into the My Account page on the ACVS website at acvs.org/my-account.
  2. Select Abstract & Grant Submissions.
  3. Click on the orange Create New Abstract link under the table of previously submitted abstracts.

NOTE: An account is required for abstract submissions. If you do not have an account, select the New Customer link from the My Account login screen.

Using the abstract submission system

You can copy and paste your abstracts from a Word file into the submission system. If your abstract requires superscript or subscript, you will need to include the HTML codes within your document.

For superscript, place <sup> in front of the text and </sup> behind your text

For subscript, place <sub> in front of the text and </sub> behind your text

To submit an abstract, log in to your account at acvs.org/my-account and select “Abstract & Grant Submission” to begin. You can also edit existing abstracts from the same menu link.


General instructions for abstract preparation

Abstract submission timeline

  • Abstract online submission deadline: 11:59 pm (ET), Wednesday, May 15, 2024
  • Abstract acceptance notification: June 24, 2024

Two abstracts are required for submission:

    • short abstract for Surgery Summit Proceedings and the online version of Veterinary Surgery; and
    • long abstract for scoring and evaluation only; the long abstract will not be published.

The College will only accept abstracts that comply with the statement on Humane Care and Use of Animals.

Abstract categories

All abstracts should be designated as a research or clinical project.

Research is defined as all in vitro studies and investigative protocols that involve the use of research or laboratory animals or bench-top research methods.

Clinical is defined as investigation protocols that involve clinical patients.

Required sections of the online submission process

Submission type

Using the drop-down menu, select the type of abstract you are submitting.

Title: Must be limited to 45 characters including spaces.

This short title will be used in Surgery Summit-related material. This title should reflect the content of the abstract. Limited use of commonly accepted abbreviations or acronyms is acceptable. Use title case (first letter of each word is capitalized, except for certain small words, such as articles and short prepositions).

Long title

The long title should be brief and accurately reflect the content of the abstract. Do not use abbreviations in the long title; use title case.

Short abstract

Single-spaced and cannot exceed 250 words. Do not include the title, authors’ names, or authors’ affiliations. Do not underline, italicize, capitalize, or bold for emphasis within the text. Do not insert a blank line between paragraphs or sections. Do not include references to figures or tables in the short abstract.

The required sequence is shown below; however, do not use these subheadings (e.g., Reasons for performing the study) in the short abstract.

  • Reasons for performing the study
  • Hypothesis/objectives
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Main study limitations
  • Scientific or clinical relevance

CV/Resume

A CV/resume must be uploaded at the time of submission for the presenting author.

Abstract authors

The authors’ information is used to generate the list of names and affiliations in the published abstracts for the Surgery Summit.

  • The submitting author MUST also be the presenting author. As the submitting author, you MUST also enter yourself as the presenting author in the list of co-authors.
  • Include all co-authors, include yourself as the presenting author, who should be given credit for this abstract. You may add as many co-authors as necessary. You must provide complete information for each field: first, middle initial and last names, company, city, state, and country.
  • Author names will be listed, last name, first and middle initials (i.e., Aulakh KS).

Company fields

    • Use the “Company” field to list the university or practice name. If there is no university or practice, enter ‘N/A’ in the field.
    • Use the “Company 2” field to include departments within the university that should be recognized.
    • Be certain that the company name is consistent for each author. Do not spell out university for one author and abbreviate for a second author.
    • Use the arrows/numbers to order the co-authors in the exact position you wish them to appear, including the presenting author.
    • If a co-author has more than one affiliation, create two separate entries for that author with different company names and locations.

SAMPLE:
Video-Endoscopic Comparison of Laryngeal Morphology in Young Thoroughbred Horses Sedated with Butorphanol and Detomidine.
Almonte Bermudez H 1;3, Johnson CR2, Schumacher J3, Berk JT4.
1Park Equine Hospital, Versailles, KY; 2Equine Surgical Services, Park Equine Hospital, Lexington, KY; 3University of Tennessee, College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Knoxville, TN; 4Equine Medical Associates, Lexington, KY

Long abstract

The long abstract is divided into five sections. Abstracts that exceed 1,000 words in total will not be reviewed. This should be expanded text to describe the material more completely. Redundancy between sections should be avoided (e.g., do not repeat results in the discussion). Each section needs to be entered separately as follows:

  • Reasons for performing the study: Brief background on general topic and previous work. Should concisely convey the need, significance/impact of the work presented in the abstract. Avoid making broad statements that should be assumed knowledge (points will be deducted for such statements).
  • Hypothesis/objective(s): Clearly state the objective(s) of the study and the hypothesis (if applicable).
  • Methods: Briefly describe the methodology of research or technique used in this study. Methods should be appropriate to answer the hypothesis or problem that generated the work. Statistical methods used for data analysis, if applicable, should also be included. Statistical methods must also be appropriate for evaluating the data/testing the hypothesis.
  • Results: Briefly describe the key results of the study.
  • Discussion: Include a brief interpretation of the results and how the hypotheses/objectives have been addressed. Do not repeat information that is provided in the results.
  • Study limitations: All studies have limitations. Briefly outline some of the key limitations of the study. Failure to discuss key/relevant limitations will result in the abstract being declined.
  • Scientific or clinical relevance: Why are the results of this study important? How can the information derived from this study or technique be applied to the specialty of veterinary surgery? How is this information innovative?
  • References: Only relevant references should be included, and they will count towards the total word count.
  • Graphics: Only one file may be uploaded. Please include all figures, photos, and graphs in a single PDF in the order they are referenced in the text and label accordingly. No names, institutions, or sources of support should appear within the text of the long abstract. Graphics must be relevant to understanding the information in the abstract/methods/results of the study.

Scoring and evaluation process: long (blinded) abstracts

Scored on a 100-point system (based on long abstract)

Reasons for performing the study (5 points)
Hypothesis/objectives (10 points)
Methods (20 points)
Results (20 points)
Discussion (10 points)
Study limitations (10 points)
Scientific or clinical relevance (15 points)
Overall quality of abstract, grammar, scientific writing (10 points)

Evaluated and reviewed in two sequential steps

Step 1: All abstracts to be considered for the Residents’ Forum are reviewed and ranked by the respective small and large animal abstract review committee. The top 15 abstracts in small animal and the top 15 abstracts in large animal are placed in the Residents’ Forum.

Step 2: All remaining abstracts not selected for presentation in the Residents’ Forum but determined by the Residents’ Forum committee to be of appropriate scientific content will be assigned to either the poster session or for an oral presentation during the appropriate seminar within the Surgery Summit program depending on content and relevance to veterinary surgery and allied sciences.

NOTE: Abstracts submitted for possible oral presentation that received an acceptable score are required to be presented as a poster if not scheduled as an oral presentation due to limited slots in the program.


Presenter notification

The presenting author MUST submit their own abstract(s) and will be notified via email if the abstract is accepted or declined no later than June 24, 2024.

If selected, the presenting author must register for the Surgery Summit and pay the appropriate registration fee.

If there are any questions, please contact ACVS at surgerysummit@acvs.org.