Abstract Submission Policies
The ISHLT 2024 Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions is being planned as an in-person meeting. Accepted abstracts must be presented in person.
The person indicated as presenting author during abstract submission will be the sole point of contact for information regarding the submission and is responsible for notifying all co-authors regarding the outcome of the abstract submission and any changes to the program, as communicated by ISHLT, in a timely manner. The Presenting Author must register for the meeting and deliver the presentation in person.
There is a $25 USD nonrefundable fee for submitting an abstract.
Revisions to a submitted abstract can be made up until the submission deadline of 17 October, 2023, 11:59 p.m. EDT. After this deadline, revisions to the abstract are NOT permitted.
Submission of an abstract signifies that the abstract author(s) have given permission for the abstract to be reproduced in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation for distribution and/or sale by ISHLT.
Acceptance of an invitation to give a presentation based on a submitted abstract signifies that the presenter has given permission for his/her presentation to be recorded in digital formats of ISHLT’s choosing for distribution and/or sale by ISHLT.
Research based on an accepted abstract may not be presented if the abstract is published as an article prior to 10 April, 2024.
Abstracts accepted for presentation can be withdrawn during the presentation confirmation period in January. The decision to withdraw should occur only in exceptional circumstances and must be made collectively by all authors. ISHLT reserves the right to withdraw any presentation that is in violation of the Society's Abstract Submission Policies.
Any abstract author who accepts an invitation to give a presentation based on a submitted abstract agrees to present the data described in the abstract and may not present data not described in the abstract. Any presenter who does not present the data described in the abstract and/or declines the presentation invitation without arranging for the presentation to be given by an abstract co-author (pending approval of ISHLT), will be appropriately sanctioned from future participation in ISHLT meetings by the Society’s Board of Directors.
Submission of an abstract signifies that the author(s) agree and confirm that their study involving human subjects adheres to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association, adheres to the principles of the ISHLT Statement on Transplant Ethics, and meets the informed consent requirements of the institution and country in which the study was performed.
Submission of an abstract signifies that the author(s) agree and confirm that their study involving the use of animals conforms fully within current NIH, EU, or analogous national guidelines for the care and use of animals.
For purposes of blind scoring, institutional names must be omitted whenever possible in the title and body of the abstract. Authors are requested to avoid the use of commercially branded names of medications or devices. If a specific medication/device is only identifiable by its trade name, then this should appear in brackets after a generic description of the medication/device.
Abstracts must use scientific or generic names when referring to products. Should it be necessary to use a trade name, then the trade names of all similar products or those within a class must be used.
The information contained in the abstracts is embargoed until the abstracts are available online (1 March). The abstracts selected for plenary, oral, and poster presentations will be posted online in compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation FD. At that time, the embargo will lift on the data included in the abstract, including the abstract title, presentation time and date, and study authors. Information that goes beyond that which is contained in the four corners of the abstract (e.g., additional analysis, commentary, or updated information from those individuals and companies involved in the study) is embargoed according to the following criteria:
- For oral presentations: The embargo time is the start time of the session in which the presentation is being made.
- For poster presentations: The embargo lifts when the poster session containing the poster opens for viewing in the morning.
Content Validation
Fair Balance, Independent Content Validation and Level of Evidence
All recommendations involving clinical medicine in a CME/CE activity must be based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contra-indications in the care of patients. All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in CME in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.
Off-Label Uses and Limitations of Data
Presenting Authors must make meaningful disclosure to the attendees of a CME/CE activity when products or procedures discussed are off-label, unlabeled, experimental, and/or investigational (not FDA approved), and disclose any limitations on the information presented, such as data that are preliminary or that represent ongoing research, interim analyses, and/or unsupported opinion.
Additional Provisions
Presenting Authors must:
- Attest that CME/CE activity materials will be HIPPA compliant (i.e. using de-identified patient information when possible);
- Agree to obtain the necessary copyright permission(s) for any portion of the CME/CE activity materials that are not their original work or for which they do not hold the copyright;
- Agree to provide meaningful opportunity for questions or scientific debate during any live presentation;
- Agree to provide additional disclosure information if a financial relationship or interest is indicated.
Disclosure Policy
As an ACCME accredited provider, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) must collect financial disclosure information from abstract authors in control of educational content about all their financial relationships with ACCME defined ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. There is no minimum financial threshold; individuals must disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies. Individuals must disclose regardless of their view of the relevance of the relationship to the education.
Disclosure information must include the name of the ineligible company with which the person has a financial relationship and the nature of the financial relationship. Examples of financial relationships include employee, researcher, consultant, advisor, speaker, independent contractor (including contracted research), royalties or patent beneficiary, executive role, and ownership interest. Individual stocks and stock options should be disclosed; diversified mutual funds do not need to be disclosed. Research funding from ineligible companies should be disclosed by the principal or named investigator even if that individual’s institution receives the research grant and manages the funds.
The submitting author must indicate if an ACCME defined ineligible company funded the research study. If so, they must provide the name or names of the ineligible companies. They must also indicate if any of the co-authors are an owner or employee of an ineligible company.
Owners or employees of ineligible companies must be excluded from controlling content or participating as presenters in accredited education. There are three exceptions to this exclusion—employees of ineligible companies can participate as planners or faculty in these specific situations:
- When the content of the activity is not related to the business lines or products of their employer/company
- When the content of the accredited activity is limited to basic science research, such as preclinical research and drug discovery, or the methodologies of research, and they do not make care recommendations
- When they are participating as technicians to teach the safe and proper use of medical devices, and do not recommend whether or when a device is used.
Participants of an accredited activity are required to disclose all personal financial relationships, within the past 24 months, with ineligible companies. Financial relationships are those relationships in which the individual benefits by receiving a salary, royalty, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interest), or other financial benefits; and could affect activity content relevant to products or services of that ineligible company. An ACCME-defined ineligible company is an entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
The intent of this policy is to allow for a determination to be made as to whether any relationship may constitute a real or apparent conflict of interest. Disclosure that an activity participant has no relevant financial relationships must also be provided to the learners.