Abstracts

Prevention research submissions to the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention will be accepted from 27 October to 30 November 2020 in the categories of basic science, vaccines, non-pharmaceutical prevention and global access and policy.

Abstract submission closed on 30 November 2020. Abstracts submitted to the conference will go through a blind, peer-reviewed process carried out by an international review panel. Final selection of abstracts will be done by a conference committee. Notification of acceptance or non-acceptance of abstracts will be sent to the submitting author by mid to end of December 2020. It is the submitting author’s responsibility to inform all co-authors of the status of the abstract.

Call for abstracts

We encourage work that introduces new ideas, concepts and research and deepens understanding in the field, as well as analysis of both successes and failures. Please read the following guidelines carefully before submitting your abstract to the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention: 

Prevention research submissions to the conference will be accepted from 27 October to 30 November 2020 in the categories of:

Basic science
Vaccines
Non-pharmaceutical prevention
Global access and policy

 Abstracts can be submitted only online via the Conference Account on our website. Submissions by fax, post or email will not be considered.  

All abstracts must be written in English. 
It is the author’s responsibility to submit an abstract with the correct wording. Any errors in spelling, grammar or scientific fact in the abstract text will be reproduced exactly as typed by the author. Abstract titles will be subject to a spellcheck if the abstract is selected for presentation.

Policies for submission

Abstracts should not include libellous or defamatory content. Material presented in abstracts should not violate any copyright laws. If figures, graphics and/or images have been taken from sources not copyrighted by the author, it is the author’s sole responsibility to secure the rights from the copyright holder in writing to reproduce those figures, graphics and/or images for both worldwide print and web publication. The author must bear all reproduction costs charged by the copyright holder. 

Resubmission policy

An abstract that has been previously published or presented at a national, regional or international meeting can be submitted to the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention only if there are new methods, findings, updated information or other valid reasons for resubmitting.

If preliminary or partial data have been published or presented previously, the submitting author will be required to provide details of the publication or presentation, along with a justification of why the abstract merits consideration for the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention. The Conference Committee will consider this information when making final decisions.

If the author neglects to provide these required details and justification, or if evidence of previous publication or presentation is found, the abstract will be rejected. 

Plagiarism

The conference organizers regard plagiarism as serious professional misconduct. All abstracts are screened for plagiarism and, when identified, the abstract and any other abstracts submitted by the same author are rejected. In addition, the submitting author’s account and scholarship application, if one has been submitted, will be cancelled.  

Ethical research declaration

The conference supports only research that has been conducted according to the protocol approved by the institutional or local committee on ethics in human investigation. Where no such committee exists, the research should have been conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association. The Conference Committee may enquire further into ethical aspects when evaluating abstracts. 

Conference embargo policy 

By submitting an abstract to the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention, you agree to adhere to the conference embargo policy. The policy specifies that while authors may publish the fact that their abstract has been selected for inclusion in the conference programme, data from the abstract may NOT be shared in any form (print, broadcast or online publication, media release or conference presentation, with the exception of preprints) prior to its official presentation at the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention.

As is the case with most scientific and medical conferences, abstracts from the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention are released to delegates and media under a strict embargo policy. Information about all abstracts may not be published or presented before Tuesday 26 January at 15.00 CET.

Embargo breaks by presenters

A conference committee will review any potential cases of embargo breaks by presenters. Embargo breaks by conference presenters may result in the removal of the abstract in question from the conference programme. This includes publication of the abstract data in a journal or public outlet prior to presentation at the conference, with the exception of preprints. Please direct any questions or concerns about the conference embargo policy for presenters to the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention abstracts team at covidconf@iasociety.org.

Embargo breaks by media

Journalists who receive embargoed information related to studies to be presented at the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention agree not to publish that information prior to the lifting of the conference media embargo regardless of the source or format of the information (slides, press release, abstract, interview). Violation of the embargo policy by a reporter will lead to one or more of the following measures:

Suspension of the reporter’s media conference credentials
Removal of the reporter’s name from the IAS media distribution list for two years
Refusal of media credentials for upcoming IAS conferences.

Please direct any questions or concerns about the conference media embargo policy to the Communications team at media@iasociety.org.

Call for abstracts

Conference account  

Authors must create a conference account to submit an abstract. More than one abstract can be submitted through a conference account. After an abstract has been created, modifications can be made until 24 November 2020.  

Choosing a category 

The category is the general heading under which the abstract will be reviewed and later published in the conference materials, if accepted. The category that best describes the subject of the abstract should be chosen. During the submission process, you will be asked to select one category for your abstract. 

Abstract structure 

The IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention offers two options for abstract submission:

Option One

This is suited for research conducted in all disciplines. Abstracts submitted under Option one should contain concise statements of: 

Background: Indicate the purpose and objective of the research, the hypothesis that was tested, or a description of the problem being analysed or evaluated. 
Methods: Describe the study period, setting and location, study design, study population, data collection and methods of analysis used. 
Results: Present as clearly and in as much detail as possible the findings and/or outcomes of the study. Please disaggregate data by age and gender where possible and summarize any specific results. 
Conclusions: Explain the significance of your study’s findings and/or outcomes for HIV prevention, treatment, care and/or support and future implications of the results.

The following review criteria will be used in scoring abstracts submitted under Option one: 

Is there a clear background and justified objective? 
Is the methodology and/or study design appropriate for the objectives? 
Are the results important and clearly presented? 
Are the conclusions supported by the results? 
Is the study original and does it contribute to the field?

Option Two

Option Two

This is suited for lessons learned through programme, project or policy implementation or management. Abstracts submitted under Option two should contain concise statements of: 

Background: Summarize the purpose, scope and objectives of the programme, project or policy.

Description: Describe the programme, project or policy period, setting and location, the structure, key population (if applicable) and activities and interventions undertaken in support of the programme, project or policy. 
Lessons learned: Present as clearly and in as much detail as possible the findings and/or outcomes of the programme, project or policy. Include an analysis or evaluation of lessons learned and best practices. Please summarize any specific results that support your lessons learned and best practices. 
Conclusions/next steps: Explain the significance of the findings and/or outcomes of the programme, project or policy for HIV prevention, treatment, care and/or support and future implications of the results.

The following review criteria will apply to abstracts submitted under Option two: 

Is there a clear background and justified objective? 
Is the programme, project or policy design and implementation appropriate for the objectives? 
Are the lessons learned or best practices important, supported by the findings and clearly presented? 
Are the conclusions/next steps supported by the results and are they feasible? 
Is the work reported original and does it contribute to the field?

Disaggregated sex and other demographic data in abstracts   

Authors are encouraged to provide a breakdown of data by sex and other demographics, such as age, geographic region, race/ethnicity and/or other relevant demographic characteristics in submitted abstracts, when appropriate. Your abstract should include the number and percentage of men and women (and additional breakdown by gender, age and/or ethnicity if appropriate) who participated in your research or project, and results should be disaggregated by sex/gender and other relevant demographics. Analyses of any gender-based differences or any other differences between sub-populations should be provided in the Results or Lessons learned sections, if relevant.  

Font 

A standard font, such as Arial, should be used when formatting the text. This helps prevent special characters from getting lost when copying the text to the online abstract submission form. Ensure that you check the final abstract with the system’s preview function before submission, and edit or replace as necessary. 

Word limits 

The abstract body is limited to 350 words. Titles are limited to 30 words.   

A maximum of two tables and/or graphs in total can be included. A graph/image (in JPG, GIF or PNG, ideally at least 600dpi) counts as 50 words and a table counts as five words per row (50 words maximum). 

Common reasons for abstract rejection:  

Abstract poorly written 
Not enough new information 
Clear objective and/or hypothesis missing 
Linkage between different parts of the abstract not comprehensible 
Duplicate or overlap with another abstract 
Erroneous or unsupported conclusions

Reasons for abstract rejection (specific to Option one): 

Methods (either quantitative or qualitative) inadequate and/or insufficient to support conclusions 
Summary of essential results inadequate and/or missing.

Reasons for abstract rejection (specific to Option two): 

Description inadequate and/or insufficient to support conclusions 
Lessons learned inadequate and/or missing.

Recommendations 

If English is not your native language, have your abstract reviewed by a native English speaker before submission. 

Submission confirmation 

After submission of the abstract, a confirmation email will be sent to the abstract submitter. In order to receive confirmation, please ensure that emails from iascovid-19@abstractserver.com are not marked as spam by your email provider.   

Abstract review and selection process

Abstract review 

All submitted abstracts will go through a blind peer-review process carried out by the Conference Committee. Each abstract will be reviewed by at least two reviewers. 

Abstract selection 

Abstracts can be selected for oral presentation or as a poster.

Notification of acceptance or rejection to corresponding author

Notification of acceptance or rejection will be sent to the submitting (corresponding) author by end of December. Please note that only the corresponding author will receive an email concerning the abstract; this author is responsible for informing all co-authors of the status of the abstract. Authors whose abstracts have been accepted will receive instructions for the presentation of their abstract. 

Rule of two

Each presenting author may present a maximum of two abstracts at the conference. The number of submissions is, however, not limited. Should an author have more than two abstracts accepted for presentation, a co-author must be named as presenting author for one or more abstracts. 

Publication of accepted abstracts

The submission of the abstracts constitutes the authors’ consent for publication. If the abstract is accepted, the authors agree that their abstracts are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) licence. The licence allows third parties to share the published work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it for any purposes, under the condition that the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention and authors are given credit and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this licence are made clear. Authors retain the copyright of their abstracts, with first publication rights granted to the IAS. 

Accepted abstracts may, therefore, be published on IAS websites and publications, such as the IAS COVID-19 Conference: Prevention online conference programme and other conference materials.

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