Presenter Instructions and American Journal of Surgery Submission

Presenter Instructions: Abstracts will be presented 15 minutes apart with spacing for presentation, discussion and closing as follows:

Slides, In general, 7 min = 7 slides

1 slide: identify problem and background

1 slide: state objective of study

1 slide: identify patient selection

1 slide: state methods of data collection

1 slide: main outcome result

1 slide: secondary outcome result

1 slide: state conclusions

The moderator will be strict on giving a 1 minute warning at 6 min and cutoff for talk at 7 min.

Discussant: Comments are also strictly timed to cutoff at 3 min with a 1 minute warning.

Format for discussant: discussion should be a brief oral presentation, and no slides are required.

Tips for the discussant comments:

1. Do not re-state the study results, just go right into your discussion

2. Start with a few comments about your interpretation of the study findings, and any impact they may have

3. Present several focused questions to the authors. It is optimal to have no more than 3-4 questions

Closer (if applicable): 2 minutes

Buffer between presenters: 2 minutes

Videos: Video presenters will have 12 minutes between each presentation. Questions for the videos will be taken in a panel format at the end of the hour.

American Journal of Surgery Submission

This year you will be submitting your paper directly online to the American Journal of Surgery (AJS). You will be receiving an e-mail invitation to submit your paper from the AJS online submission system called “EVISE”, along with directions on how to submit and respond to editorial input on line. This invitation will arrive this week, and the paper will need be submitted just before the meeting. The deadline for submission is midnight (Pacific time) November 7th, 2019. Failure to submit your manuscript may result in removal from the NPSA meeting program, so please make sure your manuscript is submitted by the deadline. You are also required to send a copy of your manuscript to your assigned discussant at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting, no later than October 24th, 2019. You will receive an email with the name and email address for your assigned discussant.

In the meantime, please begin preparing your paper. As always, the paper should be prepared according the directions for Affiliated Societies, which are available on-line on the AJS homepage or in the back of each issue of the AJS.

This year we are striving to stay within our page restrictions, so that everyone’s paper can get published. To do this we need to keep our submissions as concise as possible. We are striving for papers no longer than 4 pages of journal length (approx 15 pages of text, references, and tables/figures). Here are some guidelines for keeping your paper concise:

Guidelines

Writing a concise (4 journal pages) paper for the American Journal of Surgery (AJS)

Title: no more than 15 words

Authors: No more than 6. All must have contributed to both paper and study. Eliminate, e.g. mentors who did not contribute to both, statisticians who did not contribute to both, people who only reviewed manuscript, surgeons who provided patients but no other input, etc. Put these people in a short sentence of acknowledgement at the end of the text.

Abstract: 250 words or less-strictly enforced!

Intro: 1 or 2 paragraphs that quickly get to why study was done.

Methods: whenever possible refer to, rather than reiterate, previously published methods, instruments, etc.

Results: Reduce text by putting data in text and figures-use Results section to refer to data trends shown in tables and figures. In short, when it comes to data, text should not be redundant with tables and figures.

Comments: Six or seven paragraphs max. Suggested outline:

1. What the study showed (1 paragraph)

2. How a few key findings support or contradict what is already published (2-3 paragraphs-1 for each key point)

3. Limitations of the study (if appropriate; 1 paragraph max)

4. Implications/Future plans (1 paragraph)

References: limit to 40 references. Use AJS references whenever possible-this raises the Journal’s impact factor.

Tables and Figures: No duplication with text. “Boil down” tables-remove all extraneous words and symbols. Use as few photos as possible to make the point.

Below: Pics from recent NPSA Annual Meetings. Robust participation from NPSA members is a key part of our scientific presentations. Left, Dr. John Mayberry at the  meeting in Boise. Right, Lecture theatre, Victoria Conference Centre.