Submission Process

• Delegates, who would like to present their work at the Congress, either orally or as a poster, are invited to submit an abstract for consideration by the Abstract Grading Committee.

• A paper should not be submitted to the 30th ESPEN Congress if it has been already presented internationally.

• Abstract submission in only possible via Internet: Abstracts should be submitted on-line only using the electronic abstract form on this website.

• Please read carefully all instructions available on the internet abstract submission system before preparing your abstract.

• During registration, the abstract submitter will be required to provide his/her email address as the login and a preferred password. These details enable the abstract submitter to return at a later stage to update/edit the submitted abstract. To save the abstract all required fields must be filled in. The submitted abstracts cannot be edited after the submission deadline (10 April 2008, Midnight CET).

• Fill out carefully all the fields of the abstract form (detailed information is provided to help you submitting your abstract).

• Abstracts are accepted on a wide range of topics in clinical nutrition and metabolism. The submitter has to select the right topic for the abstract at the submission form. Available topics are:
  1. Nutritional assessment
  2. Nutritional epidemiology
  3. Carbohydrate and lipid metabolism
  4. Protein and amino acid metabolism
  5. Genes and nutrition
  6. Hormones, mediators and immunity
  7. Vitamins, antioxidants and minerals
  8. Critical Care
  9. Liver and gastrointestinal tract
  10. Nutrition and chronic diseases
  11. Obesity and the metabolic syndrome
  12. Nutrition and cancer
  13. Paediatrics
  14. Nutritional techniques and formulations
  15. Geriatrics

For standardization, the acceptable length of the abstract is of not more than 2’000 printable characters, headers included. This includes non visible characters, such as spaces and line breaks. Authors details are not included in the character count.

Please refer to the word count of the system as slight differences may occur when counting with WORD or similar programmes.

Available space must be used as follows and contain the following sections:
– Rationale
– Methods
– Results
– Conclusions

• The Rationale section should contain 1-2 sentences that clearly indicate the scientific question of the study and its clinical (or other) importance.

• The Methods section should contain sufficient information to be able to understand the experimental design, the analytical techniques and the statistics used in the study.

• The Results section should contain objective data to answer the scientific question(s).

• The Conclusions section should provide only conclusions of the study directly supported by the results, along with implications for clinical practice, avoiding speculation and overgeneralization.

One table can be included, but the total number of cells (columns + rows) may not exceed 16. Please note that tables may significantly reduce the number of the remaining allowed characters.
A paper cannot be accepted if the conflict of interest disclosure is not signed. On the on-line abstract form, tick the appropriate box and enter the required details.
If you have successfully submitted your abstract, you will receive a confirmation number. If no confirmation number is received, the abstract has not been submitted correctly.

Rules

The rules for preparing the abstracts can be found on this website. Failure to observe these guidelines may result in disqualification.

Late Breaking Abstracts

Late breaking abstracts may be accepted until 7 July 2008, Midnight, CET with a payment fee of EURO 100 that has to be paid upon submission (if no payment is made, the late breaking abstract
will not be reviewed nor taken into account).

Late breaking abstracts will be available as posters. However, it is to be noted that they will NOT be printed in the ESPEN Journal.

Presentation of Abstracts

• Abstracts can be accepted either as poster or oral communication.

• The Abstract Grading Committee will select submitted abstracts and determine whether they are accepted for oral or poster presentation, also considering the author’s preference.

• If your abstract is accepted as a poster, you will be requested to be available for discussion during the corresponding poster viewing session.

• The usable surface of the display panels measures 150cm (height) x 95cm (width). Adhesive material will be provided.

• Please use letters large enough to be read from a distance of 1.5 meters.

Publication

Accepted abstracts will be published in the Congress Abstract Book, “Nutrition and Metabolism – the ESPEN Journal”, and will be available on the Internet one month prior to the Congress as submitted by the authors.

General Remarks

• The Author of the abstract selected for presentation must be registered at the Congress.

• Abstracts must contain data and meet international ethical standards.

• Abbreviations should be defined.

• Trade names can not be mentioned in the title. However, trade names in brackets will be accepted in the body of the text.

• The name, address, telephone, fax number and e-mail address of the corresponding author should be given as indicated. The submitting author and the contact author must be the same person.

• Please ensure your abstract does not contain spelling, grammar, or scientific mistakes, as it will be reproduced exactly as submitted. Linguistic accuracy is your responsibility. No proof reading will be done.

• No changes can be made to the abstract after the submission deadline.

• The reviewers will judge the abstracts according to the relevance to ESPEN, standard of English, objectivity of statements, description of what was done, suitability of methods to aims, conclusions confirmed by objective results, ethics, scientific value, potential clinical value, originality of work and overall impression.

• Submitting Authors will be notified by the end of May 2008 whether their abstract has been accepted, and they will be informed at the same time about the date, time and form of their presentation. All notifications will be sent out to the email address given on the submission form.

• If you want to withdraw your abstract, a written statement reflecting the reasons for this decision must be sent to the ESPEN Secretary not later than 31 April 2008.

Travel Grants

Travel Fellowship competition (EURO 500 each), to be awarded according to the abstract score.

ESPEN Research Fellowships

All first authors aged less than 35 years are eligible for the Travel Fellowship competition (EURO 500 each) according to the abstract score. In addition, various ESPEN Research Fellowships will be awarded during the Congress. Deadline for application is April 10th, 2008.

Further information regarding these grants and the appropriate application forms are available upon requestfrom:

Professor Jens Kondrup
Clinical Nutrition Unit 5711
Rigshospitalet
9 Blegdamsvej
DK – 2100 Copenhagen
E-mail: jens.kondrup@kvl.dk