Submission Guidelines

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On this page you will find important information about abstract submission and format for ANZACA2022.

Please read the following instructions carefully as the guidelines have changed. Before submitting, ensure that submitted abstracts conform to ANZACA submission guidelines.

This will assist facilitating review processes and acceptance of the abstracts.

Note

  1. All abstracts submitted by members are eligible to be considered for an award.
  2. Please take a moment to peruse the marking rubric for abstracts and posters before submitting and preparing your works.
  3. Abstract submission deadline closed on 31st October 2022.

Abstract specifications

The ANZACA conference organising committee welcomes abstracts in the following broad categories, for consideration by a review committee:

  1. Anatomy,
  2. Clinical anatomy and
  3. Innovation in anatomy education research

In order to allow a broad range of presentations from a number of presenters, authors will be limited to delivering only one (01) oral presentation as the presenting author.

If your abstract belongs to category 1 or 2 (anatomy or clinical anatomy) read the following guidelines

Abstract requirements and structure

General guidelines:

Remember: The most important rule is to follow the rules

  1. The presenting author is required to ensure that all co-authors are aware of the content of the abstract before submission
  2. The presenting author must be listed as the first author
  3. Submitted abstracts should include non-published/original data
  4. All abstracts must be submitted and presented in English. If you are a student, please have your advisor proofread and approve your abstract before you submit it
  5. Please note the submitting author will receive all correspondence about the abstract so we advise that the submitting author details that are entered are the same details as those of the presenting author
  6. Authors are required to acknowledge that by submitting an abstract, permission is automatically given for the abstract (if approved) to be made available on the website and via the app, and possibly published more broadly.

Body of abstract:

  1. This is limited to a maximum of 250 words (including subheadings).
  2. The word count does not include the title of the abstract, authors and affiliations and the ethics approval reference number.
  3. Appropriate ethics approval, where applicable, for any research must be in place and the reference number must be included below the corresponding author/s' names. The corresponding author/s will be required to confirm this, by checking the appropriate box on the online submission platform when submitting their abstract. For sensitive research, for example foetal material, the researchers will be required to provide documented evidence of ethics approval.
  4. Use standard abbreviations only within the body of the abstract. When using abbreviations spell out the name in full at the first mention and follow with the abbreviation in parenthesis. Abbreviations may be used in the title, provided the name in full is outlined in the body of the abstract
  5. Always use proper units (metric). Use a negative exponent (g. kgm-3) and do not indicate units as divisions (e.g. kg/m3 )
  6. No references required with the submission
  7. No images or diagrams are to be included
  8. Preferred font is Calibri or Times New Roman (depending on what PC (Windows or Mac) you are using)

Each abstract should be formatted as follows:

Follow format of a sample abstract. Here is an example of a good and a average abstract. You will be asked to upload the abstract in this format as a word file (*.doc or *.docx only please) for publication, but you will also be required to upload the abstract alone and up to date contact details for the abstract review committee to contact you.

  • Title
    No longer than 20 words, written in sentence case (i.e. with a single capital at the beginning of the title) bolded with a font size of 20
    Following examples would be useful:
    • There is rain in the forecast this week in New York City
    • The film will premiere on the last weekend of November
    • The effects of global warming push European leaders to find alternatives to fossil fuels
  • Author/s
    Author names should be added using a bold, size 12 font. Author/s name/names should be presented using Vancouver referencing style, for example:
    • Single author: Smith AB
    • Multiple authors: Smith AB, Jones CD, McDonald EF.
      In the conference program, authors will be listed according to the order entered in this online abstract submission and the presenting author’s name will be underlined.
  • Affiliation(s)
    Include the full name of your institution, city and country. Regular font size 12
  • Corresponding author's valid email address
  • Ethics reference number
    This must be included
  • Body of abstract
    To be written as a series of paragraphs, with each subheading starting on a new line. Please note all abstracts must be a maximum 250 word limit (including subheadings, for example Introduction, Materials & Methods, Results and Conclusions). Authors must use Calibri (body) or Times New Roman font 12pt with line spacing of 1.5. The abstract title must appear in bold with a font size of 20.
    All headings must appear on a separate line and be included and addressed:
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Conclusion/s

Authors might find this article very useful to formulate their work. Do note you might require access to view the article via your institutional library. Here are some guidleines for those who thrive on details.

When you find out the format of presentation of your work (oral or poster) use Vancouver referencing style, to present your work.

Note: ANZACA reserves the right to return to author the abstracts that do not conform to the submission guidelines.

If your abstract belongs to category 3 (Innovation in anatomy education research) read the following guidelines

Abstract requirements and structure

The abstract should be formulated as single body without the traditional subheading (Introduction, Material and methods, Results and Conclusions) for a scientific abstract.

Please follow general and body of abstract guidelines for your educational abstract. Since education abstracts are written differently please follow the following tips:

  1. Use precise, clear, descriptive language, and write from an objective rather than evaluative point of view. Write concisely, but in complete sentences. Use plain language, do not use jargon
  2. Do not include subheadings, bullets, lists and header/footer in the abstract
  3. Abstract titles should be short (20 words), but descriptive
  4. Informative titles, indicating key points are encouraged
  5. Abbreviations should not be used in the title
  6. Acronyms should be written in full the first time, mentioned in the text, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses
  7. The abstract should be formulated as single body without the traditional subheading (Introduction, Material and methods, Resutls and Conclusions) for a scientific abstract.

When you find out the format of presentation of your work (oral or poster) use APA 7th referencing style, to present your work.

Note: ANZACA reserves the right to return to author the abstracts that do not conform to the submission guidelines.

Examples of education abstracts can be found here.

Abstract deadlines

Abstract submission deadline was 31st October 2022.

Strictly only those abstracts submitted by the deadline will be considered.

This year we have designed a rubric to assess all submitted abstract. This rubric will provide more clarity around scoring and objective assessment of all submissions. It is important that you look at the rubric before submitting to increase your chances of winning an award.

  • After the submission and editing deadline, all abstracts considered complete will be forwarded to review. It is therefore imperative that you review the rubric before submission
  • Submissions with an Incomplete status after the submission and editing deadline may not be considered for presentation
  • Submitted abstracts are peer-reviewed by a panel of graders. Abstract grading is blinded and selections for presentation are based solely on merit.

Notification regarding acceptance or rejection of abstracts will be sent via email to the corresponding author by the chair of the review committee. It is important that you provide ANZACA with a valid email address that you check regularly.

Poster presentation format

  • Posters must be mounted before 10.30 am on 7th of December and removed by 5.00 pm 9th of December.
  • Posters will be on display using poster boards during the conference.
  • Velcro mounts or pins will be provided for attaching your posters to the boards.
  • The poster boards can accommodate a total of four posters, two on each side. Posters MUST BE printed in portrait with a maximum width 84 cm x maximum height 110 cm.
  • Do note that if your poster is larger than the recommended size it will not fit on the poster board and may affect its aesthetic appeal.
  • You will be allocated up to 2 minutes to deliver an oral presentation during the poster viewing sessions at the morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea
  • Your allocated time will be published in the final program.

You can use any software to design your poster. An example to design it in Microsoft PowerPoint is found here.

Traditional poster format

The names of all author(s) and institution(s) must be displayed below the title.

Posters need to address the following subheadings:

Here is some information to assist with design of your poster.

Poster Template

Creating a better research poster

Software

  • PowerPoint (personal fav!)
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Microsoft Publisher

Other

  • Professional designers deem more than 950 words of text is too much for a poster
  • Do not use large blocks of text
  • Poster should be visually appealing
  • Posters should rely on images (photos, drawings, graphs), although do not insert too many images without a clear linked explanation

Fonts

  • Tahoma
  • Arial
  • Comic sans

Font size

  • Title: 85 - 210 point
  • Author names: 56 point
  • Headings: 36 point
  • Paragraphs: 24 point
  • Captions: 18 point
  • NOTE: The poster should easily be read from at least 1.2 to 1.8 metres away

Colours

Avoid using contrasting colours that are opposite on the colour wheel (i.e. orange and purple or green and red) because these combinations contrast too much and are difficult to read (Note: some people might have daltonism).

The following examples are colour tones that provide adequate visual contrast to enhance readability:

Colour palette

Spacing and Images

Use a minimum of 2cm margins around the edge of the poster and ensure that there is at least 5 cm space between columns.

There are tons of websites (e.g., Tufts) and YouTube videos which you can use to create a research poster. As long as your poster conforms to ANZACA guidelines it is fine, so be creative!

Feedback

ANZACA is committed to improving outcomes for its delegates especially emerging anatomists and educators. We take our review processes seriously and aim to assist developing writing and presenting skills.

Reviewer's feedback and what to do

There are generally two types of outcomes for submitted abstracts:

  1. Acceptance with no changes or very minor revisions
  2. Revise and resubmit - this is very common, and is still a positive response, but you have a bit of work ahead of you

If your work gets the first outcome, then that's fantastic. However, it's possible that you'll receive an invitation to revise. Both of these outcomes offer you a valuable learning experience

Revise and resubmit

If you're asked to revise and resubmit, your next task is to systematically work through the reviewers' comments. Keep in mind that some comments will be:

  • helpful and will improve your article
  • more issues of personal style
  • confusing (e.g. poorly explained)
  • showing that the reviewer didn't understand or misread your work, and
  • contradicting each other.

So what do you do about it?

  • Read the comments a few times, so you understand what you're dealing with
  • Give yourself some distance if you are annoyed (experiencing a range of feelings: embarrassment, disappointment, etc. is very normal regardless of your level of experience)
  • Go back and read them again in a more constructive frame of mind
  • Decide which of the previous categories the comments fall into- because that will affect what you do next.