Abstract Submission FAQs

Abstract Submission FAQs

When is the abstract deadline?
• The deadline for beginning a draft abstract is Friday, December 8, 2023, 11:59 pm EST
• Draft abstracts must be finalized and submitted by Sunday, December 10, 2023, 11:59 pm EST.
• Only abstracts with a "submission" status by the Sunday, December 10, 2023 deadline will be forwarded for review.

How do I access the abstract submission site?
• From the Annual Meeting website, under the Abstract page, use the "Access the abstract submission site here" link at the bottom.
• You must be an ARVO member paid through 12/31/2024 to access the submission site.
• Renew or join ARVO prior to accessing the site.
• You will need your membership account email address and password to log in to the abstract submission site.

I paid my 2024 ARVO membership dues before submitting my abstract. Do I still need to pay the Annual Meeting registration fee to attend and present my abstract?
• Yes. If a submitted abstract is accepted for presentation, the First Author must also register and pay the full registration fee for the Annual Meeting.
• A complimentary full-meeting exhibitor registration pass/badge is not a substitute for a First Author’s paid registration requirement.

My name and/or email address must be updated in my abstract submission account; what do I need to do?
• You can make any necessary changes to your name and email address on the submission site by using the down arrow by your name at the top of any submission page.
• If you update your name or email address in the abstract submission site, you must also update your membership account. Send your membership account updates to arvo@arvo.org.
• Your name and email address in the abstract submission site and your ARVO membership account must match. Whenever you enter the abstract submission site, your name and email address from your membership account record overwrites your name and email in the abstract submission site.
• The capitalization of your name is essential (i.e, Maria Smith). This action will help search for it, if accepted and published.

Why can I submit only one abstract as the First Author?
• The ARVO Board of Trustees determined that only one abstract presentation should be given by each First Author to offer as much opportunity as possible for Annual Meeting attendees to share their work with colleagues and participate as fully as possible in the scientific program.
• There is no limit on the number of abstracts that can be co-authored by an individual.

I cannot travel to the meeting. Can I still present my research?
• Members who know they cannot travel to the meeting can submit an abstract by selecting the "on-demand" option under "Presentation Type."
• After the submission deadline, you cannot change your presentation type to be in-person. If you later determine you can attend in person, your presentation will remain on-demand.
• If your abstract is accepted, an on-demand presentation fee ($85 for MITs and $125 for Regular Members) will be required to participate in this option.
• On-demand presenters will have access to other on-demand presentations, but not to all Annual Meeting content. There is no virtual meeting registration for 2024. Other select meeting content will be posted online, and members will have access to this content after the meeting.

What are the browser requirements for the submission site?
• Compatible browsers include Internet Explorer (IE) 9+, Mozilla Firefox 32+, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome 37+ and Safari 9.0.3.
• If you are using Internet Explorer to log in to the abstract submission site, it must be IE Version 10 or greater.
• Set your browser to Always Allow Pop-ups for the abstract submission site.
• If you cannot log in using your current browser, use a different web browser.

Experiencing Technical Difficulties?
If you are unable to access the submission site due to technical difficulties, please try one of the following before contacting ARVO:
• Check to make sure pop-up blockers are disabled.
• Clear browser cache/history and cookies.
• Open the abstract submission site in a different recommended browser; ARVO recommends using Google Chrome
• Make sure you have the updated version of the compatible browser.

What are the Commercial Relationship Disclosure procedures for 2024?
• First Authors must disclose ALL financial relationships with ineligible companies within the past 24 months and non-remunerative positions that may create a conflict of interest. Compliance staff will review the disclosures to determine relevancy to the presentation's content.
• First Authors must also collect and provide financial relationship disclosures of each co-author. Co-author disclosures should only include financial relationships with ineligible companies that existed within the past 24 months AND are relevant to the abstract.
• Employees of ACCME-defined ineligible companies (authors and co-authors) need to include code E (Employment) as part of their disclosures in addition to entering this relationship as an affiliation.
• If no financial relationships exist, indicate N (No Commercial Relationship) for that Author.

Can I upload my abstract?
• No; however, you can cut and paste the content from a Word document.
• Each section of the abstract body must be entered into a separate text field. In addition to the title field, the four abstract body text field headers are purpose, methods, results, and conclusions.
• Special characters: In most cases, Greek letters and other special characters will transfer from your word processing software. There is a special characters feature available if you need a special character that you are unable to find in your word processor.

Note: Italics, underline, bold, superscript, subscript will not copy from Word document text. Use the editing toolbar for each text box to apply italics, superscript, subscript formatting to your text. Underline and bold are not available for abstract titles/body text.

Does my abstract have to be entered in a specific format?
• Enter the title in sentence case. Do not put the title in quotation marks; do not use all bold text, do not use all caps; do not add a period at the end of your title.
• The four abstract body headings have already been formatted for you: purpose, methods, results, and conclusions. A text data field has been provided for each heading. If you choose to cut and paste your abstract body from a Word document, be certain to include the appropriate content in each of the headings’ text boxes.
• Do not duplicate the abstract headings within your text boxes.

How is the maximum character count calculated?
• There is a maximum of 2,500 total characters that includes all characters and spaces in the abstract’s title, abstract body and image captions (maximum of 2 images). Images, if included, are not included in the character count.
• Your total characters count is indicated in the header bar of the abstract title/body page and will recalculate your submission’s total characters each time that page is saved.

What are the guidelines for including images?
• One or two images may be uploaded.
• Images must be: High-resolution JPEG or GIF files with a minimum resolution of 600 dpi
• Only JPEG or GIF files are compatible with ARVO’s output
• The maximum file size of 1 MB
• Maximum image width of 3.25 in / 8.255 cm
• Maximum image height of 6 in / 15.24 cm
• A caption may be included by selecting "add the caption" after uploading your image.
• Tables, graphs, figures, etc. must be uploaded as a JPEG or GIF file.

How do I enter multiple clinical trial registrations in my abstract submission?
• If multiple clinical trial registrations for one abstract, you only need to list one.

Can I revise my abstract?
• Yes, any abstract that has been started as a draft by Friday, December 8, 2023, 11:59 pm EST, may be revised.
• An abstract that has been submitted by Monday, November 14 may be returned to draft, edited and resubmitted by the modification deadline of Sunday, December 10, 2023 , 11:59 pm EST.
• Use the same abstract submission link at the bottom of the abstracts webpage with your ARVO Membership account email and password to access your abstract.
• Select "view submissions" on the left sidebar of the submissions tab.
• From the bottom of the page, select "edit draft" for an abstract in draft status.
• If your abstract is already in submissions status, select ‘edit/return to the draft.’ After finalizing changes to your abstract, you must resubmit it from the bottom of the review & submit step before the Sunday, December 10, 2023, 11:59 pm EST modification deadline.

I want to revise my abstract, but I can’t remember my password.
• Use the same abstract submission link at the bottom of the abstracts webpage to access the abstract login page; then click “forgot password?”
• Enter your ARVO membership account email address and “continue."
• You will receive an email from info@arvo.org with a new password.
• The new password is case-sensitive, and should be changed to something more memorable to you.

How do I submit my abstract when I have finished providing my abstract data?
• In the review and submit step (step 6), an error box will appear and provide you with a list of any information that is still needed before you can submit your abstract.
• Each error will be linked for your convenience to return to that incomplete step and provide complete information.
• Once all submission steps have been completed, the error box will not appear, and a "submit" button will appear at the bottom of the review and submit page.

How can I be certain that my abstract has been submitted?
• When your abstract has been completed and successfully submitted, you will see “Success! Your submission was successfully submitted” in a green bar at the top of the View Submissions screen.
• You will also receive a system-generated email from ts.acsupport@clarivate.com to confirm that your submission has been received.
• On Wednesday, December 13, 2023, all First Authors with a submission status abstract will be notified by email to confirm their abstract has been submitted and will be forwarded for review.
• At that time, read-only access to your abstract proof will be available as confirmation of your abstract as it will be submitted for review.
• Add ts.acsupport@clarivate.com and arvoabstracts@arvo.org to your email address book or safe sender whitelist to facilitate delivery and avoid firewalls and spam filters. If you are unsure of how to add to your safe sender whitelist, contact your email administrator.

Can I make any changes/additions to my abstract after the Sunday, January 8th modification deadline?
• No changes, including adding, changing or removing authors, or any other edits cannot be made to any abstract after the modification deadline of Sunday, December 10, 2023, 11:59 pm EST.
• If selected for presentation, your abstract will be published exactly as it was submitted.

Can an abstract submitted for the ARVO Annual Meeting also be submitted simultaneously to a journal for publication consideration?
• Abstracts must be work that has not been submitted for formal publication or to a preprint server prior to the abstract submission deadline. After the abstract submission deadline, an author is at liberty to submit their abstract to a journal for publication consideration.

Can an abstract submitted for the ARVO Annual Meeting also be submitted simultaneously to another conference for presentation?
• ARVO’s goal is to have new research presented at the ARVO Annual Meeting. After the abstract submission deadline, an author is at liberty to submit an abstract to another conference for presentation if the conference dates are after the ARVO Annual Meeting.

When will I know if my abstract has been accepted?
• Notifications of acceptance will be emailed to First Authors on Thursday, January 4, 2024.
• Abstracts have not yet been scheduled at this date and may be scheduled for presentation on any day of the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting. Please, mark your calendar now. If your abstract is accepted, you must attend the Annual Meeting on the scheduled day/time, and it can be any of these days Sunday, May 5 through Thursday, May 9, 2024.
• Accepted abstract notifications with presentation details, including presentation type (paper or poster), presentation day/time(s) and the assigned session will be emailed to First Authors on Thursday, February 1, 2024.
• Changes to scheduled abstract presentation dates, times and sessions cannot be made; no exceptions.

What if I can't attend the Annual Meeting and make my abstract presentation?
• Please review the Abstract Withdrawal and Substitute Presenter Policy for complete details of procedures you must follow if you are unable to make your abstract presentation as accepted and scheduled by the AMPC.

If the First Author cannot attend the Annual Meeting to present, can a co-author take his/her place?
• Yes, however, ARVO must approve a substitute presenter request in advance.
• The First Author must request a substitute presenter through the online link included in abstract notifications and the Abstract Withdrawal and Substitute Presenter Policy
• Requests are considered only in cases of a First Author’s illness, family emergency, change of employment, or inability to obtain a visa.
• Substitute presenters must be a co-author on the abstract, be qualified to discuss all aspects of the abstract during its presentation, and must register for the Annual Meeting.
• Co-authors asked to serve as a substitute presenter will be required to complete the Substitute Presenter Disclosure Form to disclose ALL financial relationships with ineligible companies from the previous 24 months. The substitute presenter request cannot be processed until the new disclosure is received.
• Requests must be submitted before or by 2 pm Seattle, WA time (PDT) the day before the presentation and approved in advance by ARVO.
• An individual may be a substitute presenter for only one presentation.

When will the accepted and scheduled abstracts be available electronically?
• It is anticipated that the full text of all abstracts accepted for presentation and publication will be available through the ARVO Annual Meeting website in early March 2024.

How can I request a copy of an abstract that was presented?
• Abstracts from 2003 – 2022 can be found at on the IOVS website.
• For abstracts before 2003, contact ARVO at arvo@arvo.org.

How or where can I go to get permission to reproduce an abstract?
• Please send an email to arvo@arvo.org.

Does ARVO have the copyrights to my abstract because I presented at the ARVO Annual Meeting?
• No, as of Jan. 1, 2016, should the abstract be determined as copyrightable, all copyright ownership of the abstract shall be retained by the authors, subject to the rights granted to ARVO described in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the ARVO License to Publish.
• Please refer to the ARVO License to Publish
• Note: The authors hold the copyright ownership for the Posters and Paper presentations as well as for the abstracts.

How can I get assistance with my abstract submission?
• Help is available from the "help" link located in the upper right corner of each page of the abstract submission site.
• For technical support, email ts.acsupport@clarivate.com, Monday – Friday, 12 am – 8:30 pm. +1.434.964.4100 (toll-free U.S. only: 888.503.1050).
• For policy and procedure questions, contact ARVO at arvoabstracts@arvo.org or +1.240.221.2900.

Updated on: 21/09/2023