Abstracts

fPlease adhere to the guidelines when preparing abstracts. Abstracts that are not correctly formatted will not be reviewed.

How to submit an abstract

The online abstract submission system is a simple step-by-step process, which starts with creating an account (or logging back into the account you created earlier, to edit an abstract or submit further abstracts). There is an abstract template for download and the online system will prompt the submitter to provide the required information.

Contacts

The person who submits the abstract will be the contact person for the abstract. This contact person must enter the online submission portal and create an account with an email and password. Please keep a record of these details as they will be required when logging into the BSG abstract submission system.

The submitter is required to provide contact information for all authors of the abstract and to specify who submitted the abstract and who will present the abstract. The submitter must receive permission from all parties before submitting the abstract.

Upon successful submission of the abstract, a confirmation email will be sent to the abstract contact, presenting author and co-authors. If the confirmation email has not been received, please check that the abstract is not left in draft and is fully submitted by logging back into the portal and checking on the Edit/View Abstracts page.

Please note that you can save your submission as a draft and return to edit the submission until the close of submission (see key dates above). The abstract cannot be edited after the close of the submission deadline. Draft abstracts will not be reviewed for inclusion in the programme. If you require any assistance regarding the submission of your abstract, contact [email protected].

Steps

The online abstract submission system is a simple process. The system will ask you to input the following details:

• The abstract’s title
• The preferred format (oral, flash poster presentation or e-poster or e-poster only) and topic
• The name, affiliations and contact email addresses† for all authors.
• Additional Information:
  1. Publication on the app and website
• All accepted abstracts may appear in the conference app and on the website. This is a condition of acceptance. These abstracts may be subject to editing. 

• 1. Agreement of the BMJ GUT Licence agreement

• Accepted abstracts will be published in Gut (BMJ) special edition. Authors of abstracts are required to grant an exclusive licence on a worldwide basis to the BMJ and/or co-owners or contracting owning societies (where published by the BMJ on their behalf) in accordance with our standard licence. 

• 1. Please state on behalf of all co-authors if you agree to the BMJ licence agreement. If requested the submitting author must be able to supply evidence of this to the BMJ upon written request. By indicating ‘No’, your abstract will not be included in this Gut edition.
     1. Copyright
        • Identify all text or other content forming part of your abstract in which you do not own copyright, and in each case obtain the copyright owner permission for the BMJ Group and BSG to reproduce and publish their material in any media, throughout the world, and to exploit all subsidiary rights for the duration of copyright. Without permission your abstract will have to be excluded from the published abstracts file. If you do not have any copyright restrictions, please state N/A. State in detail your text with copyright you do not own:
     2. Declaration regarding publication status
        • Papers must not be published or accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal prior to submission.
     3. Conflict of interest declaration
        • BSG intends to provide high-quality sessions focused on educational content that is free from commercial influence or bias. Thus, the person submitting the abstract is requested to declare any potential conflicts of interest for and on behalf of all authors during abstract submission.

• Co-author consent
• If your abstract has co-authors/presenters and you have provided their emails, do you confirm that you have received their permission to share their contact details (name, affiliation and email) with conference organisers, reviewers and session chairs/moderators for the purpose of conducting the review and compiling the programme? If they do not want their information shared with these stakeholders, the abstract will be excluded from the review and programme.

†Please also provide a non-NHS email for the main contact and the presenting author. We ask this to ensure that important conference information is received and not blocked by firewalls.

Abstract Template

Abstracts must be formatted using the BSG Abstract submission template. You must save as a Word file for uploading to the system. Only WORD files (version 2013 or later) will be accepted for upload.

Format

• Abstract length must not exceed 3,000 characters (including spaces) .This includes the title and figure/table. Please check this before submitting the abstract. Please note that Gut has a strict 3000 character limit, therefore, if an accepted abstract exceeds this, the end of the abstract will be cut off in publication.
• The title is limited to 20 words and must clearly indicate the content of the abstract.
• The main text of the abstract must not include authors & affiliations. This is to keep the abstract as anonymous as possible for review.
• Abstracts will be published in Gut. The journal applies this strict character count to help with layout, but also to help authors keep material back for full publication purposes. Any abstracts over this maximum character count will be truncated by Gut, with no exceptions. Do not include footnotes. Any references must be included within the body of the text and will be included in the character count.
• Drug and therapeutic agent names should be referred to by their generic names

Structure

Introduction: 1-2 sentences that clearly indicate the scientific question of the study and its clinical (or other) importance.
Methods: sufficient information to be able to understand the experimental design, the analytical techniques and the statistics used in the study.
Results: objective data answering the scientific question(s).
Conclusions: only conclusions directly supported by the results, along with implications for clinical practice, avoiding speculation and over-generalisation.

Figures and Tables

• Only one figure or table may be submitted.
• Text in these is included in the abstract character limit and may therefore reduce the number of characters considerably.
• Any figure/table provided must be submitted in monochrome.
• Keep any figure/table submitted as simple as possible for optimal reproduction. Figures will be sized to fit a single column so complex images with lots of detail are discouraged.
• The figure legend / table title should appear in the abstract text rather than as part of the figure or table.
• The figure/table should be cited in the abstract as Figure 1 / Table 1 (whichever is relevant)
• Images and graphics must adhere to the following criteria:
  Width: min 83mm
  File size: min 35 KB / max 1000 KB
  DPI: min 300

Spelling and Grammar

• Please ensure your abstract does not contain spelling, grammar, or scientific mistakes, as it will be published exactly as submitted. Linguistic accuracy is your responsibility. No proofreading will be done by the BSG, TFI Lodestar or Gut.
• Abstracts may only be submitted in English.
• Abbreviations should be defined on first use.
• Trade names can be mentioned in the title, as well as in the body of the text.
• If the abstract contains special characters, consider spelling them out or finding a transferable way for them to reproduce, to avoid errors in the published abstract.

Abstract Corrections

• During the pre-submission period, the abstract can be edited online as many times as needed, up to the submission.
• After the abstract has been submitted, it will still be possible to make corrections prior to the submission deadline. Click on View/Edit Abstracts to make any edits to abstracts.
• No corrections to the abstract text, authors, affiliations or change of presenting author are permitted following submission. Accepted abstract presenters will have an opportunity to request modifications up until 14th April 2025. After this, abstracts will be published in Gut as submitted. Further amendments after the 14th April 2025 will not be permitted.

Endoscopy Video Submissions

BSG will consider videos of endoscopic procedures as part of the abstract submission process. Those who would like to submit a video must accompany their video with an abstract in the usual format. If accepted, abstracts and accompanying videos will be publicly presented either as oral presentations or as Endoscopy posters. There will be facilities to show the accompanying video for those abstracts selected for posters. Abstracts will be scored along with their accompanying video.

Video format: Patient confidentiality should be maintained throughout the video. All videos should be no more than five minutes in length and be recorded in an easily accessible format (e.g. files ending with the extensions: mpg / mp4 / wmv / avi – queries to [email protected]
Video submission: All videos must be submitted electronically using We Transfer to [email protected].  For further information or help regarding We Transfer, please feel free to contact us. Please label the video file with the submitting author’s family name and the title of its accompanying written abstract.
Submitting accompanying abstract: All videos must be accompanied by an abstract which must be submitted via the abstract submission portal. Please choose “02. ENDOSCOPY VIDEO” as the topic for your submission.
Deadline to submit: The deadline to submit your video (via WeTransfer) and accompanying abstract (via Submission Portal) is the same as the main abstract deadline given above. If both files (video and text) have not been submitted, the submission will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed. Following this date, no submissions will be reviewed.

Review and Notification

All abstracts will go through a blind peer review carried out by reviewers selected by the BSG Programme Committee.

Notification of acceptance or rejection will be sent to the submitter, presenting authors and all co-authors as stated in the key dates above. Information about presenter bursaries will be shared at this time.

Registration of the Abstract Presenter

When notified of acceptance, the Presenting Author is required to accept the offer by registering for the conference (if not already registered) and paying in full by the abstract presenter registration deadline given on the key dates at the top of this document.

Presenters of accepted abstracts are entitled to pay the early bird registration rate up until this deadline. A link to register at this rate will be provided in the acceptance email. If the link is not used, the standard prevailing rate will apply. After this deadline, the prevailing rate will apply to anyone registering.

If a presenter fails to register by the deadline:

• The abstract will not be published in Gut.
• The abstract will be removed from the programme and all BSG-related publications.

Presentation, Modifications & Withdrawals

The presenting author of an accepted abstract must attend and register for the conference. All accepted abstracts will be published in a supplement of Gut, in the BSG conference app and on the online programme.

Changes to Title & Text

The abstract title and text must be correct at the submission deadline. Any changes in the abstract title or body will not be possible after the submission deadline. Abstracts in draft format will not be reviewed. Accepted abstract presenters will have an opportunity to request modifications up until 14th April 2025. Further amendments after the 14th April 2025 will not be permitted.

Withdrawals & Changes to Authors

Requests for withdrawal of an accepted abstract must be sent in writing to [email protected] by the withdrawal deadline (see key dates) to avoid publication in the Gut Journal supplement and final programme.

Addition or removal of author names will be permitted until the withdrawal deadline. Changes must be agreed in writing by all authors on the abstract. 

Changes to the presenting author will be permitted until the withdrawal deadline.  

Any withdrawal or change of presenters requested after that date will not be considered and the abstract will be published in Gut. 

Changes to the Published Abstract

It is the responsibility of the abstract submitter to check that the abstract as published in Gut supplement shortly after the conference is correct. If there is an error, this must be raised no later than 4 weeks after the conference, no changes can be made after this time.