Submit an Abstract

Within all our programs the “LEARNING ACTIVITIES” are designed to fulfill the educational needs of all healthcare professionals concerned and eligible for accreditation by the corresponding authorities:

• LIVE LEARNING activity - lectures taking place on-site in front of a LIVE audience.
• ONLINE LEARNING activity - lectures broadcasted on our e-learning platform for an ONLINE audience.

This is why we constantly insist on complete independence between instructional (or scientific) courses and the industry sponsors of our conferences. Thus abstract submission must respond to the following criteria:

• Abstracts can only be submitted electronically through our website and will be reviewed by the Scientific Board.
• Abstracts must be written in English and presentations will be in English.
• Abstracts will be reproduced as submitted by the author. Content may be rejected if it does not feature actual data or is poorly drafted.
• The submitting author must ensure that his/her biostatement is filled in.
• Only previously unpublished abstracts will be considered for presentation, that is to say not published elsewhere nor submitted for presentation at another national meeting within the 6 previous or 6 following months.
• By submitting an abstract, the author agrees to fully disclose any conflict of interest. Failure to disclose commercial support may lead to a rejection of the submitted abstract.

1/ Abstract(s) may be submitted under one of the following formats: oral presentation or e-poster. See details below:

Oral presentation:

• An oral presentation received for submission will be included within the dedicated sessions of the conference held either within:
  • A session within a conference room.
  • An "open stage" session. Your presentation is held within the exhibition area and the recording is at your disposal for personal use following the congress.
  • A "web" session. Your presentation is filmed in a closed studio space with no physical audience aimed for e-learning purposes on AOP Academy.
• Requirement(s):
  • 6 to 15 minutes duration, depending on the session. The exact duration will be visible on your speaker account once your abstract has been accepted.
  • PPT or keynote slide presentation which may include video(s).

E-poster

• Electronic version of a traditional poster board, presenting scientific information via pictures, graphs and tables with an attractive visual layout.
• Requirement(s):
  • The e-posters are accessible on interactive touch screens with an active display area of H1018.1mm x W572.7mm
  • The e-poster size is 1920 x 1080 pixels (vertical format)
  • E-posters must be submitted in one page PDF format only of no more than 20MB.A template is available for you to preview before submitting your e-poster.
  • Videos, animations and music cannot be embedded within the e-poster
  • References must be included within the e-poster
  • Product and/or industry logos are not permitted on the e-poster
  • The disclosure slide will automatically be shown before the e-poster presentation. If disclosure of commercial support is not included, the e-poster will not be accepted



2/ Abstract(s) that is selected as either an oral presentation or a poster may fall under the following types:

Free communication

• The main author should be a physician.
• Both the lecture title and the abstract must remain strictly unbiased and cannot contain any product/device/company name nor any brand name(s).
• Please use generic terms or pharmacopeia names and describe the technical characteristics of the product/device only.
• Should you require to make a comparative study, brands can be stated only if they are stated in comparison with other brand names.
• Studies must be from a scientific and technical perspective, not a marketing one. The display of industry logos is forbidden.



Industry lecture (sponsored such as symposia…)

• This presentation is placed in a session identified as sponsored. Thus the content is under the complete responsibility of the sponsoring company.
• Authors must fully declare the Conflict of Interest Disclosure.



R&D

• The main author should be a physician and/or an engineer.
• Lectures must deal with an innovation. The product/device must still be in development research phase and not yet commercialized.



New Tech

• The abstract content has to deal with an innovative product or device commercialized on the market for less than 18 months.
• The new tech lectures are placed in a dedicated “new tech” session which fall under an educational grant support. Thus the content, although controlled by the Scientific Committee, is under the responsibility of the granting company.

Lab

• The main author should be a lab instructor.
• The abstract introduces the technique to be used during the training of practitioners.
• The lecture must remain strictly unbiased and cannot contain any product/device/company name nor any brand name(s). Exception is made if several products/devices/companies/brands are mentioned in a comparative context.

We constantly insist on complete independence between instructional (or scientific) courses and the industry sponsors of its congresses. Scientific lectures are presumed to be based on objective interpretations of evidence and unbiased interpretations of facts with a fair representation of all specialities concerned in the field of ophthalmology. The integrity of our conference requires disclosure of the possibilities of potentially distorting influences.The audience may then judge and, if necessary, make allowance for the impact of the bias on the information being reported. Consequently, all faculty members must openly disclose any COI that can influence the content of their presentation.

1. What is a conflict of interest? (COI)

A situation in which a person (or spouse or partner) who is lecturing at our congresses has a sufficient personal and/or financial relationship with a commercial or non-commercial entity that may thus bias the content of his/her presentation. The appropriate and most open course of action is to disclose activities and relationships that, if known to others, might be viewed as a conflict of interest, even if speakers do not believe that any conflict or bias exists.

What is a bias?
Bias is a term used to describe a tendency or preference towards a particular perspective, ideology or result, especially when the tendency interferes with the ability to be impartial, unprejudiced or objective. Bias may be scientific, political, religious, gender-related, ethnic, racial, cultural or geographical. Bias may occur in relation to a particular industry or commercial product such as a mechanical device or pharmaceutical agent, or in relation to a particular intellectual, political or other view, in situations where a range of products or views may be equally useful or valid.

What about the level of "significance" in terms of interest?
Whether an interest is “significant” will depend on individual circumstances and cannot be defined by a dollar amount. Participation on a board of directors or any other relationship with a product, device or company should be carefully considered for possible disclosure. In addition speakers should also carefully consider disclosure where circumstances could suggest bias against or towards a product, device or company.

How about speaker(s) declaring a "no Conflict of Interest"?
Neither the speaker nor any member of his/her immediate family has a significant financial arrangement or affiliation with the product, device or company involved in the congress nor any potential bias against or towards another product, device or company.

2. How to submit your COI?

If you are a Scientific Board member:
- Fill in the Scientific Board COI disclosure available through your speaker account dashboard
- Fill in the standardized COI for each one of your lecture(s) asked for upon submission of each abstract - whatever the type: oral or e-poster

If you are a Faculty Member
- Fill in the standardized COI for each one of your lecture(s) asked for upon submission of each abstract - whatever the type: oral or e-poster