The entire Academic Programme will be on the Congress website by 18 October 2024.

CLOSED from 2 September 2024

Call for abstracts

Abstracts submission for the main Ophthalmology programme at OSSA 2025.

Before starting the submission process, please carefully read the criteria and conditions below.

• Only papers by Ophthalmologists and Registrars will be considered for presentations.
• Inclusion of abstracts into the programme require full payment of registration fees for the congress.
• Abstracts should be submitted before 30 August 2024. There is no possibility for late abstract submissions.
• If you have not received acknowledgment of receipt of your abstract directly after submission please e-mail the organisers.
• Authors will be informed of the acceptance of their abstracts by 2 October 2024. Confirmation will also be given as to whether it will be an oral or a poster presentation.
• Withdrawal of an abstract: In case you want to withdraw your abstract after submission, please send an e-mail before 2 October 2024 to ossacongress@rkcommunication.co.za
• Please visit the congress website to submit your abstract online or click this link (link to be added in designed file).
• Only abstracts submitted via the online platform will be considered for inclusion in the academic programme.
• When completing the online abstract submission form (2025.ossacongress.co.za/programme), please have your abstract in MS Word format format ready to be uploaded. Only abstracts that are in line with the structure and guidelines stipulated below will be considered for inclusion in the academic programme.
• If you have any difficulty in submitting your abstract online, it is your responsibility to make contact with the congress organisers via e-mail.
• Click here to upload your abstract.
• All expenses such as registration, travel and accommodation associated with the presentation of an abstract remain the responsibility of the presenter.

Two options

1. Oral presentation: 10 minutes for presentation (Discussion will take place at the end of the session).
2. Poster presentation (There will be a poster session during lunch on Saturday in the exhibition hall.)

General guidelines

• Only ophthalmologists & registrars in ophthalmology are invited to submit abstracts for consideration and inclusion in the Ophthalmologists programme.
• Authors must state whether they wish their presentations to be considered as oral OR poster presentation or whether they would be prepared to do a poster presentation if their oral presentation cannot be accommodated. Please refer to the online submission link (link to be added in designed file).
• Abstracts should not exceed an A4 page and have a maximum of 400 words excluding title in MS Word Format.
• The Academic Committee will make every effort to accommodate all qualified abstracts within the programme. Final determination of the type of presentation to be given and placement within the program will be the responsibility of the Programme Committee.
• Language: Abstracts must be written and presented in English. Careful typing and proofreading are essential. A programme like Grammarly could be helpful https://www.grammarly.com/.
  If accepted, the abstract will be published as submitted. Errors, misspellings, incorrect hyphenation, and deviations from the use of correct English will be glaringly apparent in the published abstract. Once the abstract is submitted, changes, corrections or rewording will not be possible.
• Images, tables and graphs: Images are not permitted, as they do not reproduce well. Brief and clear tables or graphs are accepted (maximum of 1 page). If the tables / graphs submitted exceed 1 page, those exceeding the limit will be excluded from publication.
• Standard abbreviations may be used without definition. Non-standard abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and placed in parentheses after the first use of the word or phrase.
• Papers will only be accepted on the understanding that the main author or a co-author will personally present the paper.
• Supplemental materials are not required, but you may provide information sheets to fellow attendees.
• Co-authors must agree with the results stated and have consented to be included as authors.
• Acceptance and presentation of oral presentations and posters require full payment of registration fees for the Congress.
• Further acknowledgement will be given where it is demonstrated that the research conducted has relevance to Africa and especially where someone has gone into the field to conduct research using practical clinical tools and methods.
• Case presentations will be considered as posters and not a paper / oral presentation.
• Where the results obtained have relevance for management decision-making in Africa this would further strengthen the presentation.
• All participants must disclose any significant financial interest or other relationships they may have with the manufacturers of commercial products discussed in their presentations, panel or written materials.
• OSSA will take it for granted that good clinical practice is observed in the conducting of all research. This applies especially to clinical studies involving patients and patient care and includes the understanding that the appropriate ethics committee approval had been secured.
• The Congress Organisers & OSSA accept no responsibility for copyright infringements.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that the organisers have received your abstract.

Guidelines: Registrars

• Registrars who want to be considered for the registrar award, must clearly indicate this on their abstract submission form and the form must be accompanied by a letter from their academic Head of Department confirming that they are registrars or have qualified within the last two years and the research being presented was commenced during their registrar time.
• Also considered in awarding the award will be presentation style, appropriate use of audio-visual equipment and that the presentation is completed within the time allowed.
• Registrars presenting for longer than the allocated time will be penalized.

Structure of abstracts

TITLE:

• Centre the TITLE in capital letters at the top of the page – use Arial font type (BOLD) and 14 font size.
• Authors should be listed by surname, followed by initials and affiliation (upper & lower case) – underlining the presenting author’s name.
  DO NOT include degrees, titles, institutional appointments or addresses. Do not use abbreviations.

Example:

A PROSPECTIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE
SIMPLE CONJUNCTIVAL CLOSURE AND THE ROTATIONAL CONJUNCTIVAL FLAP TECHNIQUES FOR PTERYGIUM SURGERY

Eksteen PJ, Stulting AA & Nel M
University of the Free State

BODY (Arial, 14 font size)

OBJECTIVES: State the main question / objective of the study / hypothesis tested

DESIGN & METHOD: Briefly describe the design of the study and how it was conducted, indicating sampling and inclusion criteria, sample size, treatment, duration of observations, etc.

RESULTS: Present the main results with an indication of variability (e.g. SD) and precision of comparison (e.g. 95% confidential intervals) where appropriate.

CONCLUSION: Limit the conclusion to those findings that are directly supported by the results. Implications and generalisations may be outlined briefly. Do not leave open lines between sections and do not indent headings. Headings should be underlined.

Preparation of posters

Click here to download a suggested poster template from the website. It is NOT compulsory to use this template.

• Our suggestion would be to make an A0 (9 cm x 84.1cm) poster (Portrait style). As this is a standard size it is also more cost efficient when printing and laminating the poster.
• All posters should be laminated if they need to be used after the congress again. Unlaminated posters might get damaged when being removed from the poster boards. (Do not mount posters on heavy boards – this does not hang properly.)
• Please bring your poster to the congress office upon registration. The organisers are responsible for pasting your poster to the poster boards with double sided tape.
• Posters will be displayed from the Thursday morning till the Saturday afternoon. It is the responsibility of the presenter to remove his / her poster(s) on Saturday, 15 February 2025 during lunchtime.
• Indicate the title of the presentation and its authors.
• Use block lettering for other portions of your presentation to add emphasis and easy readability.
• Keep illustrative material simple in using charts, graphs, drawings and pictures. Remember that illustrations must be viewed from 1 to 2 meters.
• Make captions brief, levels few and both clear.
• Make posters as self-explanatory as possible.
• Do not be overly ornate or artsy (this distracts from impact of your information).
• Do not make posters elaborate or costly, although it is necessary for posters to be made professionally.

Poster font sizes

• Text on the poster must be readable from a distance of 1 to 2 meters.
• The following font sizes work well:
• Titles: 72+
• Sub-titles: 54+
• Text 30+
• Sub-text 20+
• The actual font used can affect the appropriate font size: keep to a standard sans-serif font such as Arial, Helvetica or Trebuchet.