The Asia-Pacific Association for Gynecologic Endoscopy and Minimally Invasive Therapy (APAGE) Scientific Program Committee invites you to submit an abstract or a video for presentation at the 17th APAGE Annual Congress. This year the meeting is on November 4-6, 2016 at the Taipei International Convention Center in Taipei, Taiwan. To accommodate the large number of abstracts that are submitted and to fairly consider all abstracts as well as maintain the standard of excellence that the APAGE is known for, these are the rules of the Call for Abstract program:
- All submissions must be submitted in English. All text should use proper upper and lower case letters.
- Work that has been published or presented elsewhere, may be submitted, but information must be provided about where and when the work was presented or published.
- Abstracts must be submitted electronically through the online abstract submission system before July 15, 2016. Abstracts received after this deadline will not be accepted for inclusion in the Congress.
- There can be no more than ten (10) authors per abstract. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. The first author has contributed the most to the work, with other authors listed in descending order according to their level of contribution. The first author will be expected to be the presenting author. Disagreements about order need to be resolved by the authors, not the APAGE. Any change in authors or the abstract after initial submission must be approved by all authors.
- All communication about the abstract will be sent to the person named as Presenting Author who agrees to forward all communication received about the abstract to all authors.
- Decisions by the Scientific Program Committee for abstract acceptance in the program are final.
Instructions for Paper Abstracts and Poster Abstracts
The APAGE requires a structured abstract. You will need to complete the following segments:
- Objective: Begin with a clear, concise statement of the precise objective or question put forth in the study;
- Methods: Indicate the primary study outcome measurement(s) as planned before data collection began. If the manuscript does not report the main planned outcomes of a study, this fact should be stated and the reason indicated. State clearly if the hypothesis being tested was formulated during or after data collection. Explain outcomes or measurements unfamiliar to a general medical readership.
- Results: Describe the methods of assessing patients and state the key results; this section must include data, even if preliminary.
- Conclusion: State clearly the conclusions and clinical applications that are supported by the data. Advise if additional study is required before this information should be used in clinical settings.
Instructions for Video Abstracts
- Video uploaded subject: <Video Title>_ <Author Name>
- Video Length: Videos must be no longer than 6 minutes in length.
- Narration: All video presentations must be edited and narrated and narration must be in English.
- Video Quality: Videos must be of good visual quality. Videos should not be lower than 720x480 resolution. For Non-Surgical Videos, be sure all graphs, charts and statistics are clearly readable and verbally described.
- Video Format: The preferred format is MPEG4 such as MP4. Although the following formats are very good and acceptable: .avi, .mov, .mpg.
- Compatibility: Videos MUST play in one of the following video players: Windows Media Player or QuickTime
Player. If you do not have any of these players, you can download them from the Internet.
Online Submission Process
Abstracts must be submitted electronically through the online abstract submission system. Please sign up an account for the first time. You can update and modify your submission information by log in to the system before July 15, 2016. During the online submission process, please complete the following information:
- Submission Category: Assign your abstract to one of the 13 categories listed. This determines where in the program your abstract will be assigned, if accepted.
- Author Information: Input author names, affiliations, and information in the designated boxes. Do not include author names in the title or body of your abstract.
- Body of the Abstract: For paper and poster abstracts, the overall limit for Title, Objective(s), Method(s), Result(s), Conclusion(s), and Keywords segments is 300 words maximum. Each segment must be completed before the abstract can be successfully submitted. If any segment does not apply to your abstract, please enter N/A in the field. For video abstract, you will be required to input a summary of your video. The summary should be no more than 500 words and should include a detailed description of the intended purpose or objective of your video presentation. Include information such as pertinent scientific and clinical information, interventions and results.
- Video Upload: Video abstract submission only - after completing your video summary, you will need to upload the video. Depending on the length of your video and upload speed of your Internet connection, please be patient while uploading the file.
- Review your abstract and make revisions if needed. No changes can be made to the title, authors or body of the abstract after July 15, 2016.
Please note that table, diagram and picture are not allowed in the abstract. Abbreviations used in abstracts must be defined. Abbreviations are permitted in titles if they immediately follow the term being abbreviated and are enclosed in parentheses. If used in the text, they should be defined at first mention if not already defined in the title.
Confirmation of Abstract Submission
An acknowledgement of abstract submission will be automatically sent to the presenting author by email upon completion of the online submission. This letter is not an acceptance notification but an acknowledgement of your abstract submission. It is the responsibility of each individual to verify the acknowledgement and carefully review the submitted abstract.
Notification of Abstract Acceptance
The Scientific Committee will review all abstracts that are submitted on time and are in accordance with the specified format. The Organizing Committee reserve the right to reject any abstracts which fail to comply with the submission guidelines mentioned above. It is the responsibility of the Presenting Author to notify other co-authors of the Committee's decision.
Author Registration
Applicants will receive notification of decisions regarding submissions by October. Author registration and full payment should be completed no later than 24:00 (GMT+8), August 31, 2016 which is the deadline for early bird registration. Late registration and payment will cause abstract exclusion in the final program.
Information & Support
If you have questions about abstract guidelines, competitions or you’re having technical difficulty during the abstract submission process, please email apage2016.reg@elitepco.com.tw.