Submission Guidelines

• All abstracts may be written in English or French. Texts written in other alphabets other than the above two mentioned cannot be saved by the submission system.

• If you wish to submit an abstract besides the two languages specified above, we recommend that you have your abstract translated and reviewed before submission.

• Abstracts can only be submitted online via the conference website: http://www.icasa2015zimbabwe.org/; those submitted by fax, post or e-mail will not be considered. All submissions will be acknowledged upon successful submission via the website.

• The abstract text should not exceed 2,500 characters. This structured abstract includes the following sections:
  • Background,
  • Objectives,
  • Methods,
  • Results,
  • Conclusions and Recommendations.

• The number of authors per abstract is unlimited. However, only one author can be listed as the presenting author.

• Use a standard font like Arial when formatting your text. This will help to prevent special characters from getting lost when copying your text to online abstract submission form. Always make sure to check the final abstract with the system’s preview function before submission, and edit or replace as necessary.

• Tables, figures, literature references, and acknowledgments should not form any part of the abstract’s content.

• It is the author’s responsibility to submit a correct abstract. Any errors in spelling, grammar or scientific fact will be reproduced as typed by the author.

• Abstracts must not have been published for presentation to any other national or international meeting. However, an abstract that was submitted but was not accepted in previous conferences are valid and may be submitted for ICASA 2015.

• Define all abbreviations and concepts in your abstract at first use.
• For therapeutic agents, only generic names may be used (trade names are not permitted).

• If you have any questions regarding your abstract submission, please contact the abstract support team at [email protected]

The Conference offers two options for abstract submission: OPTION 1 and OPTION 2.

OPTION 1

The first option is most suited for scientific research. Abstracts presented under the first option should contain concise statements of:

• Background: indicates the purpose and objective of the research, the hypothesis that was tested or a description of the problem being analyzed or evaluated.
• Methods: describe the setting/location for the study, study design, study population, data collection and methods of analysis used.
• Results: present as clearly as possible the findings/outcome of the study, with specific results in summarized form. Inclusion of gender breakdown of data is strongly encouraged.
• Conclusions and Recommendations: briefly discuss the data and main outcome of the study. Emphasize the significance for HIV prevention, treatment, care and/or support, and future implications of the results.

OPTION 2

The second option is most suited for presenting new knowledge or analysis that are important for understanding and responding to the HIV epidemic and its future implications. It is suited for information that was gained through systematic forms of knowledge production/ management, by means other than scientific research or evaluation including community level experiences and best practices in response to HIV and AIDS. This process must include some evidence provided through data obtained.

Abstracts presented under the second option should contain concise statements of:

• Issues: a summary of the issue(s) addressed by the abstract.
• Description: a description of the intervention, project, experience, service and/or advocacy.
• Lessons learned: conclusions and implications of the intervention or project. Data that support the lessons learned and evidence must be included.
• Next steps: possible next steps for implementation, or recommendations.

We encourage work that introduces new ideas and conceptualizations, research and understandings to the field, as well as analysis of both success and failure.

Abstracts should disclose primary findings and avoid, whenever possible, promissory statements such as “experiments are in progress” or “results will be discussed”.

Your abstract, if accepted, will appear in its full form in the abstract book, and/or on the abstract CD-ROM and on the conference and ICASA website. The CD-ROM will be distributed to all registered delegates at the conference.

ICASA Abstract Transparency Policy

An abstract can be submitted and may be accepted although it has been previously published or presented at a national, regional or international meeting, provided that there are new methods, new findings, updated information or other valid reasons for submitting that can be provided by the author.

If preliminary or partial data has been published or presented, the author is required to indicate the details of that conference, meeting or journal and the reasons for submitting the abstract to this conference. The Scientific Program Committee when making the final decisions will consider this information.

Gender Analysis in Abstracts

Inclusion of gender breakdown of data is strongly encouraged, and should be provided as well as a comprehensive gender analysis in the results section whenever possible. If applicable, your abstract should include the number and percentage of men and women who participated in your research or project, and gender dis-aggregated data. If your research or project was specific to one gender, please state.

Choosing Abstract Track Categories

The abstract track category is the general heading under which your abstract will be reviewed and later published in the conference printed matters, if accepted. Please choose the category which best describes the subject of your abstract. Refer to the Tracks and Categories page of the website to get more information.

Cross-cutting Theme

ICASA 2015 has identified a number of cross-cutting themes, with relevance across the five tracks. These cross-cutting themes will help structure the whole program of the conference and will serve as a basis for interdisciplinary sessions conveying presentations from various tracks and disciplines on relevant issues. In addition to choosing the track category, you may also indicate that it is relevant to your abstract.

Keywords

In addition to the abstract category, please indicate 3-5 keywords (free text, maximum 25 characters per keyword) in bold at the bottom of your abstract. The key words must be representative to the content of the abstract. If relevant, please specify subject/population, setting/location and objective/outcome.

ICASA Conference Profile

Before you can submit an abstract, you need to create a Conference profile from which you can enter the abstract system. You can submit one or several abstracts from your Conference profile. After an abstract has been created, modifications can be made until the abstract submission deadline. No modifications can be made once the abstract has been submitted.

Abstract Blinding and Review

All submitted abstracts will go through a blind peer-review process carried out by a reviewing committee. Three reviewers will review each abstract.

Notification of Acceptance or Rejection to Corresponding Author

Notification of acceptance or rejection will be sent to the submitting (corresponding) author by August 2015. Please note that only the corresponding author will receive email concerning the abstract and is responsible for informing all.