‘Tis the (Abstract) Season

Aloha and welcome back to the second of our blog series “Riding the Wave to Honolulu 2017”. I know that many of you have been hard at work this fall summarizing your data and preparing your scientific abstracts. This year the scientific abstract submission deadline will be on Wednesday, 9 November, midnight (US Eastern Time). I know that many of you have exciting new work to show the world in Honolulu next year.

As with last year, the abstract submission format will be in HTML5 format. HTML-based abstracts were launched last year by Mark Griswold. This has been a dramatic improvement in the abstract submission process and has greatly improved the overall presentation quality. This is particularly true for mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets that are increasingly used at the meeting to read the scientific abstracts.

Overall the abstract format will be very similar to last year with some minor changes. Changes will include an increase in the figure caption word limit from 50 to 100, a substantial increase in size of the figure thumbnails and the ability to print in standardized PDF format for archival purposes. Please visit the abstract submission site for further details. This is an easy to use, online submission that allows for generalized sections that provides maximum flexibility. This is perfect for abstracts that don’t fit the typical mold. New this year: Upon successful submission of your abstract, all co-authors will receive an email containing a link to view the HTML abstract. Co-authors will only be able to view the abstract and will not have the ability to edit. We hope these refinements will make the abstract submission process even better. Let us know how it goes!

Be sure to check out the new abstract categories! Although many are similar to past years, we have refined many of the categories to match the evolution of our field. We have also added two new categories for PET/MR, and an abstract category to show the world your non-proprietary software, including software libraries and smartphone apps.

Speaking of new categories, be sure to check out phase 2 of the MR Value Initiative: The Targeted High-Value MR Exam. The goal of this campaign is to identify areas where a new approach, using MR, can be used to answer a single diagnostic question as well as current standard of practice, but more economically. Be sure to submit your work to this exciting new phase of the MR Value Initiative.

After the abstracts are submitted on 9 November, the abstracts will be sorted and distributed to a large group of abstract reviewers. Reviewers are members of the society that dedicate a significant amount of time to scoring abstracts to help the AMPC design the best possible scientific program. The dedication and contributions of these reviewers is amazing, and I thank the reviewers in advance for all of their efforts. This is largely a thankless job but is vital to the success of the scientific program. If you are interested in becoming an abstract reviewer, please go to the Member Announcements page on our website, log in and fill out the online form.

As I mentioned in last month’s blog, the ISMRM will continue the use of Slack in Honolulu 2017. You can join the ISMRM Slack team here. For those of you not familiar with Slack, it provides a practical and easy means to facilitate online asynchronous conversations – this is not only for social interactions but also to generate discussion regarding science and all of the great work done by our members. The ISMRM will be creating dedicated channels for the oral sessions to provide live-feed questions and to facilitate continued discussion between the presenters and the audience after each session. Be sure to check out Slack’s tutorial page for pointers on how to use this terrific online communications tool.

Best of luck preparing your scientific abstracts! I am excited to see the amazing science being done by members of the society. Let us know how it goes with the second year of the new HTML abstract format!

Best, until next month,
Scott

PS: Remember to check out the new 6-day meeting schedule, noting that the first named lecture and opening ceremony will take place on Sunday, 23 April 2017. You can also reserve your hotel room and start planning for childcare.