Abstract Submission > Authors' Guidelines

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Template Symposium Abstract (word file)

 

Deadline for the submission of abstract for poster presentation: 1 March 2021

 

 

 

Symposium and Abstract Submission Guidelines

 

1. General guidelines

All abstracts should be submitted electronically through the abstract submission system. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 1 March 2021, 12:00 Central European Time. Abstracts received after closing of the abstract system will not be accepted. All abstracts should be submitted using the on-line application form. After having submitted your abstract, you will receive an automatic email confirmation (this may take several minutes).

Submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee, and all authors will be informed about the acceptance of their submission throughout the process and at the latest by 15 March 2021. Upon review, the Scientific Committee will make recommendations regarding the type of presentation (oral or poster).

Please note that submitting an abstract does not mean you are registered for the 2021 HEPA Europe Conference. Conference registration is a separate process that is required for all presenters.

Registration fees of the presenting author must be paid by 2021 (date to defined) at the latest to secure the presentation during the conference and the publication in the Book of Abstracts.

 

 

2. Types of presentations

You should indicate your presentation preferences. The following possibilities are available:

  • Symposium
  • Oral presentations
  • Poster presentations

 

 

3. Type of abstracts

Two types of abstracts are welcome:

  • Research abstracts
  • Policy and practice abstracts

 

 

4. Conference tracks

In order to have a better understanding on the topic of your workshop, we kindly ask you to choose two tracks.

The choices for tracks include:

  1. Physical activity policy
  2. Settings-based Physical Activity interventions
  3. Modern technology in physical activity promotion
  4. Active transport
  5. Physical activity prescription
  6. Prevalence and determinants of physical activity
  7. Physical activity and health outcomes
  8. Physical activity in children and adolescents
  9. Active ageing
  10. Physical activity in clinical populations
  11. Physical activity and functional limitations
  12. Physical activity measurement, monitoring and surveillance
  13. Compositional data paradigm in physical activity research
  14. Sedentary behaviour
  15. Social disadvantage
  16. Built and natural environments, physical activity campaigns, climate change (how climate influences PA and how increasing PA may contribute to climate change)

 

 

5. Keywords

You are asked to provide 5 keywords (maximum) that would best fit the content of your abstract. Do not use the words from the track name you have chosen.

 

 

6. Guidelines for authors

All abstracts must be submitted and, if accepted, presented in English.

 

6.1 Abstract submission

The title of the abstract should not exceed 25 words and the main text should not exceed 350 words. If you exceed the word limit, the system will not accept the abstract. Abstract titles should be in lower case, except the first word and countries. Do not use capital letters only and avoid using abbreviations or acronyms. Give geographic location and dates if applicable.

Authors and co-authors: you can include up to 10 co-authors. Please follow the instructions carefully and make sure that initials, last name, department, institution, town and country are completed. To add an author, click on ‘create a new author’. To add an affiliation, click on ‘add affiliation’. Please make sure that you use the English version of the institute, town and country. Spell out the full name of the institution and do not use abbreviations such as ‘Univ.’ for ‘University’. Please make sure that the presenting author is also listed under authors.

Abstracts format: Abstracts should be structured depending on the type of abstract as follows:

 

6.1.1. Research abstracts

Background: Address the scientific background and rationale for the study as well as the HEPA significance of the subject. Explain why your study is important and what question(s) it will answer.

Methods: Describe the study design, setting (such as community, clinic, hospital), study participants, analytic and/or intervention techniques and outcome measures.

Results: Present the major quantitative and qualitative findings, including confidence intervals or levels of significance of statistical tests, as appropriate. Although negative as well as positive results may be of interest, report only those results that relate to your conclusion. Since an abstract may be cited, this section must contain data rather than a statement like “Data will be discussed”. If appropriate, state that the results are preliminary.

Conclusions: State only those conclusions that are directly supported by data. Report on the HEPA public health actions that are recommended and/or have been implemented as a consequence of the study.

 

6.1.2. Policy and practice abstracts

Issue/problem: Describe the issue/problem that was addressed by the policy or HEPA Intervention. Include the background and settings of the issue/problem as well as the HEPA significance of the subject. Explain why your intervention is important and useful for other settings / countries.

Description of the problem: This should be a clear and critical description including time frame, objectives and methods used. The policy or practice should be innovative and relevant for other countries/settings. List the questions you want to be answered by the project.

Results (effects/changes): Present the results (effects/changes) from the policy or intervention, taking into account that the questions you asked are properly answered. Although negative as well as positive lessons learnt may be of interest, report only those lessons that relate to your policy or intervention. Since an abstract may be cited, this section must contain data rather than a statement like “Results will be presented at the conference”. If appropriate, state that the results are preliminary.

Lessons: State only those lessons learned that are directly supported by the project/intervention. Report on the HEPA actions that are recommended and/or have been implemented as a consequence of the policy or practice. Highlight the importance of the lessons learned for other settings/countries. Describe the ways in which the HEPA actions were innovative.

Main messages: Write two short messages (200 characters maximum) which summarize the main impact of your work.

 

Abstract submission process

All abstracts should be submitted by an author using the on-line application form: http://hepa2021.mycongressonline.net.

Corresponding authors will be informed about the acceptance of their submission on March 2021. All accepted abstracts will be published in the Book of Abstracts. The registration fee of the presenter must be paid by 2021 (date to defined) at the latest to secure the presentation.

 

6.2 Symposium submission

Symposia should be prepared as a focused session in which speakers present on a common theme, issue or question of particular relevance.

Suggested symposium structure

  • Introduction – chairperson provides a brief introduction to the session,
  • Presentations – 3 to 5 individual presentations of (short presentations are encouraged to preserve time for discussion and interaction with the audience),
  • Q&A – questions from the audience,
  • Conclusion – concluding remarks by a discussant.

It is strongly encouraged that speakers closely collaborate in order to provide new and non-overlapping presentations.

 

Symposium submission process

All symposia should be submitted by the symposium organizer using the on-line application form: http://hepa2021.mycongressonline.net. Each symposium organizer needs to gather all required information before starting the submission process. Applications need to include the following information:

  • Symposium title (limited to 25 words)
  • Symposium goals and abstract (limited to 450 words)
  • Chair, discussant and presenters contact information (First, last name; title; organisation title and address; postal/zip code; country; e-mail; phone number)
  • Abstracts – 3 to 5 individual presentations (Abstract title – limited to 25 words; Abstract authors; Abstract text – limited to 350 words) following the general abstract structure depending on the type of abstract (research or policy and practice). Each abstract shall be uploaded using the official abstract template provided. 

All organizers will be informed about the acceptance of their submission on 15 March 2021. For the accepted symposia, all individual abstracts as well as the symposium abstracts will be published in the Book of Abstracts. The registration fee of the symposium organizer, the discussant and all speakers must be paid by 2021 (date to defined) at the latest to secure the presentation.

Please note that if your abstract is included in a symposium proposal, it should NOT be submitted as a single abstract. However, if the symposium is not accepted, your abstract may be considered as a single abstract for oral or poster presentation if you agree. The word version of your abstract MUST NOT include any information about the authors. If an abstract is accepted, we will contact you to request the full list of authors.

 

 

7. Symposium and abstracts assessment procedure

All submitted symposium and abstracts will be peer-reviewed by the International Scientific Committee consisting of experts from different countries. Please note that the International Scientific Committee will use a double anonymous system for scoring (authors of the abstract are not known to the International Scientific Committee and the International Scientific Committee members are not known to the authors of the abstract).

 

 

8. Notification

The submitter will be notified of the acceptance of the abstract(s) by March 2021. The results will also be available through the submitter account.

Further instructions for authors whose abstracts are accepted for symposium, oral or poster presentations are posted on the HEPA Conference website.

 

 

9. Changes in presenting author

For the oral and poster presentations, the first author is considered as the presenting author and is responsible for delivering either the oral or poster presentation if the abstract is accepted. If the presenting author is unable to attend the HEPA Conference, a substitute presenter may take the presenting author’s place. The presenting author must inform the HEPA Conference Office at lior.saba@mcocongres.com.

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