Abstract Submission Guidelines

Please read all of the following guidelines before abstract submission.
*The pre-submission agreement is required before abstract submission.

INTRODUCTION

The members of the Program Committee and Panel Reviewers grade approximately 250 abstracts for each Annual Meeting. These abstracts are graded generally over a 3-week time period and are blinded to the reviewer. Around 75 papers are accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting. The Program Chair/Committee exercises some discretion in final paper selection in an attempt to balance the program. Abstracts are graded on a 0 to 10 rating, and a paper accepted generally will have an average weighted score of 7.0.

ABSTRACT CONTENT

Abstracts must adequately describe the objectives and results of the work so that the quality, originality, and thoroughness can be evaluated by the Program Committee.

Each abstract MUST include the following components:

• Objectives - an introductory sentence indicating the purpose of the study
• Methods - a brief description of pertinent experimental procedures
• Results - a summary of the NEW, UNPUBLISHED DATA
• Conclusion - a statement of the conclusions

CRITERIA TO CONSIDER WHEN SUBMITTING AN ABSTRACT:

Within the character count abstracts should:

• Use title and key words appropriately
• Indicate any potential conflict(s) of interest
• Represent original research
• Represent a significant issue
• Be well organized and include objective, methods, results, and conclusions
• Include an objective that:
  • Is simple and clear
  • Clarifies the importance of the study
• Include a method that:
  • Is reproducible
  • Avoids irrelevant data
  • Describes sample with sufficient detail so that it is clear what population(s) the sample represents
  • Describes how the sample is of adequate size
  • Describes how sample was formed to avoid biases
  • Describes pretested unambiguous instruments and materials, including all surveys, tests, questionnaires, interview forms, and other tools used to provide data
  • Includes controls and clarifies them, with evidence of reliability and validity
  • Includes well-defined criteria for evaluation of variables.
  • Describes procedures, whether or not the study is prospective randomized, and researcher activities
• Include results that:
  • Summarize, including techniques and analysis used, including appropriate power analysis
  • Include complications or missing data, if applicable
  • Include validated outcomes
• Include a conclusion that:
  • Follows from methods
  • Includes discussion of limitations, if applicable
  • Recognizes limitations of study and suggests new research needed to extend current findings

ACCEPTED ABSTRACTS

Abstracts previously published as papers are NOT ELIGIBLE for presentation. Preference will be given to those abstracts that have not been accepted or presented at other meetings.

Once an abstract has been submitted to SOMOS, revisions will be permitted only for correction of authors names, ranks, etc. No additional authors may be added. Therefore, when proofing your submission, pay particular attention to author names, author rank/titles, and abstract title, among other things. Once an abstract is accepted, however, typographical changes will be permitted.

MANUSCRIPTS

By Nov 1^st 2005, the primary author will be required to submit the manuscript by e-mail to the Program Chair. This is an absolute requirement to allow presentation of any study. Those that fail to submit by the published deadline will not be allowed to present their study.

The primary author will be given the option of submitting their manuscript to the American Journal of Orthopedics which will run a special SOMOS edition to publish selected manuscripts from the 2005 meeting. If you are interested, please submit your manuscript in the format prescribed by the AJO. Formatting instructions may be found on their website: http://www.amjorthopedics.com/html/aut/aut.asp

Please include a title page with your manuscript that includes a statement that this paper was presented at SOMOS 2005 � Kissimmee, Florida and all authors� names, ranks and contact information. Further guidance for manuscript submission will be disseminated at the meeting.

PRE-SUBMISSION AGREEMENT

All authors must agree to the following statements before this abstract can be submitted. You must read through and click the "ACCEPT" button in order to submit an abstract.

We, the listed authors on this abstract, submit this abstract for presentation consideration to SOMOS. We affirm that the information contained in this abstract fairly and accurately represents original work.

We agree that, if accepted for inclusion in a SOMOS meeting, the manuscript, published abstract, and presentation will represent the same data as originally submitted herein.

We assume full responsibility for securing the necessary clearance and permission for publication and presentation from any contracting supervisory research agency holding presentation material copyrights.

The SOMOS and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) require that all speakers at programs granting Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit provide a FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.

We agree that any and all financial interests in the product or process involved with our research will be properly identified. This includes stock ownership, membership on an advisory board or board of directors, corporate sponsored research, or any other substantive relationship. Please note that financial disclosure does not disqualify an abstract from consideration or presentation.

We agree that disclosure will be made if a presentation includes substances or products not approved in the U.S. for the use under discussion.

We understand and grant release to the SOMOS to make audio and/or video recordings of our presentation. We authorize the recording of our presentation for any related purposes.

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