RCPCH Conference 2024 - Abstract submission guidelines

You can also see our page on abstract FAQs, including presentation opportunities.

How will my abstract be reviewed?

All abstracts will be reviewed ‘blind’. No identifying features such as names of authors, names of hospitals, medical schools, clinics or cities should be listed in the title or text of the abstract. The names of the authors and their affiliations (institutions) will be requested separately when you submit the abstract online.

Reviewers are asked to mark the abstracts on the basis of the judging criteria listed below. It is the responsibility of the person submitting the abstract to ensure that the abstract addresses the following criteria.

1. Importance: Is this problem/topic important to nearly all of the specialty group? Is the problem/topic clearly described/defined? Does this abstract introduce a new concept?
2. Method: Are the study design and sampling procedures both clear and well described? Are the measures reliable and valid?  Are the possible confounders fully discussed? Are the statistical analyses the best that could have been used? 
3. Conclusions: What are the implications of this study? Are the conclusions clearly stated and supported? Do these matter? Are they important? What does this all mean? Are the implications fully appropriate? Will these results influence or impact on clinical practice/education/policy/methodology?
4. Writing: Was this a well-written abstract? Was it well organised? 

Amending or withdrawing a submission

The deadline to amend your submission was Monday 30 October 2023, 23.59 (GMT). 

If you wish to withdraw an abstract, you will need to contact our delivery partners Wonderly, part of the Haymarket Media Group, at rcpch.submissions@haymarket.com. Please quote your full abstract title and abstract ID number in any communications, as this will help locate your submission.

What to consider before you submit an abstract

• We cannot consider abstracts that have previously been published in a journal.
• We are happy to consider abstracts that have been presented at local and regional paediatric meetings. However, we will not be able to accept work which has previously been presented at an RCPCH event, a national or an international conference.
• Case reports/case studies/case series are not permitted. All abstracts must follow the following structure: objectives, methods, results and conclusions 
• You do not need to be a member of the RCPCH to submit an abstract.
• You do not need to be a paediatrician to submit an abstract. We encourage relevant submissions across all disciplines - from nursing to medical students.

Using the abstract submission system

Abstract submission is being managed by our delivery partners Wonderly, part of the Haymarket Media Group, on a submission system called Eventsforce. Submitting an abstract is a multi-step process. Some questions are marked “required” and you will not be able to complete your submission until these questions have been answered. You will save your work as you proceed through the pages, however if you have to stop part way through the process your submission will not be saved or submitted and you will need to start the submission process again. After you have completed submission, you can continue to amend your work until the submission deadline.

Submitter contact details 

Please enter the contact details of the person submitting the abstract. Please note that all correspondence will be with the submitter of the abstract. This cannot be changed at a later date so please do ensure that the person submitting is able to remain as the main contact throughout the submission and acceptance process. Please note that the person submitting the abstract is the only one who can view and amend the abstract in the submission system.

Topic

Please select the most appropriate speciality category for your abstract. If you do not think your abstract is relevant to any of our specialty categories, we will unfortunately not be able to accept your submission.
The categories available correlate with the specific sessions which will take place throughout the Conference; therefore if your abstract is not relevant to any, we would not be able to offer an appropriate review and allocation process.

Abstract Title

Your suggested title should be succinct yet clearly indicate the nature of the study. Use sentence case (i.e. the first letter of the sentence is capitalised, with the rest being lowercase except for proper nouns and acronyms and any words are an abbreviation (eg, RCPCH, NHS or PICU). The titles of accepted abstracts will be published in the final conference programme and on the conference app. 

Maximum 160 characters (including spaces).

Additional information 

Conflict of Interest and Ethical Approval

If any data presented in your abstract has resulted from a study that was either funded (in whole or part) or sponsored by a profit making organisation you will be required to provide the name of the company or organisation that provided this.

Please indicate if your study has ethical approval.

Submission Declaration

You will be required to confirm your agreement to the following statement, in order for your abstract to be considered for presentation:

"I have read and agree to follow the relevant abstract submission guidelines and be responsible for the organisation of my submission, including acknowledgement of the review outcome, registration of the presenting author(s)and the submission/preparation of the presentation or poster. I understand that if my abstract is accepted the presenting author must register and pay the appropriate ticket category to attend on the day that their presentation/poster display has been allocated to.”

Publication Declaration

Accepted abstracts will be published in the online supplement of the Archives of Disease in Childhood (ADC) journal. In line with the RCPCH’s agreement with the British Medical Journal (BMJ), it is our obligation to make you aware that by submitting your abstract for presentation and publication you are agreeing to the terms of the BMJ conference abstract licence agreement. We recommend that you review this licence prior to submitting your abstract. You will be asked to provide consent for this at the time of submission.

Dr Michael Blacow Memorial Prize

Dr Michael Blacow Memorial Prize is awarded annually for the best paper presented in plenary session at the Annual Conference by a paediatrician below consultant status. See more information about the prize here.

You will be required to confirm if you are eligible for the prize at the time of submission.

Preferred Presentation Type

At the time of submission, you will be asked to select your presentation preference. The options are ePoster, physical poster, both physical and ePoster or oral presentation. There is also the option to select 'Any'.

If your abstract is accepted, the organisers from your chosen specialty category will decide which format it will take and will cater to your preference where appropriate and possible.

ePoster presentation 

Delegates will be able to send you questions about your poster through the virtual platform and app. ePoster presenters will have the option to chat with delegates via messaging, discussion boards and even through video calls. ePosters will be accessible for two months after the Conference, maximising the amount of time delegates have to engage with your work. Full details and poster templates will be sent following acceptance.

ePoster presenters have the option to attend either in person or to select the virtual attendance option. 

Physical poster presentation

You will be able to present your work, meet fellow poster presenters and delegates and answer their questions in person. Full details and a poster template will be sent following acceptance. Physical posters will be displayed in the Exhibition Hall in designated zones.

You will be responsible for:

• producing your poster (A0)
• sourcing a supplier to print your poster
• bringing the poster with you to the venue
• putting your poster up to be displayed in the designated zone

Physical poster presenters will be required to attend the Conference in person on the day the poster has been allocated to. 

Both ePoster and Physical poster presentation

You will have the option to present your ePoster through the virtual platform and app but also a physical poster in person in Birmingham.

The presenter will be required to attend the Conference in person on the day the poster has been allocated to. The presenter is not required to book on separately for virtual attendance as they will already have access to the conference app.

Oral presentation

If selected for oral presentation, you will present your abstract at the speciality group session which it has been submitted to. The time and date of your presentation will be included in your notification email in late January. 

Oral presenters will be required to attend the Conference in person and there is no option for presenters to dial in so the 'presenting' author must be able to attend in person on the allocated day. 

Plenary presentation

You do not have the option select 'plenary presentation' as a preferred option as these are selected by the Conference Organsing Committee. The top scoring abstract from each group will be reviewed by the Committee who will then select nine for the coveted plenary presentation slots. This is an exciting opportunity for authors to present their work to the main auditorium during the plenary sessions. Those selected for plenary presentation will be required to attend in person.

Authorship

Please enter the main author and any co-authors associated with this abstract. Co-authors are not mandatory, but please ensure you add all authors at the time of submission as it will not be possible to add authors at a later stage.

You will be required to enter the co-author’s details, so ensure you have these details ready: their title, first name, last name, organisation, job title, email address.
You must ensure that you have gained the full consent of any co-authors and have made them aware prior to adding their details to the submission. 

Abstract content, structure and word count

Your abstract should not exceed 400 words. There is an additional 100-word allowance for references (500 total).  

When submitting your abstract, it should be divided into four sections and presented under the following headings:  

1. Objectives: Clearly state the purpose of the abstract
2. Methods: Describe your selection of observations or experimental subjects clearly
3. Results: Present your results in a logical sequence in text and simple tables - if results are not included, your abstract will not be considered
4. Conclusion: Clearly state the conclusion of your study

General style guidelines:

• Use standard abbreviations only and place any unusual abbreviation in parentheses after the full word the first time it appears.
• Use generic names of drugs.
• If reference is made to proprietary products or equipment, the manufacturer's name and location should be included in parentheses.
• Please check your abstract carefully as it will not be edited.
• Graphs, tables and images can be inserted. All images, symbols, tables, graphs and lines should be clear and distinct. Maximum file size 10MB.
• A “blind” selection process will be used when abstracts are being reviewed. Therefore, do not include any author names or any other clear identifying information in the title or text of the abstract itself. You will be asked to submit the names of authors and their affiliations separately during the submission process.

References 

There is an additional 100-word allowance for references. You can use the format below to list references:

[1] Name of Source, Name of author, date
[2] Name of Source, Name of author, date

When quoting your references please use either square [1] or curved brackets (2). For example:
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a very common cardiac lesion that we come across in preterm babies especially less than 28 weeks [1].

Consent

Provided that the abstract doesn't contain patient identifiable information, we do not need to see a patient/parent consent form. It is important, however, to bear in mind that identifiable does not just refer to a patient’s name but could also be related to a specific condition, region or hospital. So please do be aware of this when submitting your abstract.

Submission agreement

• Please do not submit multiple copies of the same abstract.
• If your submission is accepted, the presenting author will be required to attend the conference and pay the registration fee that applies to them.
• Registration, travel and accommodation charges are the responsibility of the presenter.
• All correspondence will be sent to the submitting author. It is the responsibility of this person to pass on any relevant information regarding the submitted abstract and the conference to the presenting and co-authors.

Other information

You will receive an email confirmation that your submission has been received, indicating the abstract submission ID which it has been allocated. Please refer to this abstract number in all correspondence regarding the submission. Please note the email address that you supply in the Submitter Details page will be the email address used to correspond the results of your submission. If you change email addresses during this time, please let us know so we can update the system.

Please check your junk / spam folders and contact rcpch.submissions@haymarket.com if you submit an abstract and do not receive confirmation that it has been received.