General programme guidelines

Ophthalmic programme:

The ophthalmic programme is open for involvement from local and international ophthalmologists as presenters, chairs and panellists. All abstracts will however be evaluated by the local organising committee. As many relevant abstracts as possible will be considered for inclusion in the programme given that they are up to standard.

In certain instances, the local organising committee may invite speakers from outside ophthalmological circles to present in the ophthalmological programme. This may include speakers from other medical and academic disciplines related to the field of ophthalmology. This is strictly on an invite-only basis by the local organising committee.

The programme is not open for groups outside ophthalmology that have not been invited by the local organising committee.

Allied health programme:

Members of the local organising committee (LOC) are tasked to compile the allied health programme and they reserve the right to determine the speakers and content of the programme.

Where necessary, the input or approval of the OSSA EXCO may be required to approve the programme. The LOC will usually invite the speakers and are encouraged to invite speakers from within their region and if experts from outside of ophthalmology are approached, a limited budget is available for speakers’ travel and accommodation that normally would not attend the OSSA congress.

Trade symposia and masterclasses:

A company may pay for one of the scheduled trade symposia and masterclasses may use the time to promote their products and services within as allocated per symposium or masterclass. If an international speaker is invited to speak in a trade symposium, the speaker will not automatically be included in the main ophthalmic programme, but the option may be discussed with the LOC if the speaker is an ophthalmologist.

Abstracts submission for the main Ophthalmology programme at OSSA 2024.

Before starting the submission process, please carefully read the criteria and conditions below.

• Only papers by Ophthalmologists and Registrars will be considered for presentations.
• Inclusion of abstracts into the programme require full payment of registration fees for the congress.
• Abstracts should be submitted before 31 August 2023. There is no possibility for late abstract submissions.
• If you have not received acknowledgment of receipt of your abstract directly after submission please e-mail the organisers.
• Authors will be informed of the acceptance of their abstracts by 2 October 2023. Confirmation will also be given as to whether it will be an oral or a poster presentation.
• Withdrawal of an abstract: In case you want to withdraw your abstract after submission, please send an e-mail before 2 October 2023 to ossacongress@rkcommunication.co.za
• Please visit the congress website to submit your abstract online or click this link (link to be added in designed file).
• Only abstracts submitted via the online platform will be considered to inclusion in the academic programme.
• When completing the online abstract submission form (link to be added in designed file), please have your abstract in word format ready to be uploaded. Only abstract that are in line with the structure and guidelines stipulated below will be considered for inclusion in the academic programme.
• If you have any difficulty in submitting your abstract online, it is your responsibility to make contact with the congress organisers via e-mail
• Click here (link to be added in designed file) to upload your abstract
• All expenses such as registration, travel and accommodation associated with the presentation of an abstract remain the responsibility of the presenter.

Two options:

1. Oral presentation: 10 minutes for presentation (Discussion will take place at the end of the session).
2. Poster presentation (There will be a poster session during lunch on Saturday in the exhibition hall.)

Guidelines:

• Only ophthalmologists & registrars in ophthalmology are invited to submit abstracts for consideration and inclusion in the Ophthalmologists programme.
• Authors must state whether they wish their presentations to be considered as oral OR poster presentation or whether they would be prepared to do a poster presentation if their oral presentation cannot be accommodated. Please refer to the online submission link (link to be added in designed file).
• Abstracts should not exceed an A4 page and have a maximum of 400 words excluding title in MS Word Format.
• The Academic Committee will make every effort to accommodate all qualified abstracts within the programme. Final determination of the type of presentation to be given and placement within the program will be the responsibility of the Programme Committee.
• Language: Abstracts must be written and presented in English. Careful typing and proofreading are essential. A programme like Grammarly could be helpful https://www.grammarly.com/.
  If accepted, the abstract will be published as submitted. Errors, misspellings, incorrect hyphenation, and deviations from the use of correct English will be glaringly apparent in the published abstract. Once the abstract is submitted, changes, corrections or rewording will not be possible.
• Images, tables and graphs: Images are not permitted, as they do not reproduce well. Brief and clear tables or graphs are accepted (maximum of 1 page). If the tables / graphs submitted exceed 1 page, those exceeding the limit will be excluded from publication.
• Standard abbreviations may be used without definition. Non-standard abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and placed in parentheses after the first use of the word or phrase.
• Papers will only be accepted on the understanding that the main author or a co-author will personally present the paper.
• Supplemental materials are not required, but you may provide information sheets to fellow attendees.
• Co-authors must agree with the results stated and have consented to be included as authors.
• Acceptance and presentation of oral presentations and posters require full payment of registration fees for the Congress.
• Registrars who want to be considered for the registrar award, must clearly indicate this on their abstract submission form and the form must be accompanied by a letter from their academic Head of Department confirming that they are registrars or have qualified within the last two years and the research being presented was commenced during their registrar time.
• Further acknowledgement will be given where it is demonstrated that the research conducted has relevance to Africa and especially where someone has gone into the field to conduct research using practical clinical tools and methods.
• Where the results obtained have relevance for management decision-making in Africa this would further strengthen the presentation.
• Also considered in awarding the award will be presentation style, appropriate use of audio-visual equipment and that the presentation is completed within the time allowed.
• Registrars presenting for longer that the allocated time will be penalized.
• All participants must disclose any significant financial interest or other relationships they may have with the manufacturers of commercial products discussed in their presentations, panel or written materials.
• OSSA will take it for granted that good clinical practice is observed in the conducting of all research. This applies especially to clinical studies involving patients and patient care and includes the understanding that the appropriate ethics committee approval had been secured.
• The Congress Organisers & OSSA accept no responsibility for copyright infringements.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that the organisers have received your abstract.

Structure of abstract:

TITLE:

• Centre the TITLE in capital letters at the top of the page – use Arial font type (BOLD) and 14 font size.
• Authors should be listed by surname, followed by initials and affiliation (upper & lower case) – underlining the presenting author’s name.
  DO NOT include degrees, titles, institutional appointments or addresses. Do not use abbreviations.

Example:

A PROSPECTIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE
SIMPLE CONJUNCTIVAL CLOSURE AND THE ROTATIONAL CONJUNCTIVAL FLAP TECHNIQUES FOR PTERYGIUM SURGERY

Eksteen PJ, Stulting AA & Nel M
University of the Free State

BODY (Arial, 14 font size)

OBJECTIVES: State the main question / objective of the study / hypothesis tested

DESIGN & METHOD: Briefly describe the design of the study and how it was conducted, indicating sampling and inclusion criteria, sample size, treatment, duration of observations, etc.

RESULTS: Present the main results with an indication of variability (e.g. SD) and precision of comparison (e.g. 95% confidential intervals) where appropriate.

CONCLUSION: Limit the conclusion to those findings that are directly supported by the results. Implications and generalisations may be outlined briefly. Do not leave open lines between sections and do not indent headings. Headings should be underlined.

General programme guidelines

Ophthalmic programme:

The ophthalmic programme is open for involvement from local and international ophthalmologists as presenters, chairs and panellists. All abstracts will however be evaluated by the local organising committee. As many relevant abstracts as possible will be considered for inclusion in the programme given that they are up to standard.

In certain instances, the local organising committee may invite speakers from outside ophthalmological circles to present in the ophthalmological programme. This may include speakers from other medical and academic disciplines related to the field of ophthalmology. This is strictly on an invite-only basis by the local organising committee.

The programme is not open for groups outside ophthalmology that have not been invited by the local organising committee.

Allied health programme:

Members of the local organising committee (LOC) are tasked to compile the allied health programme and they reserve the right to determine the speakers and content of the programme.

Where necessary, the input or approval of the OSSA EXCO may be required to approve the programme. The LOC will usually invite the speakers and are encouraged to invite speakers from within their region and if experts from outside of ophthalmology are approached, a limited budget is available for speakers’ travel and accommodation that normally would not attend the OSSA congress.

Trade symposia and masterclasses:

A company may pay for one of the scheduled trade symposia and masterclasses may use the time to promote their products and services within this time. If an international speaker is invited to speak in a trade symposium, the speaker will not automatically be included in the main ophthalmic programme, but the option may be discussed with the LOC if the speaker is an ophthalmologist.

Guidelines for the preparation of posters:

• Click here to download a suggested poster template from the website. It is NOT compulsory to use this template.
• Our suggestion would be to make an A0 (9 cm x 84.1cm) poster (Portrait style). As this a standard size it is also more cost efficient when printing and laminating the poster.
• All posters should be laminated if they need to be used after the congress again. Unlaminated posters might get damaged when being removed from the poster boards. (Do not mount abstracts on heavy board – this does not hang properly.)
• Please bring your poster to the congress office upon registration. The organisers are responsible for pasting your poster to the poster boards with double sided tape.
• Posters will be displayed from the Thursday morning till the Saturday afternoon. It is the responsibility of the presenter to remove his / her poster(s) on Saturday, 11 March during lunchtime.
• Indicate the title of the presentation and its authors.
• Use block lettering for other portions of your presentation to add emphasis and easy readability.
• Keep illustrative material simple in using charts, graphs, drawings and pictures. Remember that illustrations must be viewed from 1 to 2 meters.
• Make captions brief, levels few and both clear.
• Make posters as self-explanatory as possible.
• Do not be overly ornate or artsy (this distracts from impact of your information).
• Do not make posters elaborate or costly, although it is necessary for posters to be made professionally.

Poster font sizes

• Text on the poster must be readable from a distance of 1 to 2 meters.
• The following font sizes work well:
• Titles: 72+
• Sub-titles: 54+
• Text 30+
• Sub-text 20+
• The actual font used can affect the appropriate font size: keep to a standard sans-serif font such as Arial, Helvetica or Trebuchet.