Abstract submission closed on 11 November 2020. 

 

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

Abstracts can now be submitted online via the ESTRO website at www.estro.org.

Abstracts accepted for WCB 2020 can be re-submitted for presentation during WCB 2021. Should you submit such an abstract, during the submission process, please select the presentation preference reflecting that it is a resubmission from WCB 2020.

We highly recommend completing your submission early, otherwise authors may experience technical delays due to server overload.

For questions regarding the online submission process, please e-mail abstracts@estro.org.

REGULATIONS

With the submission of an abstract for World Congress Brachytherapy (WCB) 2021, the submitting (presenting) author:

• Accepts responsibility for the accuracy of the abstract and confirms that all authors are aware of the content before submission

• Accepts to be the contact person for all correspondence related to the abstract and to inform the co-authors about its status

• Accepts to declare any financial interest in products or processes described in the abstract. This includes stock ownership, membership on any advisory boards, commercially-sponsored research or any other substantial relationships

• Certifies that the information reported is for exclusive presentation in the session to which the abstract will be assigned if accepted, and that the information will not be presented as such at any commercially-sponsored satellite symposia during the conference.

Further notes:

• Please log in to the abstract submission site with the presenting author login details.

• Abstracts must be submitted and presented at the conference in English. The Scientific Programme Committee reserves the right to reject an abstract written in poor English.

• Abstracts will be anonymised before review to ensure fairness and eliminate possible bias. It is therefore strictly forbidden to include the authors’ names or institutions in the body of the abstracts.

ABSTRACT FORMAT

Advice for submitters:

• Clinical outcome: If there is no clinical outcome (at least toxicity reporting) the abstract should be submitted under the physics topics (or brachytherapy topics).

• Topic category: choose the topic category that refers to the main subject of the abstract. The Scientific Programme Committee reserves the right to re-categorise the abstract.

• Keywords: authors are required to select a keyword from a pre-defined menu. The list of keywords corresponding to each topic category indicated here can be a useful guide to determine the most appropriate topic category under which to submit the abstract. When submitting your abstract only one keyword can be selected from the pre-defined list.

• Presentation preference: authors should indicate the presentation preference (oral or poster) Please note that the final decision on the presentation format rests with the Scientific Programme Committee.

• Title: abstract titles should be brief and reflect the content of the abstract. The title (maximum 100 characters) is important since it focuses attention (it is the “showcase” for the presentation). Do not use capital letters in the title except for words that are always capitalised and do not use non-standard abbreviations.

• Body of the abstract: abstracts should be structured in such a way as to include (1) Purpose/Objective; (2) Material/Methods; (3) Results; (4) Conclusion.

• The online abstract submission procedure: the online abstract submission system will not accept abstracts that exceed 3,000 characters (body of the abstract, including spaces).

• The use of standard abbreviations is desirable. A special or unusual abbreviation must be placed (in round brackets) after the first appearance of the word for which it stands.

• Table and image: with their submission, authors may include maximum 2 uploads (tables or images) in JPG or PNG formats. These uploads are not included in the number of allotted characters. The maximum pixel size of an image is 600 (w) x 800 (h).

• Data table: authors may include one data table using the insert table icon (we advise not to copy-paste a table into the body of the abstract). The characters in a data table are included in the overall number of characters allowed.

• Equations: can be inserted in the text as images.

ABSTRACT SELECTION PROCESS

Abstracts submitted for presentation will be reviewed by an international panel of experts in the field of the subject.

Abstract review criteria are based on clarity, supporting data, scientific rigour, potential significance, interest in the topic chosen and innovation or usefulness.

Work in progress: abstracts on research obviously not yet performed and results not yet obtained are be prohibited.

Encore abstracts: papers already presented in another meeting will not be considered, unless the previous audience is distinct from the WCB 2021 congress audience (e.g. national meetings).

Papers already accepted for publication will not be considered.

Similar abstracts: if very similar abstracts are submitted by the same authors, the Scientific Programme Committee reserves the right to select only one of the abstracts and reject any others.

Abstracts will be selected for one of the following presentation formats:

• Oral presentation: abstracts selected for oral presentation are presented at one of the proffered paper sessions scheduled within the programme.

• Poster: abstracts selected as posters will be presented in one of the following 3 presentation formats:

• Poster Presentation: A 5-minute poster presentation is recorded and uploaded to the virtual Poster Hall available in the online congress platform.

Authors of the abstracts selected for a Poster Presentation must upload an electronic version of their poster via the ESTRO subsidised poster platform. More information will be provided in due course.

• Poster: Poster (in electronic version only) will be available for viewing in the virtual Poster Hall available in the online congress platform. These posters in electronic format do not have a recorded presentation but delegates can contact the author via the platform to ask questions.

Authors of the abstracts selected as Poster must upload an electronic version of their poster via the ESTRO subsidised poster platform. More information will be provided in due course.

Withdrawal of an abstract: abstracts submitted for WCB 2021 can be withdrawn until 6 December 2020 (to withdraw your abstract you should send an email to abstracts@estro.org). After this date, withdrawal of abstracts is no longer possible. Abstracts selected for oral/poster presentation should be presented at the meeting. In case the first (presenting) author cannot attend the conference, they should assign a replacement and inform the ESTRO office of the replacement as soon as possible.

Notification of abstract selection was sent on 17 December 2020 to the author whose credentials were used to submit the abstract.