Date: 20–22 April 2022
Venue: Manchester Central, Manchester, UK
GUIDELINES FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Abstract submissions are now closed
In light of the COVID-related disruptions we are extending the abstract submission deadline to midnight on Sunday 16th January. We cannot extend it further due to a very tight timeline for abstract review and creating the abstract book.
The British HIV Association invites research papers of high quality in areas of HIV research. Abstract submissions are peer reviewed for quality of research, scientific content and logical presentation. Accepted abstracts are scheduled as oral or poster abstract presentations.
It is essential that your abstract conforms to the preparation guidelines outlined below.
General guidelines
All abstracts must be submitted in English.
All abstracts are encouraged to follow accepted HIV language guidance as per www.peoplefirstcharter.org – any abstracts using ‘HIV-infected person/people’ will be corrected to ‘person/people living with HIV’
All abstracts must be submitted via www.bhiva.org
Abstracts should be submitted using the following structure:
- Background: the study aims/objectives, the hypothesis to be tested, or a description of the problem.
- Methods: method(s) used or approach taken.
- Results: specific results in summarised form (with appropriate statistical analysis).
- Conclusion: description of the main outcome of the study. All abstracts should disclose primary findings and avoid, whenever possible, promissory statements such as ‘experiments are in progress’, or ‘results will be discussed’.Please define abbreviations in full at first mention, including names of clinical trials or studies.
Please avoid citing references in the abstract.
Please ensure your abstract does not exceed the maximum word count of 350 words; submissions above this limit will not be accepted by the system.
Abstract content will be reproduced exactly as submitted, therefore proofreading beforehand is essential. Please conduct a spell check of your document before submission as this will help avoid typographical errors.
Adding additional authors to your abstract after the submission deadline will not be permissible.
Authors
Submitting author: The person who submits the abstract is to whom all correspondence will be sent. It is the responsibility of the submitting author to forward correspondence to the presenting author and other co-authors. Abstracts are considered official communications to the conference. Individuals submitting abstracts that are accepted agree that the presenting author will register to attend the meeting and present their abstract as scheduled.
Presenting author: Presenting authors need to register for the conference for presentation and publication of their abstract. Please note that registration rates increase after the Early Bird deadline. If the presenting author registers at the Early Bird rate and the abstract is not selected for presentation at the conference and the presenting author does not wish to attend the conference, then the conference organisers will refund the registration fee paid. It is requested that the presenting author remains the same as submitted for the abstract, any requests for changes to presenting authors will be approved by BHIVA on a case by case basis (only extenuating / mitigating circumstances will be considered).
Encore abstract presentations: Abstracts may be submitted if previously presented at a national/international meeting. However, abstracts are more likely to be considered for oral presentation if they contain new information and clinical rather than non-clinical data.
Multiple abstracts considered to be the result of excessive splitting of data will be evaluated and scored accordingly. To accommodate additional submissions, the Abstract Review Committee may request that multiple submissions be combined and a revised abstract be provided.
It is the responsibility of the submitting and presenting authors to assess whether ethical approval is necessary for their research and, if so, to obtain necessary clearances.
Abstract submission categories
Your abstract should be submitted to one of the following categories:
Service development, education & training
Co-morbidities, co-infections and HIV/ART complications
Antiretrovirals: efficacy, interactions & pharmacokinetics
Psychosocial issues and quality of life
Basic science: immunology, virology & pathogenesis
Children and Pregnancy
HIV testing, epidemiology and surveillance
Behaviour, transmission and prevention
STI, reproductive Health, contraception & sexual dysfunction
Abstract format
Subject category: For review and scheduling purposes, abstracts will be divided into categories. It is mandatory that one of the subject categories listed be chosen. Please read all of the categories before selecting the most appropriate one for your abstract.
Title: Use a concise title that indicates the nature of the study.
Please capitalise the first letter of the title and use lower case for the rest of the title (with the exception of proper nouns or abbreviations).
Please do not use a full stop at the end of the title.
Please ensure that species names are given in full at first mention and in italics throughout (e.g. Chlamydia trachomatis).
Affiliations: Each author should be listed by institution, city and country. Do not include department, division, laboratory etc.
Authors: Names should be typed in sentence case (please do not use all capital letters). Indicate title (Dr/Prof/Mr/Mrs/Ms) and use full first and last name e.g ‘Dr Alison Smith’. The author presenting the paper must be designated.
Figures: Please only submit one (graph / table / image) in your abstract. Please also ensure thar graphs and tables are submitted in their original form and not inserted as pictures.
Submission guidelines
You will need to register with the abstract submission system and submit a username and password. If you are submitting more than one abstract, you can use the same email address and password for each abstract.
Amending your submission: You can log back in to amend or update your abstract at any point up to the submission deadline. However, please note that you will need to use the credentials you used to create your account to log back in. The organisers are not able to access your username or password credentials so please make a note of them and share with your co-authors if necessary at the time of registration.
Withdrawing an abstract: If you would like to withdraw an abstract, please contact the Conference Organiser.
How abstracts are reviewed and selected
Abstract submissions will be peer-reviewed by the BHIVA-appointed Abstract Review Committee and will be allocated to be presented orally, or as a poster. To minimise subjectivity in the scoring process, any reviewer with a conflict of interest that could affect objectivity of scoring (e.g. co-authorship, financial interest, or scientific/personal conflict with the authors) will be excluded from scoring or discussing the abstract in question. Abstract acceptance is based on abstract quality, the potential significance of the observations, and the rigor with which the scientific methods were applied. Furthermore, the Review Committee considers thematic balance in determining which abstracts will be presented orally.
Presenting your abstract
All successful corresponding authors will be contacted during the week commencing 14 February 2022, to confirm which format their abstract is to take. Oral presentations will be allocated a maximum of 10 minutes, which is to include an 8 minute presentation with 2 minutes for questions. Delegates submitting successful poster abstracts will be required to produce their poster in an A0 portrait format.
Published abstracts
All accepted abstracts will be published in HIV Medicine. Abstracts will be reproduced from the Microsoft Word document submitted online. Abstracts need not be exclusive to this conference and may be presented elsewhere. It is the responsibility of the author to obtain permission, where necessary, for publication of the abstract in HIV Medicine and acceptance of the abstract is conditional on publication in the abstract book. In addition, all abstracts will be posted on the BHIVA website.
Copyright and webcasts
By submitting an abstract, authors and co-authors transfer any copyrights and grant permission to BHIVA to audio/video record oral presentations for potential conference webcasts.
Typical reasons for abstract rejection are:
Poorly written
Exceeds permitted number of characters (including spaces and table)
Fails to use specified font
Not enough new information
Duplication or overlap with another abstract from the same institution
Study is too preliminary
Inappropriate for BHIVA conference
Click here to download the Abstract Guidelines
Please note: If you are planning to submit an abstract to the BHIVA Spring Conference 2022 you may be eligible to apply for a BHIVA Science Scholarship. Click here to view the criteria and how to submit an application.
Abstract submissions are now closed.