Policies and Instructions on Abstract Submission
Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons

Submission Deadline: June 10, 2024
(Please read all the below information before clicking the submission link.)

Policies Governing Accepted Submissions:

  1. Abstracts must be submitted online by June 10, 2024 to be eligible for review by the Program Committee.
  2. Submission of a corrected abstract is not allowed after June 10, 2024.
  3. Once an abstract is accepted, additional authors cannot be added.
  4. An orthopaedic surgeon, resident/fellow or a member of SOMOS must be listed as one of the authors. Presenters must be a medical student, resident/fellow or physician to present at the Annual Meeting.
  5. Acceptance or rejection letters and all future correspondence will be emailed to the Primary Contact listed on the Abstract Submission Form. Notification of acceptance will be sent by August 2024 to the email address provided on the submission form. 
  6. Abstracts not accepted for a podium presentation may be accepted for an E-Poster presentation.
  7. Withdrawing a presentation after acceptance will result in a 3-year probationary period. The primary author and co-authors will be unable to submit abstracts to SOMOS for consideration, unless there are reasonable extenuating circumstances.
  8. The paper is to be original, unpublished work.
  9. All co-authors must complete a disclosure form, or your presentation will be eliminated from the meeting.
  10. The Primary Author for all oral presentations will be required to submit a manuscript by October 1, 2024. Those who fail to submit by October 1st will not be considered for an award.
  11. SOMOS reserves the right to publish the accepted abstracts in a medical journal. This will not preclude publishing the manuscript in another journal.
  12. SOMOS reserves the right to withdraw a presentation at any time.

Instructions to complete abstract submission:

  1. TITLE: Make the title brief and clearly indicate the nature of the study/procedure. Do not use all caps. Please do not use similar titles for numerous submissions.
  2. CONTENT: The abstract must include four parts: INTRODUCTION should clearly state the problem and the purpose of the study; METHODS should provide a description of what was actually done; RESULTS should contain the findings of the study; DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION should be based upon the findings and relate to the stated purpose of the study and existing knowledge. Provide specific details about your research/study. A two-year minimum follow-up per patient is required for all results for reconstructive procedures and new or modified techniques as they relate to diagnosis, surgery, complications or other phases of orthopaedic surgical problems.
  3. LENGTH: The abstract should be typed on the form provided within space allotted (650 words max). Additional pages will not be accepted. Use English only.
  4. STYLE: Use title case for the entire title. DO NOT include company names, titles, appointments or addresses in the abstract. DO NOT use subtitles. Standard abbreviations may be used, when necessary. Do not cite references. Omit P values. No reference is to be made in your text as to authors, institutions, clinics, pharmaceutical companies, or specific manufacturers. Please check your work prior to submission. The Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons is not responsible for proofreading or accuracy.
  5. IRB Approval: IRB Numbers are required at the time of submission. If your submission is IRB exempt, please mark your submission as such when prompted. 
  6. DRUG NAMES: Nonproprietary (generic) names of drugs are required and should be written in lower case. Proprietary names are capitalized.
  7. SUBMISSIONS: An Electronic Submission form is provided below for all submissions. The abstract submission deadline for SOMOS’s 2024 Annual Meeting is June 10, 2024.
  8. NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE: The Program Committee will review Abstracts. You will be notified of acceptance by email by August 2024. The Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons reserves the right to withdraw a paper at any time.
  9. REGISTRATION FEES: All presenters are required to register for the meeting and pay the registration fee.
  10. MANUSCRIPT: The paper is to be original, unpublished work. Papers that have been previously published are ineligible. Papers that have been submitted for publication but will remain unpublished prior to the date of the Annual Meeting are eligible. If a paper is accepted but is subsequently found to have been published before the Annual Meeting, the Program Committee has the right to withdraw the paper.

Podium Presentation

Each Podium presentation will be approximately 4-8 minutes in length. Standard audiovisual equipment in the scientific session room includes an LCD projector and Windows Computer (not a Mac). Personal laptops will not be used for presentations.

Withdrawing a presentation after acceptance will result in a 3-year probationary period. The primary author and co-authors will be unable to submit abstracts to SOMOS for consideration, unless there are reasonable extenuating circumstances.

E-Poster Presentation

E-poster presentations will be shown for the entire meeting (4 days).

Awards

The Founder’s Award, Norman T. Kirk Resident Award, Jamie Dianne Bulken-Hoover Memorial - Best Hand Paper Award, and the Best Spine Paper Award selection will be done prior to the Annual Meeting. Award winners will be notified via email. The Louise House Award will be selected at the meeting and be presented at the Awards Dinner Thursday night.

The Founders' Award recognizes the best original paper with military relevance. The Norman T. Kirk Award recognizes the best scientific paper by a military Orthopaedic Resident. The Jamie Dianne Bulken-Hoover Memorial-Best Hand Paper Award recognizes the best hand scientific paper. The Best Spine Paper recognizes the best spine scientific paper. The Louise House Award recognizes the best original E-Poster presentation with military relevance.

Grading Process

  • Abstracts/Manuscripts will be read in a “blind” fashion. Your text should not reveal the authors or institutions of origin.
  • Graders are orthopaedic surgeons and are members of the Program Committee. Each abstract is reviewed and graded by at least four individuals/orthopaedic surgeons and the final grade is then averaged.
  • Grade is influenced by: significance of the study, content and clarity, specific number of cases or specimen studies, clinical or research data to support its conclusions, minimum follow-up of 2 years per patient for results describing reconstructive procedures, and new or modified techniques as they relate to diagnosis, surgery, complications or other phases of orthopaedic surgical problems.

Submission Agreement

  • All authors must agree to the following statements on the submission form for this abstract to be considered.
  • We, the listed authors on this abstract, submit this abstract for presentation consideration to SOMOS. We affirm that the information contained in this abstract fairly and accurately represents original work.
  • We agree that, if accepted for inclusion in a SOMOS meeting, the manuscript, published abstract and presentation will represent the same data as originally submitted herein.
  • We assume full responsibility for securing the necessary clearance and permission for publication and presentation from any contracting supervisory research agency holding presentation material copyrights. SOMOS requires that Podium Presenters, Co-Authors and all Poster Presenters provide their financial disclosure online.
  • We agree that any and all financial interest in the product or process involved with our research will be properly identified. This includes stock ownership, membership on an advisory board or board of directors, corporate sponsored research, or any other substantive relationship. Please note that financial disclosure does not disqualify an abstract from consideration or presentation.
  • We agree that disclosure will be made if a presentation includes substances or products not approved in the U.S. for the use under discussion.
  • We understand and grant release to SOMOS to make any recordings of our presentation. We authorize the recording of our presentation for any related purposes.
Submit Abstracts Here