Guidelines for submitting an abstract

Submission, Deadline

Abstracts have to be submitted exclusively online through the congress website at https://epns-congress.com.
Abstracts sent by post or email will not be considered.
Deadline for application is 15 January 2023 23:59:59 CET.
Alterations and corrections may be executed directly on the platform before the deadline.

The abstract is limited to 2,500 characters (approx. 400 words), incl. spaces.
Tables, images and references are not allowed.
The title should be short and significant. The text must be grammatically suitable for publishing in the English language. If you have any concerns, please check your text with someone who is competent writing in the English language.
The text of the abstract should briefly state:

Objectives: Indicate the purpose of the study or the hypothesis that was tested.
Methods: Include the setting for the study, the subjects, the diagnosis or intervention, and the type of Statistical analysis. If references are needed, they should be provided in the text.
Results: Present as clearly as possible the outcome of the study and any significant findings if appropriate
Conclusions: Briefly discuss the data and emphasise the significance of the results. All abstracts should disclose primary findings and avoid, whenever possible, promissory statements such as “experiments are in progress “or “results will be discussed“.

Concerning methods, make clear if the study is prospective or retrospective. Statistical procedures, if relevant, must be specified.
The setup of experimental studies must be documented. The test execution of experimental studies must be understandable.
The described methodology of data entry and data evaluation of clinical papers must be traceable.
The abstract has to contain all relevant data. Abbreviations must be defined at first usage.
The usage of special formatting should be limited. The correct replication in all media cannot be guaranteed.
It is not allowed to submit an abstract several times to different topics of the congress.
The recommended number of authors is up to 10, including the presenting author. Only in the case of submissions from large study groups - for example multi-centre studies – the list of authors can go up to a maximum of 35.
The presenting author must be listed first. The presenting author will be the contact for all communication in connection with the abstract.

The presenter is responsible for the compliance with data protection, copyrights, ethic regulations and laws on animal protection.
To assure the anonymous review it is not allowed to mention any names or locations in the paper. For example, ‘10 cases of syndrome X presenting to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow’ should be replaced by ‘report of 10 cases of syndrome X’
Encore abstracts may be submitted, provided that there is no copyright issue with the original publisher.
All authors listed have to give their consent regarding the abstract text, publication in the event app, the congress programme, the abstract PDF as well as the publication on the congress website, the virtual event platform and EPNS website.
It is the author’s responsibility to submit a correct abstract. Any errors in spelling, grammar or scientific fact will be reproduced as submitted by the author.
Authors’ fees or royalties cannot be claimed.
All listed authors have to consent to the abstract text as well as to their publication in all congress media.
Conflicts of interest through commercial benefits must be disclosed.

All submitted abstracts will be reviewed anonymously by several experts.
Evaluation criteria are: Aim and objective, material and methodology, results and conclusions.
Abstracts that show formal errors (multi-submission, not anonymised) will be rejected.
Abstracts which do not contain any results or state that results will be available at the meeting will be rejected.
E-Mail notifications about acceptance or refusal will be sent to the presenting author subsequent to the reviewing process.
In case of acceptance as oral or e-poster presentation, the presenting author MUST be registered for the meeting.
The presenting author is expected to participate on-site and give a live presentation in Prague.
Each presenter must register for the congress before 30 January 2023 in order to confirm their presentation in Prague.
If the presenter has not registered by that time, the contribution will be deleted from the programme.

During the Congress three prizes will be awarded: Outstanding abstract, Best e-Poster, Best Oral presentation.
In order to apply for the Outstanding Abstract Award, submitters have to be an EPNS trainee member and paid the current year EPNS subscription fee, the abstract must report original research not previously published and the submitter must have ‘ticked the box’ in the abstract submission tool.
The Outstanding Abstract Award will be presented during the Opening Ceremony on Tuesday, 20 June 2023. The Best e-Poster and Best Oral Presentation Awards will be presented during the Closing Ceremony on Saturday, 24 June 2023.
The three winners will be awarded with a free registration for the 16th EPNS Congress in Munich/Germany.