SURGICON is an international congress with English as the official language. Being a surgical congress, each scientific paper should be related to the surgical field and be included in one of the 3 main scientific categories listed below. In order to submit a scientific paper, you should be registered as an Active participant, send your abstract prior to the deadline, and wait for the accepted abstracts to be announced. Each abstract can be submitted once per category (Oral, Poster or Debate) and only by one author who will register as an Active participant and will be the presenting author. In the case that the registered presenting author will not be able to present during the Congress, one of his co-authors can present the paper (only if the co-author is already registered as a passive participant and meets the eligibility criteria for active participation). In this situation, the registered presenting author must notify the Organising Committee of this change by sending an e-mail to scientific@surgicon.ro. Failure to do so in maximum 24 hours prior to the congress will result in failure to receive the certificate. It is not allowed for two or more participants to send the same abstract. There is a maximum of 4 co-authors for each paper.

All accepted abstracts will be included in the Abstract Book. Scientific papers already presented during previous conferences will not be accepted. Each participant can send a maximum of 2 abstracts, one in the Debate Section and the other one for Oral/Poster Presentation.

***IF ANY PROOF OF PLAGIARISM IS DETERMINED ALL POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED FROM THE FINAL COUNT.

What types of studies can you present?

The following types of presentations are accepted:

• Original research/ Cohort study/ Clinical study
• Review/ Meta-analysis
• Case report

ORIGINAL RESEARCH: It answers a wide variety of questions regarding the body's response to current or potential health problems. The purpose of this qualitative research is to describe, explore and explain the health phenomena studied. In this particular type of presentation, the introduction should explain the reason for performing this study. The Materials & Methods should present how the data about the population involved in the study (human or animal test) was obtained. In the results section, you should include the outcome and the conclusions should emphasize the particularity of this original study. 

COHORT STUDY: It involves identifying a group that is already under a particular treatment or subject to certain factors, tracking them over time and then comparing the results with those of a similar group that was not affected by treatment or exposure during the study.

REVIEW: It focuses on a clinical topic and answers a targeted question. An extensive search in the literature is directed at identifying articles that address the topic concerned. The studies are to be examined, evaluated based on their quality, and the results will be summarized in accordance with the initial hypothesis. In order for a review to be eligible as a scientific paper in SURGICON 2020 Congress you must provide the references that you used (at least 10 articles published in peer-reviewed journals included in the data) by filling in the References section in the Abstract submission form. Failure to do so will result in your abstract not being considered eligible for the Scientific Competition.

META-ANALYSIS: It is a statistical analysis that mathematically combines the results of multiple valid scientific studies on the same subject and reports their findings with a higher statistical power. In order for a meta-analysis to be eligible as a scientific paper in SURGICON 2020 Congress you must provide the raw data and proof of the statistical work behind your paper by sending the proof of data analysis at scientific@surgicon.ro. Failure to do so will result in your abstract not being considered eligible for the Scientific Competition.

CASE REPORT: It is a descriptive study where the observation of one or more patients allows the discussion of some interesting aspects of pathogenesis, diagnosis or treatment. The objective of the presentation is not to get an immediate certification or to test a hypothesis, but to assert qualities of clinical research and to provide some useful data to colleagues. It should describe a particular case useful for giving ideas for other research studies and should include a short introduction, patient data, symptoms/ problems and diagnosis, treatment plans (components, administration, results/ prognosis) and conclusions.

Abstract Structure

The presentation type should be selected during the submission process. The Scientific Department reserves the right to change the Oral presentations to Poster presentations, with prior notification of the presenting author through email according to the availability of the Scientific Programme and the results of abstract evaluation by the specialists in the scientific committee. 

All abstracts must have up to 300 words (the only exception being the abstracts for the Debate Competition, in which case the limit is 600 words) and respect one of the following structures:  

CASE REPORT

• Introduction:  this includes the purpose of the presentation and general data about the patient's pathology: informative data aiming at reminding the notions of embryology, anatomy, physiology;
• Case Presentation:  case presentation, differential diagnosis, pathophysiology, treatment/ management and and the patient’s evolution;
• Conclusion:  the conclusion should emphasize the learning points and particularities of the case;
• Keywords.

ORIGINAL STUDY/ COHORT STUDY/ CLINICAL STUDY

• Introduction:  the introduction should present the background to the work that has been carried out and should lead to a clearly stated hypothesis or set of objectives;
• Materials & Methods:  in this field, the researcher should specify exactly what was done experimentally and what experimental techniques were used;
• Results:  authors should consider how to present their data. There should be sufficient information for the reader to understand the obtained results, but they must be presented without details;
• Limitations:  in this section, you should present the eventual shortcomings of your study and how they can be improved in the future;
• Conclusion:  the conclusions have to be based on the facts in evidence and should be limited to minimal speculation about the significance of the work;
• Keywords.

REVIEW/ META-ANALYSIS

• Introduction: it is a brief presentation of what is known about the subject under discussion, what other articles say about this topic and what the primary target of the review is;
• Materials & Methods:
  • Review: in this field, you should specify information related to your sources, search terms, inclusion criteria for articles, number of articles selected/ the number of articles analysed in the paper, the period from the oldest study to the most recent one and other information related to data selection;
  • Meta-analysis: in this field, you should specify information related to your sources, inclusion/ exclusion criteria for patients, distribution in subgroups, the period from the oldest study to the most recent one, variables taken into account and how the raw data was processed and interpreted;
• Results: each of the ideas presented in the "Results" section must be consistent with those in "Materials and Methods". The actual real data collected from the articles that are linked to the conclusions are summarized here. Also, this section of the abstract should not contain tables or diagrams;
• Conclusion: The conclusions have to be based on the facts in evidence and should be limited to minimal speculation about the significance of the work;
• Keywords;
• References (only for Reviews): In order for a review to be eligible as a scientific paper in SURGICON 2020 Congress you must provide the references that you used (at least 10 articles published in peer-reviewed journals included in the data).

For the SCIENTIFIC DEBATE

• Introduction: a general presentation of the subject of debate and stating the 2 arguments of your team and the methods you used to research for them;
• Argument 1 and 2: you must present each argument, outlining the most important points, the details remaining to be discussed during your presentation;
• Conclusion: a summary of the most important point in both arguments and your general view on the technique that you are trying to convey as a team;
• Keywords.