Instructions for submission of abstracts

Deadline for submission: 15 October 2010

Please click here to download the instructions for submission of abstracts.

Please click here to go to the abstract submission page.

The importance of abstracts

The Scientific Committee will build a part of the conference programme on submitted abstracts. For this reason the abstract deadline must be set early.
Two types of presentations are foreseen:

• Poster presentations including dedicated Poster discussion sessions
• Free communications in  parallel sessions

All accepted abstracts (both oral and poster presentations) will be published in a special issue of the EJPC “European Journal of Palliative Care” and on the Congress website.

Purpose of the abstract

Authors should remember that the abstract allows the reviewers and the Scientific Committee to make an informed decision about the quality of the research and its suitability for inclusion in the scientific programme. Abstracts also provide conference participants with written information about each presentation.

Criteria for abstract submission

Abstracts should meet the following criteria:

• The abstract text cannot exceed 2000 characters (including space, excluding title and authors).
• Abstracts must be written in English, explained abbreviations may be used.
• The abstract text must not contain any information about the presenters or institutions involved, to facilitate the blind review process.
• References are not required in abstracts. If supplied, they are included in the character count.
• Although case reports, will be considered by the scientific committee, reviewers should be aware that such abstracts will be given a low priority.
• Generic drug names should be preferred. The use of trade names is discouraged, and should only be used when necessary.
• The author is required to indicate at the end of the abstract, the main source of funding of the study.

Abstracts of empirical studies must outline the:

• research aims – please state the specific objectives of study
• study design and methods (selection criteria, variables, statistics)
• results
• conclusion

Abstracts for NON empirical studies must outline the:

• aims – please state the specific objectives
• design, methods and statistics (if applicable)
• results
• conclusion

Abstract categories

The Scientific Committee devised a list of categories (topics) in order to group the abstracts into various themes. Many abstracts could fit in more than one category. The indication of the author can be re-categorised by the scientific committee in order to shape the final programme.

Authors must choose one category from the following list that most closely describes the content of their submission

Symptoms

• Pain
• Symptoms other than pain

Topic areas

• Assessment & measurement tools
• Audit & quality control
• Basic science & translational research
• Bereavement
• Education
• End of life care & quality of death
• Epidemiology
• Ethics
• Family & care givers
• Medical sociology
• Organization of services
• Policy
• Psychology & communication
• Research methodology

Specific pathologies & patient groups

• Non-cancer
• Palliative care in elderly
• Palliative Care in Children and Adolescents

Presentation type

Authors must indicate whether they will accept to give an oral presentation if their abstract should be chosen. The final decision about the type of presentation suitable for the programme will be made by the Scientific Committee.

Review Process

All abstracts will be reviewed by three independent reviewers. The review process will be blind. Only country and profession of the first author will be disclosed.

The review will be carried out according to the following criteria:

• Aims-Background-Context
  (Relevance of hypothesis, clearly state aims).
• Quality of Method
  (Sampling, Data collection, Analytical strategy; Stringency of theoretical position, reference to relevant knowledge base, etc.).
• Relevance to Palliative Care
  (All abstracts should demonstrate relevance to some aspect of palliative care practice, policy or research work, or make a contribution to a relevant theoretical or methodological debate).
• Originality of Research
  (Is new data being presented? Stringency of Arguments when repeating previous work).
• Clear Presentation of Results
  (Data Interpretation, Statistical Power, Application to Palliative Care Practice, etc.).
• Conclusions
  (supported by the data presented, quality of interpretation of own work)

Handling Procedures

Once the electronic submission is concluded the corresponding author will receive an automatic confirmation by email with an abstract number to which he/she will need to refer for any inquiries.

Please kindly note that the submission of an abstract does not replace the registration to the congress. The inclusion in the scientific programme and publication of the selected abstract(s) is subject to the payment of the registration fee of the presenting author. After the abstract submission is closed, all presenting authors will be invited to register to the Congress with an e-mail to a registration link. If the abstract will not be accepted by the scientific committee the delegate’s fee will be reimbursed.

After the reviewing process the abstracts will be allocated to the scientific sessions by the Scientific Committee and all corresponding authors will be notified by email of the decision of the Scientific Committee end of January beginning February 2011.