Abstract submissions

The correct category and topic must be selected to ensure correct scoring. The content of the abstract must be topic related. 

Please ensure that your abstract does not contain spelling, grammatical or scientific errors, as it will be reproduced as submitted. No proofreading will be done.

The work described in the abstract needs to have an appropriate approval under local, ethical and animal experimentation rules.

Only abstracts that contain original data that has not been published or accepted for publication in a print or online journal can be submitted. In addition, abstracts should present new data/trial protocols information or analysis, or data/information that has not previously been presented at a major obesity congress. Authors must ensure that no abstract has the same wording as a previously published abstract.

The inclusion of trade names/brand names is not allowed in the abstract. The mentioning of agents/molecules must follow the scientific standard for publications.

Conflict of interest: It is the intent of ICO to provide high quality sessions focused on educational content that is free from commercial influence or bias. Thus the submitting author of an abstract is requested to declare any potential conflicts of interest for all authors during the abstract submission.

The use of People-First Language is mandatory for the abstract to be accepted. Abstracts not using People-First Language will be rejected.

For standardisation, the acceptable length of the abstract is limited to 3000 characters and 45 lines, authors’ details and headers included. This also includes non-visible characters such as spaces as well as punctuation.

The abstract should be structured into the following sections:

• A title that clearly indicates the nature of the investigation
• Introduction
• Materials and methods
• Results
• Conclusions

One simple table can be included in the Results section with the following criteria:

• Maximum number of columns: 10
• Maximum number of rows: 20

Tables should be included as tab-spaced text (not key-spaced), or as Word tables. Carriage returns should not be used within cells. Tables will be reduced to one column width.

It is strongly recommended that figures should not be included. If figures are necessary, they should be of high quality, and lettering/symbols/lines should be clear and distinct as they will be reduced to one column width for publication. By default, they will be printed in black and white.

The system only accepts images that fulfil the following criteria:

• Image width: min. 50 pixels – max. 750 pixels
• Image height: min. 50 pixels – max. 750 pixels
• Image quality: min. 96 dpi – max. 300 dpi
• Image file size: min. 40 KB – max. 1000 KB
• Allowed file type: gif, jpg

Take care not to use I (cap i) or l (ell) for 1 (one), O (capital o) for 0 (zero) or ß (German esszett) for b (beta).

If references are essential, they should be within the text, in the form: (Murphy et al. BJU Int 2005; 95 27-30).

Abstracts can be saved in “Draft” status to be re-edited and finalised until the submission deadline. Therefore, the submitter will be required to create a user account.

Abstracts fulfilling all criteria can be saved in “Final submission” status. Only abstracts in “Final submission” status will be regarded as successfully submitted and considered for the congress.

Abstracts in the “Final submission” status can be re-edited and modified until the submission deadline.

An abstract can only be submitted if the “Declaration” on the online abstract form is read and accepted.

Accepted abstracts will be published in a supplement of Obesity Reviews, in digital format and are made available on the ICO Congress Website (https://www.icocongress.org/).

The submission of the abstract constitutes a formal commitment by the presenting author to present the abstract, if accepted, at the congress. A valid registration is required for the presentation of the abstract. Presenters of accepted abstracts need to be registered to the congress by 30 September 2022. Abstracts of presenters that do not have a valid registration by then will have their abstract removed from the programme and abstract book publication.

Should the abstract be selected for oral presentation, the presenting author, on behalf of all authors, may have to sign an agreement to grant ICO the right to record the entire presentation (audio and slide) and subsequently use it for educational purposes (with or without a fee).

Abstracts not adhering to these guidelines will be rejected. If you do not agree with any of these rules, you should not submit an abstract. The final decision about acceptance of an abstract will be taken by the Programme Organising Committee.

If you need to withdraw your abstract, a written statement reflecting the reasons for this decision must be sent to ico.abs@mci-group.com no later than 10 September 2022.