Instructions for Authors BSW 2025

Instructions for Authors

Belgian Surgical Week 2025

Ostend, April 24-26 2025

SUBMISSION RULES

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION OPENS Monday December 16^th 2024

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.

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

• Free papers (oral/poster)
• Study protocols (to be submitted as free paper)
• Case reports (poster)
• Video reports
• BAST-Trainee-Trainer session (BAST session on April 24^th  2025: both residents and teachers should be present)

A summary of the abstract guidelines is as follows:

• English language
• Maximum 300 words (304 including the paragraph labels, see infra)
• The use of 1 table or 1 graph is allowed
• 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 sent reporting the Background, Objective and Methods of the study. There are no limits on the words used for each section, as long as the total is not exceeding the 304.
• 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.
• All authors 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 the institutional affiliation (videos and/or abstracts with affiliation will be rejected).
• 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

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 Friday January 31^st 2025 at midnight (23:59:59 CET).

FREE PAPER - ORAL Presentation 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. Case report submissions will be considered for poster presentation only.

During the conference, an ‘oral 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 minute presentation, followed by 2 minute discussion.

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. Live narration in English illustrating the video is required.

Review will be based on a classical written abstract scheme as mentioned above. 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 e.g. 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.

Accepted video presentations should be uploaded through the “Easychair platform” according to instructions that will follow after acceptance of the video.

Video requirement summary:                                                                                                            

- running time of maximum 6 minutes

- Live English narration                                                                               

- Video formats: MPEG2, AVI, QuickTime

- Upload in Easychair after acceptance

BAST-TRAINER-TRAINEE SESSION - ORAL SESSION

These abstracts will be scored by the BAST Board. The abstract should describe an interesting case, 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.

New @BSW 2025: PIMP YOUR PROTOCOL SESSION

In order to stimulate research amongst Belgian surgeons the RBSS has come up with the a new session aiming to help surgical researchers improve their research protocol with the help of experts. Surgeons can present their research protocol to a panel of experts who, in turn, will provide constructive feedback on the protocol, supported by the audience. The intention is to help the researchers develop their protocol and to provide a platform to announce your research to our surgical community.

The rules for the abstracts are mentioned as above, although both 'results' and 'conclusion' sections can be omitted.

For the presentation of the protocol 10 minutes are available, followed by a discussion period of 5 minutes.  

When your project is selected for presentation, you will be notified by March 21^st 2025.

The first author of the paper has to submit an extended research protocol by APRIL 11th 2025 which can be used by the expert panel to analyze the proposal more in depth before the actual session.

DECISION

All abstracts will be reviewed and scored. The best abstracts are selected based on the average scores and allocated for presentations to the free paper sessions, oral poster session, video session, poster session or trainer-trainee session. Selected abstracts are grouped into dedicated sessions, if possible, and moderated by the responsible scientific society or section. Abstract acceptance and program scheduling will be communicated to the corresponding author’s e-mail address before MARCH 21^st 2025.

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 Monday MARCH 31^st . Registration after this date does not guarantee the possibility to present your work.

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

COMPETITIONS

BEST ABSTRACT COMPETITION/'Young Investigator Award'

The Board of the Royal Belgian Society of Surgery (RBSS) will hold this year again a best abstract competition for the two best clinical and the two best basic research papers selected by the Scientific Committee.

The criteria for application for the prizes are as follows:

1. Applicants are not older than 35 years at the time of the Belgian Surgical Week.
2. Applicants are member of the Royal Belgian Society of Surgery, latest by JANUARY 31^st  2025, the date of closure of the abstract submissions.
3. The finalists will be chosen among the four best scored abstracts and will be notified latest by MARCH 21^st 2025.
4. The first author of the paper has to submit a full manuscript by APRIL 11th 2025 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.
5. The four selected papers are to be presented as oral presentations in the ‘RBSS Young Investigator Award’ session scheduled (day and time still to be defined) during the  Belgian Surgical Week.
6. 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.
7. The dedicated presentation time is foreseen for 10 minutes with 5 minutes discussion.
8. Publications in the Acta Chirurgica Belgica is strongly encouraged (cfr Prize) but publications in another journal is also supported by the RBSS.

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

            PRIZE = 1000 euro if published in the Acta Chirurgica Belgica; 500 euro if published in another journal.

         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 ORAL POSTER AWARD

The Board of the Royal Belgian Society of Surgery (RBSS) has decided to hold a best oral poster competition. In order to be able to win, your abstract needs to be selected for the oral poster session. The winner will be selected based upon the project and the presentation.

PRIZE = 250 euro

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 compete.

PRIZE = 250 euro

         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 16th 2024 00.00 CET AND

CLOSE JANUARY 31st 2025 23.59.59 CET, Brussels Time! 

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