The Society of Toxicology (SOT) Scientific Program Committee (SPC) will continue its work this November with its annual review of abstracts for the 2015 Annual Meeting. In 2014, more than 2,600 abstracts were accepted. The SPC appreciates the time and dedication given to every abstract submission; however, not all of the abstracts submitted are accepted—for a variety of reasons. The submission and acceptance of high-quality abstracts that meet a standard of excellence are among the reasons that the SOT Annual Meeting is the leading international forum for new toxicological research. Therefore, to help authors craft high-quality, acceptable abstracts, the SPC has created this checklist of the top 10 pitfalls to avoid when writing your abstract. This list is presented from those pitfalls least seen to those most frequently observed by the SPC.
10. Poor writing that makes the abstract unacceptable.
9.An unclear connection and relevance to toxicology, despite the work being fundamentally sound.
8.Only presenting a review of published literature and not reporting new scientific interpretations or applications.
7.Providing an overview of a workshop, task force, consortium, or technical report instead of new data or knowledge.
6.Summarizing the development and/or evaluation of a database, but failing to identify its unique features or attributes that represent a technical advance in toxicology.
5.Not indicating the chemical, compound, chemical class, or known pharmacologic or toxicologic activity investigated in the study.
4.Describing a proposal or work in progress that has no results to report at this time.
3.Including little or no data, but indicating that “data will be presented” or “results will be presented.” Data must be available at the time of the abstract submission and be included in it.
2.Describing and/or promoting a commercial product of potential interest to the scientific community that would be more appropriately presented at an exhibitor’s booth. Information on becoming an exhibitor making this type of presentation can be obtained by contacting SOT Headquarters.
And the number one pitfall to avoid is…
1.Including insufficient detail, e.g., little or no experimental design or data.
We hope this Top Ten list gives abstract submitters some insight into the SPC’s review process. Don’t forget that the deadline to submit abstracts is October 7. For additional guidance in abstract preparation and submission, I encourage you to visit the SOT Abstract Submission Guidelines.