The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is pleased to announce its call for late-breaking abstracts for the 2021 Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting scheduled between April 30 – May 2, 2021.

To provide as many members as possible with a broad array of learning opportunities, we are planning our 2021 ACSM to be a completely virtual experience. Please be advised that your oral presentation and ePoster, if accepted, will need to be submitted in digital form, including slides with a video and voice-over of your oral presentation.

Late-breaking abstract and/or film submissions will be accepted for consideration from January 19-26, 2021 12:00 PM ET.

Abstract Submission Requirements and Guidelines 

Abstracts must be submitted ONLY online through the online submission site at the bottom of this page.

Please ensure the accuracy of your contact information and review the abstract for grammar, spelling and punctuation prior to submission. Abstract information or films cannot be altered after the submission site is closed. Please print a copy of your submission for your records. Incomplete abstracts will NOT be considered for presentation. Please note we will not be able to accept late abstract submissions.

Also, please note that the applicant submitting the abstract is responsible for providing all of the authors’ information and collecting disclosures from each author listed on the abstract during the submission process, as well as notifying all of the authors about the abstract’s acceptance or rejection.

The presenting author of accepted submissions will be required to fund their own attendance at the 2021 Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting to present the abstract and/or film and should not submit an abstract and/or film if attendance is not possible. All presenters (including poster presenters) will be required to pay for conference registration and register for the conference at least 3 months before the meeting. It will be assumed that any presenter who does not register has withdrawn from the program and their abstract will be removed from the syllabus and schedule.

The deadline to submit an abstract and/or film for consideration is January 26, 2021, 12:00 PM ET. You will be notified of your acceptance for either an oral, poster or film presentation no later than March 1, 2021. All submissions are peer reviewed by the Committee on Scientific Program and scored based on: scientific merit, originality, and relevancy to obstetrics and gynecology.

ACOG accepts abstracts to be considered for an oral, poster or film presentation:

Oral and ePoster Submission

Both oral and poster presentation abstracts must be original work, and not previously published or presented at non-ACOG scientific meetings. Work currently under peer review with an anticipated publication date after May 3, 2021 may be submitted.

The abstract text is limited to 250 words.   Please DO NOT include artwork, images, or tables/graphs. The text should be organized into four section headings as follows:

• Introduction: A brief statement about the purpose of the study and pertinent background information.
• Methods: The method(s) of study or data collection employed. 
• Results: A summary of study research, including sufficient details to support your conclusions.
• Conclusion/Implications A statement explaining the significance of your work and the implications for further research, practice and/or policy.

Oral Presentations

A limited number of meritorious abstracts will be accepted for oral presentations. The presentations are limited to 7 minutes for presentation, followed by 3 minutes for questions-and-answers. Accepted oral presentations will be eligible for awards of $500, $200, and $100. More detailed information about this will be provided upon acceptance of your abstract.

Electronic Poster (ePoster) Presentations

ACOG utilizes ePosters. An ePoster is an electronic poster displayed digitally instead of printed on paper as a traditional poster. Poster presenters are required to submit a digital version of the poster prior to the meeting. Attendees will be able to view the electronic posters online before, during, and after the meeting. Additional information will be provided upon acceptance of your abstract. If selected, the presenting author of the research team must be present during the scheduled time period. 

Film Submission

Only films of 7 minutes or less in duration will be considered for presentation at the Film Festival. Please note that any films longer than 7 minutes will be automatically withdrawn from consideration for selection. At least one author of an accepted submission will be required to attend and present the film at the 2021 ACOG Annual meeting. You are encouraged to submit films even if they have been submitted for other meetings (including ACOG District meetings). Submissions may be in any of the following categories:

• Obstetrics
• Operative Gynecology
• Patient Safety and Office Practice

Films should consist of three main sections:

• Introduction: Describe the objective of the film and if necessary, include history, the diagnostic significance of symptoms, etiology or prevalence of disease, or the need for new skill development.
• Clinical Issue and Solution: Provide a detailed explanation of techniques. This can include case histories, variations in management, prognosis, treatment or studies. Key operative techniques should be identified and demonstrated as clearly as possible.
• Conclusion: Summary of the main points and thoughts/observations on future developments.

The audio must be clear. The video title should display the name of the authors, institution and location at the beginning. All authors must indicate in their videos any disclosures on a slide at the start of the video.

If the video is based on a clinical case, information about the case, such as medical history, diagnosis and work-up should be presented. If the information is about a surgical procedure, all components of the procedure should be clearly addressed.

All films must be HIPPA compliant, with all references to patient identity removed.  Any film which contains any identifying patient information will not be considered.

Film Upload

All film submissions should be uploaded online during submission. Acceptable file types include: mp3, .avi, .mov, .mpg, and .mp4.

Videos must be in good visual quality. Videos should not be lower than 1280 x 720 resolution and should be submitted in 16:9 video format. 

Films must be uploaded by January 26, 2021, 12:00 PM ET.

Abstract Submission

Title

The title is limited to 100 characters (including spaces) and 40 words.  The title should be in upper and lower case.

Text 

The abstract text is limited to 250 words and should be structured to describe the objective of the study and results of your work. Please adhere to the following text guidelines:

• The text should be organized into four section headings as follows:

• Introduction: A brief statement about the purpose of the study and pertinent background information.
• Methods: The method(s) of study or data collection employed. 
• Results: A summary of study research, including sufficient details to support your conclusions.
• Conclusion/Implications A statement explaining the significance of your work and the implications for further research, practice and/or policy.

• Do not use right justify or center text.
• Do not include images, and/or graphs and tables.
• Use the appropriate letters and numbers (e.g., 0 -zero vs. the letter O).
• Use only one space after colons and periods.

Abstract Authors

Contact information must be provided for each author.     No more than six (6) authors should be listed on an abstract. Additional requirements for authors include:

• At least one author with an active ACOG membership and an ACOG ID listed. (Abstracts which do not list at least one author who is an ACOG member will be automatically withdrawn from consideration for selection.)
• A designated presenting author (this can be the same as the primary, but both must be listed).
• Each abstract must have one and only one primary author and one and only one presenting author 
• The role of any additional authors should be identified by selecting the appropriate ‘Author Role’ as the author is added to the submission. The total number of authors cannot exceed six.
• Each abstract must have one and only one presenting author. The presenting author must be one of the authors already listed on the abstract, either as the primary author or one of the secondary authors.  
• An individual may be the primary author for only one oral presentation. All authors are limited to 3 film abstract submissions. There is no limit on the total number of abstracts submitted for ePosters, nor is there any limitation on the number of times an individual may be listed as a secondary author for any of the three submission types. 
• The presenting author of accepted submissions must register and will be required to attend the 2021 Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting to present the abstract.
• Additional authors cannot be added to the abstract after the submission site is closed.

Disclosures and Author/Speaker Agreement

• The submitting author is responsible for providing contact information for all secondary authors. This information must include their full name, degrees and their own unique email address for inclusion on the abstract. 
• In accordance with requirements from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), each author listed on the abstract must disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests as it pertains to the content of the presentation. 
• The Disclosures and Author/Speaker Agreement forms must be completed by each author individually before the abstract is submitted, even if there are no financial relationships to disclose. (The submitter will be able to invite each author through the submission site to complete their own disclosure form. Each author will receive an email invitation that will allow  them to sign in and access their own disclosure form to fill out for this submission).
•  If all of the individual forms have not been completed, the abstract will be deemed incomplete and will not be reviewed or considered for acceptance. 

*Please note: Accepted abstracts for 2021 Annual Meeting will not be published in the Green Journal supplement but will be uploaded to the ACOG website with accompanying ePoster.

Review and Selection Processes

All submissions received by the published due date will be independently peer-reviewed and scored by the Committee on Scientific Program based on the following criteria: 

• Relevance to the field of obstetrics and gynecology 
• Scientific merit
• Originality

Call for Late-breaking Abstract and Film Submissions will open January 19 and close January 26, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET (no exceptions). Submission site will be available at this time.

Questions: All questions should be emailed to abstracts@acog.org.