Abstract and Surgical Video Submissions

  • Abstracts and surgical videos chosen for presentation are selected at the discretion of the Workforce on Annual Meeting to create a fair and balanced program.
  • For any submitted abstract or surgical video, each co-author must complete his or her disclosure information in the Society’s online submission system. The abstract or surgical video will not be reviewed or considered for acceptance unless and until all authors have completed their disclosures.
  • Only electronic abstracts submitted using the Society’s online submission system will be considered for presentation.
  • Only authors (and not their assistants or other proxies) may complete submissions; authors will be responsible for the information provided via the online submission system.
  • The submitting author must attest that (a) all co-authors of the abstract have granted consent for the material to be submitted for presentation, and (b) that the submitting author has been granted the right by all co-authors to act on their behalf.
  • STS reserves the right to withdraw any abstract and/or surgical video from consideration or acceptance at any time.
  • In the event that a change of presenter must be made after the submission of the abstract, the replacement must be a co-author of the content in question, and STS must be notified in writing of the change. 
  • Once an abstract and/or surgical video has been accepted, additional authors may not be added.
  • If an abstract is not accepted as an oral presentation, it may be accepted as a scientific poster instead. The final determination on presentation format is at the discretion of the Workforce on Annual Meeting.
  • Presenting authors for each abstract (oral and poster) and/or surgical video must attend and be able to present in person during the STS Annual Meeting (or via the virtual platform required by STS, if the Society determines that in person presentations will not take place and a virtual presentation will be used instead).  In the event of extenuating circumstances in which STS requires in-person presentations but a presenter is unable to attend the Annual Meeting and is also unable to secure a co-author to present on his or her behalf, the presenter may submit a written request to the Chair of the Workforce on Annual Meeting for permission to make a virtual presentation.
  • Unless it is submitted as a late-breaking promissory abstract, no abstract that contains deferred outcomes data will be considered for program inclusion. If data are to be presented, they must appear in summary form from within the original abstract submitted. If there are any questions regarding changes in data after the abstract has been submitted, it is the responsibility of the presenting author to notify STS of this by e-mail at education@sts.org.

Required Submission to The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 

  • For each abstract that is presented orally or as a scientific poster during the STS Annual Meeting, a corresponding manuscript must also be submitted to The Annals of Thoracic Surgery for publication consideration before or at the time of the meeting. Authors must submit manuscripts separately via The Annals manuscript submission system (www.editorialmanager.com/annals). All manuscripts shall become the property of the Society. Publication of all manuscripts in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery is not assured. If a manuscript is not submitted to The Annals prior to or at the time of the STS Annual Meeting, a 2-year period of ineligibility for participation in the STS Annual Meeting will be imposed upon each author of that manuscript. The Editor of The Annals – at his or her sole discretion – may provide the author(s) with an extension of time in which to submit the manuscript when unusual circumstances are presented. The same 2-year sanction rules apply to each abstract returned for revision that is not resubmitted within 12 months of the request for the revision. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in unusual circumstances the STS Board of Directors or Executive Committee may waive the requirement that authors of an abstract accepted for presentation at the STS Annual Meeting submit a corresponding manuscript to The Annals of Thoracic Surgery for publication consideration. Requests for such waivers must be submitted in writing to the STS Secretary, and may be granted subject to certain terms and conditions.
  • Only unpublished work that has not previously been presented is allowed. The submitting author must attest that the material has not been presented or published elsewhere, will not be presented or published after submission and prior to notification of acceptance or rejection, will not be presented elsewhere if accepted for the scientific program, and – subject to any waiver granted pursuant to the terms of this policy – will not be published elsewhere if accepted for publication in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
  • If there is any conceivable question regarding similarity to earlier work or possible duplication or redundancy (whether compared to previously or prospectively presented or published material), it is the responsibility of the presenting author to consult directly with the Chair of the Workforce on Annual Meeting. If there is a potential conflict with an abstract or surgical video already presented or published, authors must notify STS by e-mail (education@sts.org) of the conflict at the time of submission. Failure to comply will result in the abstract being rejected.

Financial Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

  • Conflicts of Interest and FDA disclosures are required before any presenter/moderator will be allowed to present.
  • Every presenter/moderator must submit to STS his/her individual disclosure.
  • Presentations should not promote any health care device, drug, other product or service. If the presenter/moderator has any relationship posing a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest relevant to a session during which they are presenting or moderating, he or she may not make any recommendations regarding relevant products or services as part of that session. 

Slide Presentation Requirements

  • All presentations must be submitted and presented in English.
  • The first slide (after title slide) must show all required disclosure information.
  • Slides, handouts, and other materials utilized as part of an educational activity cannot contain any advertising, trade name, product group message, corporate logos, clinical trial logos, or logos of other meetings, or contain any copyrighted material for which the speaker has not obtained permission in writing for the use thereof in their presentation and provided a copy of such written permission to STS
  • The names of commercial products cannot be used unless the failure to do so would present a patient safety issue.
  • No patient identifying information can be visible within presentation materials (e.g., no names in echo scans, CT scans, or X-rays, and no photos of patients’ faces or identifying marks).

Additional Policies for Presenters and Moderators

  • Industry is not allowed to perform data analysis or present abstracts, surgical videos, or scientific posters.
  • Presenters/moderators are responsible for ensuring that the content being presented at the Annual Meeting is not duplicative and does not violate another organization’s publication guidelines and conditions.
  • Presenters/Moderators are responsible for ensuring that the content presented is accurate and not misleading. All presentations must be based upon the best available evidence.
  • Presented content should not include political or religious commentary, and all presentation content, including that which is displayed on the slide as well as verbally conveyed, must be professional and appropriate.  Content that contains bullying, disrespectful language or images, or other material of an explicit and/or demeaning nature is unacceptable.  All content should meet the Society’s values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • STS reserves the right to require modification or removal of content that does not comply with STS policies, and any such determination shall be final.

Potential Discipline
Failure to comply with these policies may result in the potential loss of privileges for future meeting participation, including but not limited to a 2-year period of ineligibility for planning or presenting at the Annual Meeting and/or other Society educational activities.  Violation of this policy by members of the Society may also result in the matter being referred to the STS Standards and Ethics Committee for possible disciplinary action.  

Approved by the STS Executive Committee June 24, 2020