Kindly note that abstracts that do not fulfil the guidelines listed below will not be reviewed by the Scientific Committee.

Topic

Authors must choose one of topics below for every abstract they wish to submit. If an abstract fits into more than one topic, choose the most appropriate one.
Topic 1: Basic Science
Topic 2: Clinical: Diagnosis and Outcome
Topic 3: Clinical: Therapy and Observation
Topic 4: Epidemiology
Topic 5: Genetics
Topic 6: Microbiology

Topic 7: Nurses abstracts: Nurses may submit their scientific work under this topic. Of all submitted abstracts under this topic, three will be invited to deliver an oral presentation during the 14^th N-ECCO Network Meeting. Additionally, accepted abstracts will be invited to exhibit their work as hard copy poster presentations.

Abstract rules and regulations 

• The submitter certifies to be an investigator with a substantial involvement in the study presented in the abstract and having the right to submit and present the study.
• The submitter accepts responsibility for the accuracy and scientific content of the submitted abstract (please proofread the abstract carefully prior to submission!)
• The submitter accepts to be the contact person for all correspondence about the abstract and to inform co-authors about its status.
• The submitter confirms that all co-authors are aware of and agree to the content of the abstract and support the data presented. Furthermore, the submitter will be responsible for obtaining, and, upon request, providing proof that all authors have given permission for the submission of the abstract and agree on its content.
• The submitter confirms that the submitted abstract is an original paper and has not been published or presented at an international meeting prior to ECCO’20.
• The submitter confirms that the submitted abstract has not been previously published as an article/full paper at the time of submission.
• The submitter confirms that the abstract has not been already submitted for ECCO’20 by a co-author.
• Statements such as “data will be presented” in the abstracts are likely to lead to rejection of the abstract.
• Abstracts that include clinical trial data should follow the CONSORT statement
  
• Any financial interest in products or processes described in the abstract needs to be identified. The submitter is requested to tick the “Conflict of interest” box when submitting the abstract and to provide disclosure of interests and relationships through the abstract submission programme for each author. This includes stock ownership, membership on an advisory board or board of directors, corporate-sponsored research, or other substantive relationships.
• When selected for presentation, the copyright of the abstract is released to ECCO and permission is given for the abstract to be published in the JCC Abstract Book 2020, as well as on the ECCO Website and possibly an ECCO mobile application.
• Submission of an abstract constitutes a formal commitment by the author to present the abstract in the session and at the time decided upon by the ECCO Organising Committee. Any change in the presenting author needs to be communicated in the form of a written statement to the ECCO Scientific Committee. Failure to present the abstract for other than well-founded reasons will lead to rejection of abstracts submitted at the next ECCO Congress.
• The registration fees for the presenting author will not be waived.
• The submitter confirms that all co-authors are aware that the presentation material is intended for publication should the submitted abstract be accepted to the ECCO Congress.
• All presenting authors are kindly invited to personally sign the Publication consent form on their talks directly onsite in the speakers’ centre. By accepting the invitation for an oral presentation, speakers already tentatively give consent to recording of the talks and the online publication of the webcasts.
• ECCO will withdraw abstracts upon written notification from the submitting author by the deadline stated in the notification email. After this date, ECCO cannot guarantee that a withdrawn abstract will be excluded from publication. If circumstances prevent attendance, the presenting author must arrange for the presentation to be given by a co-author. Acceptance of the abstract obligates the author to present the paper.
• The submitter confirms that copyright permissions for all third-party material (including without limitation textual extracts or illustrations, photographs, maps, diagrams and tables) have been obtained.

Abstract format

• Title: should be brief and in lower case except for acronyms, names, first letter and after colons. Please do not use commercial names, non-standard abbreviations or author names in the title.
• Authors’ list: Please do not mention academic degrees.
• Structure: Abstracts should be structured in the following four sections:
  • Background: indicates the purpose of the study
  • Methods: describe pertinent experimental procedures
  • Results: summarise the results of the research
  • Conclusion: states the main conclusions
• Maximum length of 2750 characters (excl. title & author block, INCLUDING spaces). 
• Content:
  • Please use English (UK) spelling.
  • You can insert special characters (Greek or scientific characters) via the text editing bar or by copy-paste into the text box.
  • Abbreviations may be used if standard or if spelled out and defined at the first use (put in parentheses immediately after the first mention of a term or phrase). Compounds should be mentioned with the generic name, in lower cases.
• Abstracts may include tables (incl. in max. count of 2750 characters) and graphics and pictures (max. 4 per abstract). 
• The max. size of an image is 1,5 MB.