CALL FOR ABSTRACT
The Call for Abstracts is now available for your review and planning. The Abstract Submission Site is open since February 21, 2011.

KEY ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DATES
February 21, 2011 Abstract Submission Opening
July 17, 2011 Abstract submission Deadline
July 23, 2011 Email notification of Abstract Acceptance to Presenting Author

All participants are invited to submit an abstract on the listed topics for oral presentation or poster contributions. Abstract may only be submitted via internet filling the form.

GENERAL RULES AND GUIDELINES                       
Please take the time to read this section thoroughly before making your submission.

General rules and guidelines
please take the time to read this section thoroughly before making your submission since there are several key issues highlighted in the following.

1. Abstract submissions are considered for poster and oral communication.

2. Each abstract will be peer reviewed for
  (a) scientific content,
  (b) the scientific merit of the research

General Rules
Submission of abstracts for review is governed by the following rules established
by the scientific committees of the Meeting:

3. You may not submit an abstract on behalf of someone else if you are not listed as
one of the authors.

4. You must obtain the approval of all co-authors before placing their names on the abstract. Failure to do so will result in the immediate rejection of the abstract.

5. Abstracts should not be submitted if the research represented by the abstract has already been accepted for publication in a journal.

6. Abstracts must be received through electronic submission by the deadline. Photocopies, facsimile, or e-mail copies will not be accepted and will be discarded.

Guidelines

Criteria for Abstract Acceptance
The General Meeting Program Committee has established rules for the submission of abstracts. Each abstract will be reviewed for adherence to these rules and then the scientific content and presentation. The elected division officers conduct the peer-review process and have the authority to accept or reject any submission.

1. The main factors considered by the Program Committee (and the division reviewers) in qualifying abstracts for acceptance are:
- The quality of the research
- The content of the abstract
- Adherence to submission criteria

2. Abstracts will be rejected by the reviewers for the following reasons:
- No Hypothesis: The abstract does not clearly indicate the reason for conducting the research and the question being tested by the experiments performed.
- Inadequate Experimental Methods: The investigators failed to describe procedures used or neglected to include important or essential controls.
- Insufficient Data Presented: The investigators failed to show the outcome(s) of their research. Insufficient data are presented to support the authors' conclusion(s).
- No Summary Form of Essential Results: The investigators failed to concisely summarize the result(s) of their research.
- No Conclusion: The investigators failed to describe the conclusions of their research with regard to the hypothesis being tested.
- Duplicate Abstract: The abstract contents substantively overlap with contents of another submitted abstract by the same author or co-author. Only the last version of the abstract will be considered.
- Promotional in Nature: The abstract was written to promote a specific product or procedure on behalf of a specific company or organization.
- Poorly written: Improper use of the English language renders the abstract incomprehensible.

Notifications
Once an abstract has been received, the only means of communication and notification of status will be by e-mail. Therefore, it is very important that a valid and current e-mail address be on record to help speed the notification process.
It is incumbent on the presenting author to notify of an e-mail address or other contact information changes.

PREPARING AND SUBMITTING YOUR ABSTRACT
Preparing your abstract for submission includes several key elements. Please review them here.

Preparing the abstract

Key Elements
The use of an electronic submission process requires that each abstract submission includes the following discrete elements:

• Title - The title should clearly identify the contents of the abstract. Be sure to use title casing.  Capitalize the first letter of each word except prepositions, articles, and species names. Italicize scientific names of organisms (e.g., Candida albicans).
• Authors and Affiliations - Each Author is entered separately. Each name is entered by completing fields for first (given), middle initial(s) and last (family) name. First names should be complete and not just given as an initial. You should provide information on each author's institution/affiliation.
  Do not give department, division, branch, street address, etc. when completing the institution information. Enter the City and State/Province (if from the United States or Canada) and zip/postal code. If an author is from a country other than the United States, be sure to provide this information. Use abbreviations whenever possible. You will be able to designate the presenting author, add additional affiliations, and modify the order of the authors using the appropriate tools in the submission area. Please note that it is a Congress policy to list authors using all initials and last name regardless of how entered. The submission system will insert affiliation superscripts and show the presenting author in bold face type. Therefore, a if the following authors were listed for an abstract, 

• Abstract Text - The text of each abstract should consist of no more than 2500 characters (including spaces and title). The abstract text may be typed in any standard word processing program.

Insert sub or superscripts, boldface, italics, or other required symbols as necessary. Tables, if presented, should be as simple as possible since they will be reduced in size in the final product to fit in a column approximately 2.5" (6.4 cm) in width. Graphics (graphs, pictures, etc.) are not recommended as (1) they are very difficult to properly size in the space available and (2) will be printed in black and white.

Other Information
The following information must be provided with your submitted abstract:

• Contact Information
  Regardless of who submits the abstract, the Organising Secretariat will correspond with the presenting author. Therefore, complete mailing address information, telephone number, e-mail address and facsimile number for the presenter must be given in the abstract submission. Please be sure that the address you provide is complete in order for either standard mail or e-mail to reach the presenter.
  
  The presenting author must be available at the Congress for the poster session in which the paper is scheduled. If the author becomes unavailable, a co-author must be ready to substitute and present the poster.

• Subject Categories
  After the abstract is prepared, you must choose a subject category designation from the Topic Category List and indicate that designation with your abstract submission.

Submitting Your Abstract

1. Prepare and format your abstract title and text separately in the word processing program of your choice. Ensure you have all the information you need as indicated on the "Abstract Submission" form on this website.

2. To submit an abstract, click on Abstract.