Writing a Powerful Meeting Abstract

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Writing a Powerful Meeting Abstract

• APS Professional Skills Course
• Making Scientific Presentations
• Critical First Skills

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Why Submit an Abstract to a Meeting?

• Present your scientific findings
• Exercise writing and speaking skills
• Receive timely peer-review
• Networking opportunities

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Before Writing the Abstract

• Be confident of your data
• Chose an appropriate meeting
• Know your audience
• Know the time frame for the meeting
• Scheduled oral poster sessions
• Be prepared to accept any time slot

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Understand Submission Requirements

• Deadline for abstract submission
• Day ? Specific time?
• Forms required
• Paper vs. on-line submission
• Membership requirements
• Abstract submission fee
• Process for abstract selection
• All accepted or reviewed

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Why Write a Great Abstract?
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A Great Abstract

• Self-contained summary of work and significance
• Important in attracting scientists to your poster
  or oral presentation
• Demonstrates your skills to potential future
  employers and collaborators
• Citation for CV

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Meeting vs. Journal Abstract

• Different focus
• Meeting vs. journal article
• Meeting abstracts
• Journal abstracts discussion to follow

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Effective Title

• Key element describing the content of study
• Commands attention from attendees
• Intriguing title makes people stop and read
• Deciding factor on whether to read the abstract
• Targets presentation to the right scientific
  session

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Writing the Title

• Most important part of the poster
• Tells the complete story
• Is not ambiguous
• Includes model system
• Should be short and succinct
• 1-2 lines only

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Remember

• A strong title commands attention from readers
• An intriguing title makes people stop and read

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Title Tips

• Begins with an important word
• Avoid Effect of and other waste words
• Be succinct (there are often word limits)
• Be specific
• Avoid catchy or cute titles
• Use of colons, question marks, and Part 1
• OK if really necessary

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How Could These Titles Be Improved?

• Carbon monoxide causes changes in cerebral
  arteries
• The effect of hepatitis virus on apolipoprotein
  B100

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Actual Titles

• Mouse cerebral arteries dilate to carbon monoxide
• Hepatitis C virus inhibits apolipoprotein B100
  secretion

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Take 2

• Take 2 minutes and using the worksheet, write as
  many titles as you can think of for your abstract
• Then, when you go into your small groups, do the
  2nd half of that exercise and try to come up with
  a new dynamic title!

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Writing the Meeting Abstract

• New data, not previously presented
• Usually a single paragraph
• Self-contained description of the major parts of
  the study
• Follow the meetings requirements and guidelines
  (if not specifically stated, its up to you)
• Word limits
• Space limitation (specific dimensions or box)
• Sections allowed/required
• Font size, capitalization and indentation
• Allowable figures and tables

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Parts of a Meeting Abstract

• Background
• Hypothesis/Aim
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions/Significance
• Acknowledgements

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Background

• 1-3 sentences
• Describe general topic why its important
• Include enough background to set stage
• May include limited references to relevant
  literature

• Alcohol (ALC) intoxicated traumatic injury
  victims in the US have mortality rates higher
  than 50. One of the most critical determinants
  of outcome within the first 48 hours of injury is
  the victims mean arterial blood pressure (MABP)
  at the time of admittance into the emergency
  department.
• Williams-Mathis. EB 2007

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Hypothesis

• 1-2 sentences
• Specific question being investigated
• State as a hypothesis
• Not imperative that the word hypothesis is used

• We hypothesized that attenuation of
  neuroendocrine and sympathetic nervous system
  (SNS) responses to HS plays a significant role in
  the accentuated hemodynamic instability in AAI
  animals. We investigated whether choline, a
  precursor of acetylcholine (ACH), would improve
  hemodynamic stability in AAI animals.

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Methods

• 1-2 sentences
• Keep fairly general
• Include any new or innovative methods
• Describe model system used (rat, human, in vivo)
  include specifics if needed (strain)

• Chronically-catheterized, conscious male
  Sprague-Dawley rats received a primed (1.75 g/kg)
  continuous (250-300 mg/kg/h) 15-h intragastric
  (IG) infusion of 30 ALC or isocaloric/isovolumic
  dextrose (DEX). Animals underwent fixed-volume
  (50) HS and fluid resuscitation (FR 3X blood
  volume removed), 15 min after ICV choline
  administration.

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Results

• 1-3 sentences
• Summary of main outcomes for THIS study
• Data can be included
• Limited amount and clear presentation

• AAI (174 13 mg/dL) decreased basal MABP
  (-15), accentuated the initial drop in MABP
  (-20 at 15 min) and prevented restoration of
  MABP at the end of FR (all plt0.05). ICV choline
  increased basal MABP (17), but did not alter
  the initial decrease in MAP nor the response to
  FR in DEX-treated animals. ICV choline produced
  a similar increase in basal MABP in AAI animals
  but did not improve MABP throughout HS or FR.
  Baseline plasma epinephrine (EPI), norepinephrine
  (NE), and arginine vasopressin (AVP) were not
  altered by AAI. In contrast, ICV choline
  produced a marked increase in baseline EPI
  (198), NE (76) and AVP (145) which were
  abolished in ALC-intoxicated animals.

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Conclusions/Significance

• 1-3 sentences
• Clearly summarize significance of findings
• State conclusions when possible
• Speculate when not conclusive results
• Implications often included to indicate importance

• These results suggest that ICV choline results
  in immediate stimulation of SNS outflow, which
  does not appear to be sustained sufficiently to
  improve MABP response to HS in AAI. Current
  studies will examine if combined ICV
  administration of acetylcholinesterase and
  choline will improve hemodynamic instability in
  AAI HS animals.

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Acknowledgements

• Follow abstract submission guidelines
• Keep it short
• Acknowledge
• Funding support
• Technical assistance
• Disclaimers or conflicts of interest

• Supported by DOD-W81XWH-06-1-0236 and
  NIAAA-5T32AA-007577-7.

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Meeting vs. Journal Abstract

• Meeting abstracts have
• More background in introduction
• Methods discussed in more detail
• Data included
• Figures/tables on occasion
• References often cited
• Conclusions are expanded
• Implications often included to indicate importance

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Meeting vs. Journal Abstract

• Journal abstracts have
• Little background (found in manuscript)
• Methods mentioned only briefly and generally
• Data not included
• References never cited
• Conclusions limited (found in manuscript)
• Implications not included (found in manuscript)

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Remember a Great Title

• Will entice readers to read the abstract
• Will interest readers on your work
• Seek you and your poster for additional
  information
• Provide peer-review before you publish!

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Resources - Articles

• How to Write (and Review) a Scientific Paper
• and
• Why is Good Writing Important for a
  Scientist? Perspectives from an APS Journal
  Editor
• Kim E. Barrett, Ph.D.
• http//www.the-aps.org/careers/careers1/mentor/wo
  rkshop/01wrkshp.htm
• How to Write and Structure Your Manuscript
• Patricia K. Sonsalla, Ph.D.
• http//www.the-aps.org/careers/careers1/mentor/wo
  rkshop/01wrkshp.htm
• How to Write an Abstract That Will Be Accepted
  for Presentation at a National Meeting
• David J. Pierson, M.D., FAARC
• http//www.rcjournal.com/contents/10.04/10.04.120
  6.pdf

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Resources Books

• How To Write Publish a Scientific Paper (6th
  ed.) (ISBN 0-313-33040-9)
• Robert A. Day Barbara Gastel, 2006, Greenwood,
  29.95
• Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers
  (ISBN 0-07-134544-2)
• Mimi Zeiger (2nd ed.), 2000, McGraw-Hill
  44.10
• Successful Scientific Writing (ISBN
  0-521-78962-1)
• Janice R. Matthews, John M. Bowen, and Robert W.
  Matthews (2nd ed.), 2005, Cambridge Univ., 29.00

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Resources Web Sites

• International Guidelines of Journal
  Editorshttp//www.icmje.org/
• University of Wisconsin, Madison Writing Center -
  Writers Handbook
• http//www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ScienceRepor
  t.html
• George Mason University Department of Biology A
  Guide to Writing in the Biological Sciences The
  Scientific Paper
• http//classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingg
  uide/ScientificPaper.htm