Annual Meeting

Welcome to the STS 2006 Online Abstract and Video Submission

Adhere to Submission Deadlines and Rules

Abstracts for Oral Presentations and Scientific Posters to be presented at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons 42nd Annual Meeting are now being accepted. The deadline for submission is August 8, 2005; 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time. New this year, surgical videos (with abstracts) must be submitted online. No abstracts received after this date will be accepted for inclusion in the program. Abstracts must summarize an original contribution not presented or accepted for presentation elsewhere. Each Oral Presentation or Scientific Poster presented before the Society must be submitted to The Annals of Thoracic Surgery before February 1, 2006. All Oral Presentations and Scientific Posters shall become the property of the Society. Publication in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery is not assured. If manuscripts are not submitted to The Annals by February 1, 2006, a two-year period of ineligibility for participation in the Annual Meeting will be imposed upon all authors of the paper. The same two-year sanction applies to returned manuscripts for author revisions that are not resubmitted within one calendar year.

Please Follow Instructions

Be sure to write down your login and password for future use. You will need your login and password when notifications are e-mailed in late September. Instruction reminders are included throughout the submission system. Disclosure (financial and regulatory) information is required for each author on each submission. If the submitter fails to enter an author’s disclosure, OASIS will not allow the submission until every field has been completed.

Acceptance/Rejection Notification

The scientific program will include Scientific Poster, Surgical Video and Oral Presentations. STS members have been selected by the Workforce on Annual Meeting Program Task Force to serve as abstract reviewers for the 42nd Annual Meeting. Acceptance and rejection notifications will be e-mailed to the presenting author no later than Monday, September 26, 2005.

Remember to Submit Your Abstract

Once you begin entering an abstract, you have until August 8, 2005 at 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time to submit your abstract for review. Prior to submission, your abstract will be marked as "undefined". All "undefined" submissions are not submitted for review. When submitting an abstract for review, make sure you click the Submit button one time only. Please do not enter duplicate submissions if you have forgotten your login and password. STS staff can help you obtain your password and login information.

Save the Confirmation Page

When you complete the submission process, and submit your abstract for review, you will receive an email confirmation that includes the abstract title, identification number, and link to your submission. Please save this confirmation information for reference and use the abstract identification number in any correspondence you have with STS regarding your abstract. The submitting author can also send this confirmation email to any author identified on the Review Your Work page. If you do not receive a confirmation, please contact the STS or email tech support at support@abstractsonline.com.

Thoracic Surgery Directors Association Award

If the author wishes to submit the abstract for consideration for the Thoracic Surgery Directors Association Award, you must select the checkbox on the Awards page. The name of the Program Director must appear on a TSDA Resident Award abstract. Only Oral Presentations can be considered for the TSDA Award.

Geriatric Patient Care Award

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons' Workforce on Aging has established an award for the best abstract related to cardiothoracic care of the geriatric patient. If you would like your abstract to be considered for this award (recipient receives $1,500), you must select the Geriatric Patient Care Category and select this award on the Awards page. Only Oral Presentations can be considered for the Geriatric Patient Care Award.

Abstract Submission Guidelines

Make sure your abstract conforms to these guidelines:

• Title case: Capitalize first letter of each word in title
• Title length: No limit
• Structured abstract: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions
• Abstract text length: Maximum 250 words
• Spacing: Single space only. No double spacing permitted. No hard returns.
• Tables: Up to 1 table allowed
• Graphics: Up to 1 graphic allowed. Must print out clearly in black and white.
• Other:
  • No reference to the institutions involved in the study in the body of the text
  • Full names of authors and disclosure must be provided as requested.
  • Institution, address, telephone number, and email address of submitting author is to be given, but omit titles and appointments.
  • When percentages are used, the absolute numbers of derivation must be stated.
  • All abstracts must be structured using the following section headings or they will not be accepted:

Background - A brief statement on the purpose of the study and the current state of research in the field.

Methods - The methods of study or experimental approach must be defined briefly.

Results - A summary of the study results, including sufficient details to support those conclusions. These may be presented in a brief table (no more than 5 columns of data).

Conclusions - A statement concerning the significance of the work and its implications for further research.

Disclosure Guidelines

All authors are required by The Society, in accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and FDA regulations, to disclose any financial (valued in any dollar amount) or nonremunerative interest or payment received within a current 12-month period, as described in the STS Disclosure Policy (see Disclosure page).

Full disclosure for each author must be completed before submitting the abstract. The OASIS Submission site will not allow an abstract to be submitted without full disclosure from each author.

Only Unpublished/Unpresented Work Allowed

The presenting author will attest that the material will not be presented elsewhere if accepted for the scientific program nor published elsewhere if accepted for publication in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. If there is any conceivable question regarding similarity to earlier work or possible duplication or redundancy, it is the responsibility of the presenting author of the paper to consult directly with the Chairman of the Workforce on Annual Meeting, John V. Conte, MD. If there is a potential conflict with an abstract already presented or published, please notify us by email (mheim@sts.org) of the conflict at the time of submission. Failure to comply will result in the paper being rejected. Include the abstract title and ID number in any correspondence regarding an abstract.

Abstracts not in compliance with these instructions will not be reviewed.

In discussion of papers, the Society encourages a healthy spirit of constructive critical review and rebuttal by comments pertinent to the content of the paper being presented. Presentation of discussion in the form of "secondary papers" will not be welcomed.