General Abstract Gudielines

Please note: The online abstract submission, including the possibilities to change an existing abstract, closed on November 15, 2012.  Below are the general rules that applied for the authors.

For each abstract submitted, the author must specify three topics which best describes the contents of the presentation in order of relevance. Click here for the topic list. The Scientific Committee reserves the right to adjust the topic if necessary.

All abstracts have been subjected to peer-review, coordinated by the Scientific Committee. Original work that has not been published or accepted for presentation elsewhere is preferred. The criteria for review are: practical and theoretical impact, empirical and theoretical basis and clarity of ideas and structure.

Notification of acceptance by the Scientific Committee will be emailed to the corresponding author by 31 January, 2013. Detailed information, guidelines, and recommendations for oral or poster presentation, as well as time allotment, date, time, and venue will be duly sent to the registered corresponding authors. Please note that the Scientific Committee reserves the right to change submissions for oral presentations to posters, rather than refusing abstracts, depending on the number, theme, and quality of submissions.
 Permission for Processing and Publication

Authors must grant congress organizers permission to publish their abstracts in the book of abstracts (online and USB stick). No abstracts can be submitted unless such permission has been given. On the abstract submission form, there is a check box, which must be checked to give permission. The terms for processing and publication state that the personal information we receive from participants will also be required after the congress. This is in order to render an account of the conclusions arrived at during the congress, for statistical purposes, and for the dispatch of information concerning relevant congresses in the future. Personal data will also, in certain cases, be released to other companies participating in the congress, for the distribution of information and offers directly from them.

Kindly register your abstract/s via the online registration system. The acceptance of abstracts by the Scientific Committee does not imply any financial assistance or fee deduction. Presenting authors must register by 10 April, 2013 to ensure that their presentation is included at the ECP 2013.

Abstract formatting 

Below are listed some general guidelines pertaining to the formatting of the abstract and what the abstracts are expected to contain. Carefully prepared abstracts facilitate the review process, as it is easier to judge the quality of presentations that are thoroughly and concisely described.

  1. Abstracts must be in English.
  2. Please follow the pre-formatted fields indicated in the forms. It should be noted that the abstracts should not exceed 1500 characters (including spaces), not counting the title of the paper.
  3. The title should be brief (a maximum of 125 characters including spaces), clearly indicating the contents of the abstract.
  4. Use Arabic numerals for all numbers except at the beginning of a sentence where they should be written out. Use standard abbreviations and symbols. Keep abbreviations to a minimum and define each one when it is used for the first time. Do not include any figures or tables in abstracts, and do not submit attachments, slides, or any reference materials with the abstracts.
  5. Please write your abstract with a word-processing program, check spelling and grammar, proofread carefully, copy and paste it to the space in the form. If English is not your first language, we strongly recommend that you have your abstract proofread by someone fluent in English before you submit it.
  6. If wanting to use special characters, such as for example Greek letters, please use the drop down menus in the submission form to insert the characters.
  7. Choose three appropriate topics in the list provided. Please ensure to choose your topics in order of relevance.
  8. Abstracts can be modified until the deadline for abstract submission. Log in on the Personal Page using your user name and password. Once the deadline has passed, abstracts can no longer be modified. All authors should proofread the abstract carefully for grammar and spelling.
  9. Things to consider including when writing the abstract:

1. A statement of the purpose of the presentation (preferably in one sentence)
2. A brief mentioning of the theoretical framework, if applicable, and/or the rationale for the study
3. A summary of the results obtained (if it is an empirical study), or the major points to be made
4. A conclusion
5. A brief reflection on practical, methodological, or theoretical implications. Abstracts should not include promissory statements such as “results will be discussed.”
6. Please note, you shall not include subheadings, keywords or references in the abstract text.