Instructions for Authors

Belgian Surgical Week 2020

Antwerp, May 7-8-9, 2020

Abstract submission is now open!

IMPORTANT DATES

01-12-2019: << opening abstract submission >>

09-02-2020: definitive closure abstract submission - deadline extended!

02-04-2020: abstract acceptance decision communicated to authors

 

SUBMISSION RULES

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION OPENS 01 DECEMBER 2019

Please submit your abstract via: http://www.belgiansurgicalweek.be > abstracts > instructions for authors.

Please follow the instructions given online, otherwise your abstract cannot be selected for review.

4 types of abstracts will be considered, so-called ‘tracks’:

  • Free papers (oral/poster)
  • Case reports (poster)
  • Video reports
  • BAST-Trainee-Trainer session (BAST session on Thursday May 7th 2020: Both resident and teacher should be present)

A summary of the guidelines is as follows:

  • The abstract language is English
  • The text should be not more than 300 words (304 including the paragraph labels, see infra)
  • The use of 1 table or 1 graph is allowed without word penalty
  • The abstract must consist of four paragraphs labelled: OBJECTIVE, METHODS, RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS
  • The text and the title should be free from abbreviations, except those commonly used. It should concisely address the problem and the purpose of the study (OBJECTIVE); how the study was performed (METHODS); the main findings with numerical data and statistical significance (RESULTS); and the principal conclusions drawn from the study (CONCLUSIONS). In case of innovative study protocol or project, abstracts can be send reporting the Background, Objective and Methods of the study.
  • The title of the abstract should be printed in CAPITAL LETTERS; the name(s) of the author(s) should be preceded by the full first name (middle name Initial optional) - omit titles.
  • The number of authors is unlimited, but all need to be submitted through the author form
  • Only co-authors are allowed to present the paper
  • Since the abstracts will be judged anonymously, the text should not reveal your institutional affiliation (similarly, no affiliation in video submitted for the video session)
  • Within each track, mark the category which best describes the subject of your abstract

Provided categories:

  • Abdominal
  • Bariatric/metabolic
  • Breast
  • Cardio-thoracic
  • Colorectal
  • Endocrine
  • General surgery
  • Hepato-bilio-pancreas
  • Hernia
  • Paediatrics
  • Upper GI
  • Sarcoma
  • Trauma
  • Vascular
  • Robotic

Abstracts will not be accepted by e-mail or fax. All abstracts should be submitted and posted according to the format and instructions described above no later than the deadline being 02 February 2020 at midnight (23:59:59 CET).

FREE PAPER - ORAL SESSIONS

Free papers are allocated 8 minutes presentation time followed by a discussion period of 2 minutes. Please note that only data projection will be available; videos need to be submitted through a separate track.

FREE PAPER AND CASE REPORT - POSTER SESSIONS

After review by the scientific committee, some free papers might be withheld for the poster sessions. During the conference, a ‘best poster session’ will be held where the best 15 posters are given the opportunity for a short oral defense presentation with a 3-slide-powerpoint (excluding the poster itself) during a 3 minutes presentation.
Case report submissions will be considered for poster presentation only. However, if selected, the case report can also be considered for presentation in the best poster session.

FREE VIDEO SESSIONS

Free videos are allocated a maximum of 6 minutes with 2 minutes discussion. Video content should be made in the perspective of educating surgeons and members of surgical teams to improve the care of the surgical patient as well as safeguard the standards of care in an optimal practice environment. Narration is required and must be in English.

Review will be based on a classical written abstract scheme and a video. Together with the written submission, you are required to upload a low quality video (max. 50MB) during the abstract submission process. You can lower the size of the rough file by compressing to eg. compression H.264, lower the resolution to 640x360px and/or lower the frame rate to 15fps (adds a slight stutter, but axes the size to 75%). Also changing bitrate can make you rough file smaller. During the conference, obviously the full quality video needs to be shown. This submission video file should not contain any referal to your instutional affiliation, bearing the risk of rejection as submitted videos are scored anonymously as well.

At the time of the conference, the full quality video files should be presented in advance to the session at the technicians desk to test the movie. Be sure to have a windows compatible file, i.e. with file extension avi, mpeg2 or QuickTime. Note that some avi-movies sometimes may cause incompatibility with the software depending on the encoding process, and that the subsequent software decoder may not be available at the time of the conference.

Video requirements summary:                                                                                                                                           

- running time of maximum 6 minutes

- English narration required

- video formats: MPEG2, AVI, QuickTime.

The best video will be submitted to the next Annual Meeting of American College of Surgeons.

An RBSS grant is awarded to the winning video to cover travel expenses in case of acceptance for the next ACS meeting. This initiative is supported by the Belgian Chapter of the ACS.

 

BAST-TRAINER-TRAINEE SESSION - ORAL SESSION

These abstracts will be scored by the BAST Board. This BAST session is scheduled on Thursday May 7th 2020. The abstract should describe an interesting case that are to be presented by the residents. The trainer should also attend the session and can also present. This is an interactive session with multiple choice questions provided by the presenting resident and with the availability of an electronic voting system. The use of images and videos is encouraged, high quality images are required and a maximum of 60 seconds per video is allowed. Further instructions on presentation will follow once your abstract is accepted. After review some papers might be held for poster/oral poster sessions.

DECISION

The program committee will meet 5 weeks after the closure of the abstract submission. The best abstracts are selected based on the average score by the reviewers and allocated for presentations as free paper (oral or oral poster or poster), case report (poster or oral poster), video or trainer-trainee session. Selected abstracts are considered to be incorporated in dedicated sessions presided by the responsible scientific society or section along with invited lectures based on their relevance with the topic of the session. Abstract acceptance and program scheduling will be communicated to the corresponding author’s e-mail address from April 2nd 2020.

For your abstract to be included in the final scientific program, it is mandatory to register for the congress and to settle payment as soon as you have received the notification of abstract acceptance, but the latest before April 15thRegistration after this date does not guarantee the possibility to present your work.

Please check the boxes if eligible for awards during the abstract submission process.

Abstracts will be published in an online supplement of the Acta Chirurgica Belgica.


PRIZES AND AWARDS

BEST ABSTRACT / YOUNG INVESTIGATOR's AWARD

The Board of the Royal Belgian Society of Surgery (RBSS) has decided to award this year a best abstract award for the two best clinical and the two best basic research papers selected by the Scientific Committee worth 1.500 € and 1.000 € each.

The criteria for application for the prizes are as follows:

  1. Applicants are not to be older than 35 years at the time of the Belgian Surgical Week.
  2. Applicants are to be member of the Royal Belgian Society of Surgery, latest by Febrary 2nd 2020, the date of closure of the abstract submissions.
  3. Free paper abstracts for presentation at the Belgian Surgical Week are to be submitted at the latest before midnight of 2nd February 2020 (absolute deadline).
  4. The finalists will be chosen among the four best scored abstracts and will be notified from April 2nd 2020.
  5. The first author of the paper has to submit a full manuscript by April 15th2020 which can be used by the jury to analyze the research more in depth before the actual Award session. Failure to submit the manuscript on time will automatically disqualify the applicant for the prize, but not for the presentation.
  6. The four selected papers are to be presented as oral communications in the ‘RBSS Young Investigator Challenge’ session scheduled on Thursday morning May 7th during the 21st Belgian Surgical Week.
  7. The papers will be scored by a jury composed of RBSS Board members and will be based on the scientific quality of both the presentation and of the submitted manuscript.
  8. The dedicated presentation time is foreseen for 10 minutes with 5 minutes discussion by a discussant invited by the Board.
  9. Publications in the Acta Chirurgica Belgica is strongly encouraged but publications in another journal is also supported by the RBSS.

            The winners of the prize will be announced at the Surgical Night.

         If you wish to participate in the contest, don’t forget to tick the appropriate box when submitting your abstract via the conference website of the BSW: www.belgiansurgicalweek.be!

BEST POSTER AWARD

The Board of the Royal Belgian Society of Surgery (RBSS) has also decided to award this year an award for the TWO best poster presentations defended during the Poster Session on Thursday May 7th 2020. This award is worth 250€ each.

BEST VIDEO AWARD

We have the pleasure to announce that for the 2020 edition of the BSW, RBSS is organizing a competition of best video abstract, with video formats arranged according to the submission rules of the annual meeting of the American College of Surgeons.

Video presentations on the different subtopics (Abdominal Wall, Breast, Colorectal, Endocrine, HepatoBiliary & Pancreatic, Obesity & Metabolic, Upper GI, Pediatric) can be submitted.

The best video will be submitted to the 2021 Annual Meeting of American College of Surgeons, which will be held in Chicago (4-8 October),  following the rules of ACS (www.facs.org).

In order to cover the travel’s costs in case of acceptance, an award to the best video is granted to cover travel and lodging expenses at a maximum travel cost of EUR 1.000,-.

BAST AWARD

The best presentation during the BAST session will be chosen by the audience. Trainee and trainer must be present at time of presentation in order to be eligible to win a prize worth €500 (voucher). 

       

If you wish to participate in the competitions, don’t forget to tick the appropriate box when submitting your abstract via the website of the Surgical Week: www.belgiansurgicalweek.be!

 

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION WILL OPEN DECEMBER 1st 2019 00.00 CET AND CLOSE FEBRUARY 9th 2020 23.59.59 CET - deadline extended!

>>> Submit your abstract here. <<<

You will be redirected to Easychair, the abstract management system for BSW 2020.

IFA v20191130


 

 

 

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