TSANZ Abstract Submission Guidelines

These guidelines are provided to assist in preparing abstracts for presentation at the TSANZSRS Annual Scientific Meeting. Compliance with these guidelines will expedite the process of scientific evaluation, program arrangements and online publication of abstracts.
 

  • TSANZ welcomes the submission of abstracts on any aspect of thoracic medicine or surgery, sleep disorders, as well as related clinical and basic sciences.
  • Abstracts previously presented, or scheduled for presentation, at international scientific meetings with published abstract proceedings (e.g., ATS, ERS) may be submitted to the Annual Scientific Meeting.
  • Please note that the submission of abstracts to this event will be processed pending a review of the declaration. The TSANZ reserves the right to declare the abstract ineligible for presentation should it deem the link to be of a material nature as stipulated in the TSANZ Constitution. 
     

Abstracts will not be accepted for presentation at the Annual Scientific Meeting if they:

  • Contain data which has been previously published in the context of commercial development
  • Report research work which has been carried out with financial support from the Australian Tobacco Research Foundation, or any research on behalf of the tobacco industry.
  • Contain data which has previously been published in a full paper prior to abstract submission
  • Are not accompanied by a Declaration of Interest (inputted via the submission form).

Please note that discretion should be taken in the presentation of data that might be considered commercially sensitive.

A good abstract is difficult to write. It comprises a brief summary of a large amount of work and requires a depth of understanding, perspective and focus. Junior researchers particularly should be prepared for the need to write several drafts before reaching a final, acceptable version and are encouraged to seek help from more experienced abstract writers and colleagues.

Abstract Submission

Your abstract(s) submission(s) must be submitted via the online portal, with additional details using the submission form on the Call for Abstracts webpage.

The submission form includes:

SIG nomination(s) 
All abstracts must be nominated for review by a SIG corresponding to the content of the abstract. When using the online portal to submit your abstract(s), please select the SIG most appropriate for your abstract, as well as an alternate SIG if applicable.

Nomination(s) for awards
If you wish to apply for the any TSANZ awards, information on what is required for your submission can be found on the Award Criteria webpage.

Publications

By submitting to the Annual Scientific Meeting, you agree that your accepted abstracts will be published;

  • in the Meeting App
  • on the Meeting website
  • in a Supplement issue (the Internal Medicine Journal*)

*All copyright in and to the Supplement Material shall remain with the Organisation or its licensors, but the Organisation hereby grants Wiley a non-exclusive license to all copyright in the Supplement Material, including but not limited to the right to publish, republish, transmit, sell, distribute and otherwise use the Supplement Material in whole or in part in the electronic and print versions of the Supplement and in derivative works throughout the world, in all languages and in all media of expression now known or later developed, and to license or permit others to do so.

Registration

Presenting authors of accepted abstracts must register for the TSANZSRS ASM by 20 January 2027. If registration is not received by this date, the abstract(s) will be removed from the program.

Key Dates

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION OPENS
22 July 2026

EARLYBIRD REGISTRATION OPENS
1 October 2026

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION CLOSES
8 October 2026

EARLYBIRD DEADLINE
20 January 2027

TSANZSRS ASM
2 - 6 April 2027

Submission Instructions 

Failure to adhere to these instructions will result in rejection of the abstract.


a) Title

The title should be in sentence case, brief and as precise as possible. It should be relevant to the key original point of information contributed by the study and should preferably be descriptive, e.g. “Caffeine primes neutrophil oxidative function”, rather than ambiguous, e.g. “The effects of caffeine on neutrophil function”.

b) Authors

Author names must be in sentence case, with the presenting author listed first. Please be advised, the submitting author must also be the presenting author.

c) Affiliation(s)

Affiliation(s) for all authors should be listed in the following order: Department, Institution, State and Country. The entire affiliation section should be in italics. Where the abstract includes authors from different departments, place the presenting author’s department first, followed by other departments, using superscript numerals to link all authors with departments.

d) Text

In general, “structured” abstracts convey information more economically and succinctly. If using abbreviations, give the full term, with the abbreviation in parentheses. Universally recognised abbreviations (e.g. FEV1, see Approved Abbreviations below) need no explanation. Do not use non-standard abbreviations in the title of the abstract.

e) Introduction/Aim

The first sentences should explicitly state the background, rationale, aim, goal or purpose of the study.

f) Methods

A concise description of the methods should follow. The details of this depend on the originality of the technique or approach used. Abstracts without methodological details are regarded as deficient.

g) Results

Results should be provided in a quantitative manner in adequate detail. In some cases a small table(s) may be a useful means of presentation (maximum of two per abstract), however the abstract, including tables, must comply with the specified formatting requirements. Statements such as “The results will be discussed” are not acceptable.

h) Statistics

Use the following format: x±y (state whether SEM or SD); n=z, p=q; eg. 60±6 (SEM); n=10, p<0.05.

i) Conclusions

The Conclusions should be clearly stated and must be referable to the results provided.

j) Grant Support

Any funding should be briefly acknowledged at the bottom of the abstract.

k) Declaration of Interest Statement and Commercial Affiliations

All abstracts must be accompanied by a completed Declaration of Industry and Commercial Affiliations on the prescribed form. No abstracts will be accepted without this declaration.

Authors must disclose any relevant industry or commercial affiliations, including employment, consultancies, advisory roles, research funding, sponsorship, or other relationships with commercial organisations relevant to the submitted abstract. If there are no relevant affiliations to declare, authors should indicate: "The authors declare no relevant industry or commercial affiliations."

l) References

References are generally unnecessary, but if required should be limited to a maximum of 3, numbered in the text and listed immediately below the text (within the specified area) in the following sequence: Authors, Journal, Year, Volume, First and Last pages, e.g. I Cerveri et al, Chest, 2004, 125, 1714-1718.

m) Key Words

Select 3-6 key words which describe the abstract and list these in your submitted document.

n) Word Count

The abstract body text (excluding headings, title and author information) should be limited to 300 words. It needs to be 1 page including diagram and tables, no need to count words for diagram or table. Arial font size 11, single spacing.

o) Approved Abbreviations

Abbreviations for microorganisms should follow standard scientific notation, i.e. the first letter of the genus in capitals followed by the species name in lower case (e.g. P. aeruginosa). By convention, the entire abbreviation is printed in italics or underlined.

 

FEV1                           forced expiratory volume in 1 second

FEV6                            forced expiratory volume in 6 seconds

FEF25-75                     mean mid-expiratory flow

PEF                              peak expiratory flow

FVC                             forced vital capacity

TLC                              total lung capacity

FRC                             functional residual capacity

RV                               residual volume

VC                               vital capacity

DLCO, TLCO                 diffusing capacity

PD20                            provocative dose for 20% fall

PC20                            provocative concentration for 20% fall

PaO2, PaCO2                arterial partial pressure of oxygen, carbon dioxide

SpO2                           oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry

V’CO2                          carbon dioxide production

V’O2                            oxygen consumption

V’E                               minute ventilation

Units of measurement should conform to current scientific usage and can be abbreviated when they follow a number (eg. cm, mL, g, mg, nmol, °C). Unusual units should be defined in full.

p) Co-authors

The submitting author must confirm that the submission of this abstract has been approved by all co-authors.