Abstract Submission Guidelines and Instructions
Abstract Submission Is Now Closed.

Instructions for Poster Presentations

Abstracts are welcome from scientists and students in all sectors, including academia, industry, government and education.

Abstracts are welcome from ASCB members and nonmembers; however, you WILL need a login and password to access the submission site. Unless you have submitted an abstract to the ASCB in previous years via the OASIS submission system, you will be asked to create a new login and password before beginning your submission. If you've lost or forgotten your login or password from previous years, you can retrieve it by entering the email address used when the account was created. SPECIAL NOTE TO ASCB MEMBERS: Your ASCB member ID and password will NOT be recognized by the abstract submission system.

Please note: All abstracts submitted for the 2007 ASCB-ECF Summer Meeting are screened by the meeting organizers to ensure that they meet the minimum submission standards outlined in these guidelines; they are not peer-reviewed.

General Guidelines

• All abstracts MUST be submitted electronically.
• The submission fee is $25 (U.S.) per abstract.
• All material MUST be the work of authors listed and appropriately referenced.

Preparing Your Abstract (Content and Formatting)

• Include in your abstract a sentence stating the study's objective (unless given in the title); a brief statement of methods, if pertinent; a summary of the results obtained; and a statement of conclusions. (It is not acceptable to state, "the results will be discussed.")
• Use a short, specific title.
• Capitalize initial letters of trade names.
• Use standard abbreviations for units of measure; other abbreviations should be spelled out in full at first mention, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses (Exceptions: RNA, DNA, etc.).
• The abstract text (not including the title and author information) must not exceed 300 words.
• If you are writing your abstract in a word processing application for the purpose of uploading (which is recommended), supported formats are Microsoft Word and Corel Word Perfect.
• Use the symbol font for Greek letters and/or special characters. Do NOT use a third-party symbol font like Adobe Type Manager—this could result in conversion errors.
• Do NOT include the title, authors, or affiliations in the abstract text box or uploaded text file; this information must be submitted separately where indicated.
• Set all text as flush left and unjustified; do not indent paragraphs; do not skip lines between paragraphs; do not place hard returns at the end of each line.
• Do NOT include tables, charts, or other figures.
• Be sure to proofread your work carefully before submitting.

Accessing the Submission Site

• To access the abstract submission site, click on the "Submit an Abstract" link above.
• If you are a first time user (you have never submitted an abstract using the OASIS system), you will need to create a login account. You can create your login name and password by clicking on the link, "Click here to create a new user account."  Enter your contact information, password, and a hint question and answer in case you forget your password. Click on the "Continue" button to save your work and enter the submission system. Select “New Submission” to begin the abstract submission process.
• If you have used the OASIS online abstract submission system before (for ASCB Annual or Summer Meeting abstracts), then you are a “Returning User.”  Simply enter your login and password. If you do not know your password, you can either answer the hint question you used during your account set-up, or have it emailed to the address you used when you originally created your account. Remember, always use the same login and password each time you use the system to avoid future confusion.
• Once logged into the system, please click the "Profile" icon at the top of the screen, then review, and update your contact information.

Online Submission Steps

Affirmation Statements

• You must check each required affirmation statement to confirm that you understand and agree to any requirements set forth to have your abstract considered for presentation.
• The affirmation statements are:
  1. I affirm that all material is the work of the authors listed and is appropriately referenced.
  2. I affirm that all authors listed are aware that their names will appear on this abstract.
  3. I have read and agree to the ASCB Use of Name Policy.

Abstract Title

• Capitalize only the first letter of each word, except prepositions, articles, and species names.
• Do not Bold the title or use all UPPERCASE characters in the title.
• Italicize scientific names of organisms.
• Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater users: A tool bar will be available to format your title (e.g., italics, sub/superscript, etc.). If you need to add special characters (e.g., Greek letters), cut and paste from your word processor directly into the title box.
• If you are NOT using Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater, click here for formatting and special character codes.

Presentation Preference

• Select either "Poster Only" (abstract will only be considered for a poster presentation), or "Talk or Poster" (abstract will be considered for a talk—if not selected, it will be programmed as a poster, if accepted).

Author Block

• The ASCB will communicate via email with the corresponding author only.  It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to contact all co-authors regarding the disposition and scheduling of the abstract.
• The person submitting the abstract will be the presenting author in the system by default (this can be changed once all the authors' names have been entered).
• The order that the authors are listed may also be changed once all names have been entered.
• The presenting author information will be highlighted in green.
• List the complete name including a full first name, initials, and a last name.  Multiple word first names should be placed in the "First Name" field.
• Be sure that you give a current email address for the corresponding author. All abstract-related correspondence is sent via email, so an incorrect email address could cause a delay in the receipt of important information.
• Enter required information for each co-author: name, affiliation, city, state, and country. To help expedite data entry, the default address for each co-author will be the presenting author’s address. The co-author address may be edited.
• Always type common affiliations in exactly the same way each time. Even a slight variation will cause the institution to be listed more than once in the author block.

Conflicts of Interest Disclosure

• The ASCB requires that audiences be informed of presenters' (speakers, authors, and contributors) academic and professional affiliations, and disclosures of the existence of any significant financial interest or other relationship presenters have with the manufacturer(s) of any commercial product(s) discussed in a presentation. This policy allows the listener/attendee to be fully informed when evaluating the information being presented.
• Disclosure should include any relationship that may bias one's presentation or which, if known, could give the perception of bias. These situations may include, but are not limited to:
1. Stock options or bond holdings in a for-profit corporation or self-directed pension plan
2. Research grant
3. Employment (full- or part-time)
4. Ownership or partnership
5. Consulting fees or other remuneration
6. Non-remunerative positions of influence such as officer, board member, trustee or public spokesperson
7. Receipt of royalties
8. Speakers bureau
• To add a disclosure, click "Add Institution/Company" next to the appropriate item, fill in the field with the institution/company, and click the "Save and Continue" button. If there is nothing to disclose, check the "There are no relationships to disclose" box.

Abstract Body

• The body of an abstract (not including the title and author information) is limited to 300 words. If your abstract exceeds this limit, a message will appear indicating you have gone over the maximum word limit. You will have the option to correct your abstract prior to the submission deadline. If your abstract is not corrected prior to the submission deadline, the abstract will be recognized by the submission site as incomplete and not forwarded for review.
• Do NOT include the title and author block in the abstract text box. They must be entered separately in the title and author sections.
• Uploading a word processing document is strongly recommended. All formatting will be retained and codes will not need to be entered. You will still be able to edit the resulting text to ensure your abstract is submitted correctly.
• If cutting and pasting text from your word processor, Greek letters and other special characters will be retained (although you are encouraged to upload your file).
• You may also type the content into the abstract text box. We do not recommend this method, as you will need to add special codes for formatting and special characters. The instructions for the codes are found on the submission site under the “Help” button or you may click here to view the codes.
• Text can be reformatted without entering special codes online. Users will have access to a tool bar that allows for basic text formatting as it is entered (bold, italic, underline, superscript, subscript).
• If you need to make any corrections to the abstract text after you have uploaded your document, we suggest you delete the text on the abstract submission site, edit your abstract text in the word processing document, and upload the text again.

Payment

• All payments must be made by credit card.
• An abstract processing fee of $25 (U.S.) per abstract is required to complete your submission. The ASCB accepts Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Purchase orders, checks and electronic bank transfers will not be accepted.

Review My Work

• The final summary page will allow you to review the information you input during the submission process. Review it carefully. To make changes and corrections, select the appropriate section on the left-hand margin to return to that portion of the submission site.
• A message will appear that states, “This submission is complete” if all the steps have been completed.
• Print/save the summary page as a record of your submission. If you would also like an email confirmation sent to you, click on the email link on the bottom of the summary page.
• To make changes prior to the submission deadline, return to the submission site, log in, and edit your abstract.
• Use the sample submission below as a reference when reviewing your abstract, paying close attention to some of the common errors that have been highlighted:

Editing Your Abstract

• You can make changes or corrections to an abstract submission until the abstract submission deadline.
• If you make any changes to your submission, check the summary page for the statement, "This submission is complete," to ensure that required information was not deleted during the editing process.
• Do NOT resubmit your abstract; doing so will result in the creation of a duplicate submission.

Withdrawing Your Abstract

• Prior to the abstract submission deadline, you can return to the submission site and withdraw your abstract.
• After the submission deadline, requests for abstract withdrawal must be received by the ASCB in writing by May 8. Send withdrawal requests to:

The American Society for Cell Biology
8120 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 750
Bethesda, MD 20814
Fax: (301) 347-9310
Email: abstracts@ascb.org

• Abstracts not withdrawn by May 8 may appear in the Summer Meeting Program.

Notification of Abstract Disposition

• Print/save the final page of your submission. This will serve as acknowledgment that your abstract has been submitted. If you would also like an email confirmation sent to you, click on the email link on the summary page. You will not receive further confirmation that your abstract has been received or a copy of your abstract.
• Corresponding authors will receive email notification of abstract disposition and scheduling no later than May 18.
• It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to inform all co-authors of disposition status and abstract scheduling information (if accepted).
• All disposition notices will be sent as bulk email messages. Many times web-based email accounts (e.g., Hotmail, AOL, and Yahoo) automatically send bulk email messages into the junk mail folder. Please check both your inbox and your junk mail folder for your disposition notice.
• If you have not received your disposition by May 21, please contact the ASCB by email at abstracts@ascb.org.
• It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that the ASCB has a valid and current email address. This will ensure timely dissemination of your abstract disposition notice.

Publication

• Accepted abstracts will appear in the Summer Meeting Program, which will be distributed onsite to meeting attendees. They will also appear in the Online Program Planner.
• Individual abstracts will be formatted as needed.
• Abstracts will not be edited for content. Therefore, any error that appears in the submitted abstract will appear in the printed abstract.

Ways to Help Ensure Abstract Acceptance

• Make Certain Your Abstract Includes Results
  Whether new findings presented in an abstract are experimental or theoretical, specific results MUST be included. An abstract that states, for example, "Our findings regarding X and Y will be presented," will not be accepted. The results, whether experimental or calculated, must be stated in the abstract. An author is free to include her or his latest data in the final poster presented at the meeting, but the results included in the original abstract must be substantive.


• Avoid Promotion of a Commercial Product or Service
  The Summer Meeting organizers try to ensure that ASCB poster sessions are not used as venues for commercial promotion. Statements like “We show that X product works better than Y product” are clear indicators of promotion, and will be cause for rejection. In contrast, an abstract that presents findings of interest to cell biologists, but mentions that the work was done with a proprietary and copyrighted product, and co-authors include those at the company that made the product, may be deemed acceptable.

The American Society for Cell Biology is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) professional society.