Criteria for Abstract Review: Poster Presentation

Poster Presentation Eligibility: Undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, and graduate students

All abstract submissions for poster presentation are reviewed according to the criteria outlined below. All review decisions are final. There is no appeals process or opportunity to resubmit once an abstract is rejected.

Three main criteria will be considered by the review committee when reviewing abstracts for acceptance. They are:

1. A minimum of two authors in the author block (only one author will result in an automatic rejection)
2. Demonstration of a scientific problem (must contain hypothesis and/or statement of problem, methods/methodology used, results and conclusion)
3. Quality of written content

Abstracts must contain the following components and abide by the following guidelines in order to be considered for acceptance:

• At least two authors must be listed in the author block in the following order:1st Student presenting author; 2nd Research Mentor; 3rd Additional authors (co-authors, program director)

• Any abstract with only one author (the student) in the author block will be rejected.

• The abstract must contain a hypothesis or statement about the problem under investigation.

• The abstract must contain a statement of the experimental methods/methodology used.

• Essential results must be provided in summary form (even if preliminary). Do not state, for example, "results will be discussed."

• The abstract must contain a conclusion.

• Abstracts that show lack of care or quality control as evidenced by grammatical, punctuation, spelling, and typographical errors are reviewed less favorably.  Work must be proofread carefully before submission.

• Research proposals are not acceptable.

Criteria for Abstract Review: Oral Presentation

Oral Presentation Eligibility - Undergraduate students only (previous ABRCMS presentation awardees are not eligible)

Of the abstracts submitted for oral presentation, only the top eight undergraduate abstracts in each of the ten scientific disciplines will be selected for oral presentations. Last year, 257 abstracts were submitted for an oral presentation and the top 76 were selected. If an abstract is not selected for oral presentation, but the abstract is accepted into the conference, your abstract will be automatically assigned to a poster presentation.

All abstracts submitted for oral presentation will first be reviewed for acceptance into the conference using the criteria for poster presentations. Then, if accepted into the conference, the abstract will be reviewed for oral presentation using the following criteria:

• Validity of scientific project
• Originality and innovation
• Approach to problem solving
• Organization and clarity
• Conciseness

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