These Guidelines provide information about the types of submissions invited for consideration and describe the recommended structure for each category of scientific paper/presentation. They have been developed with the aim of helping authors to develop high-quality abstracts and scientific papers/presentations, according to the requirements established by the OMD Scientific Committee, in accordance with internationally adopted criteria.
1. General considerations
• Papers already presented in previous national events will be excluded.
• Each author can be first author/presenter of only one Oral Communication and of one Poster, but may co-author more than one paper.
• Papers may have up to six authors.
• The first or the presenting author will be the corresponding author, responsible for the contents of the paper/presentation and for passing on relevant information to co-authors.
• The presenting author:
o does not need to be the first author;
o must be identified with an asterisk following his/her name on the paper/poster (no asterisk should be added in the submission form).
o must be a conference attendee, with registration paid up by 17 July, 2023 (23h59 GMT+1);
o must have his/her membership fees paid until 30 June 2023 (23h59 GMT+1), if applicable.
• Scientific Presentations must fall into one of the following types: preclinical research study; clinical research study; systematic review; clinical case report(s).
• Abstracts must be submitted online at https://www.omd.pt/conferenceo/2023.
• Only abstracts submitted online at https://www.omd.pt/conferenceo/2023 will be accepted.
• Scientific Presentations approved by the OMD Scientific Committee may be published in a supplement of an international journal, after their presentation in the conference.
• The bibliographical references cited on the papers must be formatted in accordance with the standard Vancouver / International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), available at https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.
• The Scientific Presentations shall be presented in the conference and evaluated by the Scientific Committee, in order to select the OMD awards for each category:
o Oral Communication of Preclinical Research Study,
o Oral Communication of Clinical Research Study,
o Oral Communication of Systematic Review,
o Oral Communication of Clinical Case Report(s),
o Poster of Preclinical Research Study,
o Poster of Clinical Research Study,
o Poster of Systematic Review,
o Poster of Clinical Case Report(s).
• A monetary prize shall be awarded in each category, handed out against the issue of a receipt, under the terms of the applicable tax legislation.
• The Scientific Committee reserves the right to not award a prize in a specific category if no papers are considered eligible.
• Scientific presentations must comply with the OMD Code of Professional Conduct.
• The contents of the scientific presentations are the sole responsibility of the respective authors.
• Scientific presentations must have original content and take into consideration, namely, the provisions in Art. 61, no. 1, paragraph e) of the OMD Code of Professional Conduct. Authors are not allowed to use any content that may violate regulations concerning the protection of intellectual property, namely copyright and related rights, and industrial property.
• The authors are responsible for all third-party claims under the legal framework for the protection of intellectual property, including copyright and related rights, and industrial property.
• Difficulties in internet access will not be accepted as a justification for failure to meet deadlines.
2. General rules for paper submission
• Papers must be submitted online (https://www.omd.pt/conferenceo/2023) until 17 July 2023.
• All papers must contain an abstract in Portuguese and English. In addition, the categories of clinical case studies (posters and oral communications) must include the respective poster of the final work, in PDF format, written in Portuguese or English.
• All the fields in the form must be filled in.
• The title should have a maximum of 15 words and must not contain abbreviations.
• The keywords, from 4 to 6, in Portuguese and English, must be submitted in a specific section for that purpose and not included in the abstract.
• The abstract, in Portuguese and English, must have a maximum length of 500 words.
• The abstract must be introduced in a specific field for that purpose. It is not necessary to repeat the subtitles of each section (Introduction, Objectives, etc.).
• The conclusions should be objective and to the point.
• When submitting the paper/presentation, the sustainable development goal(s) integrated in the United Nations 2030 Agenda with which the work is aligned must be indicated in the respective field of the form included for this purpose. All information about the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda may be viewed by following this link: https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E.
• The abstract must not provide any references that may help identify the authors or their respective institutions.
• Submitted papers will be evaluated by the Scientific Committee of the conference, according to the quality criteria established for each category.
The abstracts of (clinical and pre-clinical) research studies and systematic reviews must contain information related to each section (see specific rules for these categories below):
• Title
• Introduction
• Objectives
• Materials and Methods
• Results
• Conclusions
• Sources of funding (if any)
• Conflict of interest disclosure statement (if applicable)
The abstracts of clinical case reports or clinical case series must contain information related to the following sections (see specific rules for this category below):
• Title
• Introduction
• Description of the clinical case(s)
• Conclusions
• Sources of funding and other support (if any)
• Conflict of interest disclosure statement (if applicable)
3. Important dates
• From 17 March 2023 to 17 July 2023 (11:59 pm – GMT+1) – paper submission.
• Until 17 July 2023 (11:59pm – GMT+1) – payment of registration of the author / presenter in the Conference;
• Until 29 September 2023 (11:59 pm – GMT+1) – notification of acceptance/rejection of the paper by the Scientific Committee and indication of the day, time and room where the presentation will take place.
• The presenting author must have his/her membership entirely fees paid up until 30 June 2023 (11:59 pm – GMT+1).
• Until 15 October, the authors of clinical research studies (posters and oral communications), pre-clinical research studies and systematic reviews will have to submit the poster related to the final work, in PDF format, written in Portuguese or English.
4. Oral communications
• All oral communications shall be presented before a jury appointed by the Scientific Committee.
• The presentation should not take longer than 15 minutes and will be followed by a 5-minute discussion.
Submissions must comply with these Guidelines, as well as with a specific regulation including:
• For clinical case studies, a poster of the final work, written in Portuguese, must be submitted in a PDF file within the deadline defined for the purpose, along with the submission of the abstract at https://www.omd.pt/conferenceo/2023. The poster should not exceed 160cm high and 90cm wide, before being converted into PDF, and must be below 20MB.
• In each category, oral communications will be evaluated by a jury appointed by the Scientific Committee, according to specific quality criteria.
5. Posters
Posters will be presented before a jury appointed by the Scientific Committee, on the date and time defined and communicated to the author / presenter.
The presentation should not should not take longer than 5 minutes.
Submissions must comply with these Guidelines, as well as with a specific regulation including:
• Clinical cases must be submitted in a PDF file, written in Portuguese, within the deadline defined for this purpose.
• Posters do not have to be printed out, should not exceed 160cm high and 90cm wide, before being converted into PDF, and must be below 20MB.
• Posters will be presented in electronic format using the means provided by the conference organization. The 5-minute oral presentation of the poster will take place before a jury appointed for that purpose – the location, time and manner being defined by the scientific / organizing committee.
• Depending on the logistical and/or sanitary conditions, the mode of presentation may be altered by the scientific/organizing committees, which in due time will inform the authors about the respective technical requirements.
• In each category, posters will be evaluated by a jury appointed by the Scientific Committee, according to specific quality criteria.
6. Specific rules for the preparation of scientific papers in each category
Please access the EQUATOR network website (equator-network.org) to see the reporting guidelines applicable to each type of study, in conjunction with these regulations. In the event of any inconsistency, the present regulations override the EQUATOR guidelines.
To see the specific guidelines for writing scientific papers in the various categories, click on the side menu.