Submission

Abstract formatting guidelines

  • Abstracts must be written in English.
  • Maximum of 300 words, excluding the four mandatory section headings.
  • Must be structured using the following four mandatory section headings:
    • Background
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Conclusions
  • All abstracts must include some results. Preliminary results of ongoing analyses are welcome. Submissions stating “results will be presented” or similar will be rejected. (Submitted abstracts can be amended any time up to the submission deadline.)
  • Titles must be non-declaratory and include a study descriptor (e.g., “retrospective cohort study”, “meta-analysis”, “randomised controlled trial”.).
  • Titles must be 150 characters or fewer.
  • Use sentence case in both the title and the body of the abstract (e.g., “Retrospective cohort study” not “RETROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY” nor “Retrospective Cohort Study”). 
  • Do not use non-standard abbreviations in your title.
  • Define all non-standard abbreviations at first use.
  • The substantial content of the abstracts should not have been previously published.
  • The abstract must not contain references, tables, or figures.
  • Use the CONSORT extension for abstracts when reporting randomised controlled trials.
  • Where quantitative results are presented, include confidence intervals where appropriate. Do not include p-values.
  • One to four relevant keywords must be selected.

Declarations and statements

  • Conflict of interest: All named authors must declare any conflicts of interest in a concise statement. Authors are encouraged to refer to the ICMJE form as a tool to identify any potential conflicts.
  • Funding: Provide a brief statement declaring any funding related to the work. Please enter N/A if no specific funding was received for the work.
  • Early career researchers (ECRs): The conference strongly supports the development of early career researchers. Authors will be asked to indicate whether the presenting author is an ECR. We consider ECRs to include postgraduate students and individuals in the earlier stages of their research careers, recognising that career pathways vary and may include career breaks, part-time working, and other professional or personal commitments. This may include, but is not limited to, MSc or MPH students, PhD students, research assistants, academic clinical fellows, public health trainees, postdoctoral researchers, clinician scientist fellows, and clinical lecturers.
  • Lived experience: The UK&I PHS is committed to promoting research that meaningfully involves people with lived experience. We welcome submissions where individuals with lived experience have contributed to the design, delivery, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of the research. As part of the submission process, all authors will be asked whether people with lived experience were involved in their work.
  •  NHS and local authority contributors: The conference warmly welcomes submissions authored or co-authored by anyone employed by, or otherwise professionally associated with an NHS trust, NHS practice, local government, or equivalent organisation, who has made a substantial contribution to the research. Major contribution: A contributor from the relevant sector played a substantial role in the design, delivery, analysis, or reporting of the research. Other contribution: A contributor from the relevant sector was involved in the research but did not play a substantial role.
  • Voluntary, community and social enterprise, charity and community organisations and non-governmental organisations: The conference warmly welcomes submissions authored or co-authored by anyone employed by, or otherwise professionally affiliated, with an NGO, charity, or community-based organisation or practice (i.e. non-NHS, non-statutory), who has made a substantial contribution to the research. Major contribution: A contributor from the relevant sector played a substantial role in the design, delivery, analysis, or reporting of the research. Other contribution: A contributor from the relevant sector was involved in the research but did not play a substantial role.
  • Author contributions: For all submissions, we suggest including a short author contribution statement using the CRediT taxonomy.
  • Publication: Authors will be asked to agree to the BMJ publishing license at the point of submission. The license is available for reference here.

Submission form

Please submit your abstract via the Hg3 platform: https://hg3.co.uk/ukphsc