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Abstract & Speaker Information
Late-Breaking Clinical Trial (LBCT) Submission Policies and Procedures

Deadline for LBCT submission: Thursday, January 5, 2006, 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST); online submission process only.

The Annual Scientific Session Program Committee and the i2 Summit Steering Committee invites you to submit applications of late-breaking clinical trial research for consideration in the 55th Annual Scientific Session.

New this year: There will be several types of Late-Breaking Clinical Trial sessions and the opportunity for early acceptance. Late-Breaking Clinical Trials submissions will undergo a peer-review process leading to selection for presentation. These sessions provide significant exposure and recognition for major studies likely to affect clinical practice in an important way.

In addition to the traditional Late-Breaking Clinical Trials, the Program Committee wants to feature smaller studies that have examined novel therapies or innovative technologies in a randomized clinical trial setting. The submission site will also be open to hypothesis-generating, cutting edge research with smaller enrollments and to entries that present newsworthy information from large, multi-center observational studies. Potential presenters must complete an online application outlining the purpose, design, and methods of the study. Evaluation for presentation in the Late-Breaking Clinical Trial sessions will be based on the potential clinical significance and impact as well as the novelty of the research; rigor of the design and methods; major clinical endpoints; and the quality of the statistical plan. Priority will be given to trials whose results will be publicly presented for the first time at ACC.06 and i2 Summit 2006.

For early acceptance for key late-breaking clinical trials, the application must be submitted by Dec. 5, 2005. Early acceptance notification will be provided by Dec. 20, 2005 and sent only to trialists whose submissions have been accepted. All other submissions received by the Dec. 5 date will be considered after the Late-Breaking Clinical Trials submission site closes on Jan. 5, 2006. Notification of all acceptances will be provided the week of Jan. 30, 2006.

General Information

• These sessions provide notable exposure and recognition for studies likely to affect clinical practice significantly. Potential presenters must complete an online application outlining the purpose, design, and methods of the study. Evaluation for presentation in the Late-Breaking Clinical Trial sessions will be based on the impact and novelty of the research; rigor of the design/methods; major clinical endpoints; and the quality of the statistical plan. Priority will be given to trials whose results will be presented for the first time at ACC.06 and i2 Summit 2006.
• Investigators need not be ACC members to participate.
• There is a $100 non-refundable processing fee for each LBCT application submitted payable online by credit card only.
• The College is unable to reimburse Annual Scientific Session and i2 Summit faculty for travel, hotel, and per diem expenses. The registration fee is waived for accepted LBCT presenters; however, a registration form must be completed to obtain a hotel reservation and meeting badge. If you have not already registered, please contact Meeting Services for a copy of the form: by e-mail presenters@acc.org or i2presenters@acc.org; by telephone 800-253-4636, ext. 663, or 301-897-2663 outside of North America; or fax 301-897-9745. Return the form by fax to I.T.S., (800-521-6017) the ACC official registration and housing bureau. If you have already registered and paid the registration fee, please request a refund in writing, attention Meeting Services ACC.06 Registrar, fax 301-897-9745.
• Notification will be sent to the person who submitted the application with final disposition information during the week of Jan. 30, 2006.
• General information subject to change due to circumstances beyond the ACC’s control.

Click here to enter the submission site.

Policies

1.   Applications must be SUBMITTED BY 11:59 p.m. CENTRAL STANDARD TIME ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2006. The American College of Cardiology is not responsible for submissions, which are not submitted by this deadline date.
2.   Submissions with system status of “incomplete” cannot be processed.
3. Submission of an application constitutes a commitment by the author(s) to present if accepted. Failure to present and register for the meeting, if not justified, will jeopardize future acceptance of applications.
4.   There is no limit to the number of applications an investigator may submit. If selected, the presenter must be one of the co-authors listed.
5.   Investigators should not submit the same research; applications that appear to be replicate versions of a single study will be rejected.
6.  Follow all instructions for completing the submission. Be sure to structure the content into Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion (if known) sections.
7.   Clarity of expression will be considered in the review process. The overall quality of language used should assure comprehension by the reader.
8.   Use a maximum of five unique abbreviations in the body of the application. No abbreviations should appear in the title. Place abbreviations in parentheses after the full word the first time it appears. Abbreviations increase the difficulty of reading and evaluating applications, which will be considered in the review process.
9.   If authors' names appear on more than one application, their names must appear and be spelled identically on each application in order to facilitate proper indexing. Whenever possible, do not list authors with initials only.
10.   Any abstract presenting data that in whole or part is contained in a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial submission that was submitted in October for presentation in the general program cannot be presented in the regular program and must be withdrawn if that trial is accepted for presentation as a Late-Breaking Trial. Please notify Dianne J. Lee (301-897-2667 or djlee@acc.org) if another abstract based on the clinical trial was submitted via the regular abstract submission process.
11.   Submitters may return to the online system to edit applications, revise information, correct typographical errors, tables, graphics, or delete a submission at any time before 11:59 p.m. Central Time on January 5, 2006. After this time, the system will be closed, and submissions will be forwarded for the reviewing process. An author may not revise or resubmit an application in order to make changes or corrections after this deadline. Proofread applications carefully to avoid errors before they are submitted. ACC is not authorized to make changes to a submission. This includes typographical errors. If you choose to withdraw an application after the submission deadline, this request must be received by ACC in writing. Please notify Dianne J. Lee (301-897-2667 or djlee@acc.org)
12.   Applications are not eligible for consideration if the data have been presented at a U.S. or international meeting held before the ACC Annual Scientific Session.
13.   Applications are not eligible for consideration if the data have been published before the ACC Annual Scientific Session.
14.   Any human experimentation must conform to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association.
15.   The Annual Scientific Session Program Committee and the i2 Summit Steering Committee endorse the position of the American Association for the Advancement for Science in requiring assurances of the responsible use of animals in research. All submissions for consideration must be in compliance with the guidelines.
16.   Each presenting author will be asked to comply with the ACCF “Statement of Disclosure (Vested Interest) and Conflict of Interest for Accredited Educational Activities” Policy. Indication of the relationship, the associated commercial entity and level of support is required for each author at the time of submission. Again this year, all presenters at ACC.06 and i2 Summit 2006 must display a slide (or equivalent if poster session) at the beginning of their presentation indicating disclosure information as applicable, or that they have nothing to disclose.
17.   The submitter acts on behalf of all co-authors and in submitting an application, transfers to the American College of Cardiology the copyright and all other rights in the material comprising the application if the application is accepted. Co-authors reserve the following: a) all proprietary rights other than copyright, such as patent rights; and b) the right to use all or part of the application in future works of their own. The American College of Cardiology, as holder of the copyright on the accepted application, reserves all rights of reproduction, distribution, performance, display, and the right to create derivative works in both print and digital formats.
18.   In light of increased attention to the manner in which research results (particularly those affecting the stock of publicly-traded companies) are made public, ACC is clarifying its policies and procedures regarding disclosure of applications. All applications submitted are disclosed to members of the peer review selection committee, as well as to ACC employees and contractors as necessary in connection with the annual meeting. Those applications that are accepted for presentation are summarized for publication after the Annual Scientific Session and are not publicly available to the public in advance of the annual meeting. The usual procedures for summarizing presentations are set forth below under “Accepted Submissions.” Applications not accepted for presentation are not summarized, and are ordinarily not disclosed outside of ACC and persons associated with the selection process (i.e., the peer review committee). Notwithstanding these policies and procedures, ACC is not subject to any confidentiality requirements with respect to submitted applications. In addition, compliance with any disclosure or nondisclosure requirements that apply to researchers or research sponsors (whether under federal securities laws, contract agreement, or otherwise) is the sole responsibility of the researcher and/or sponsor, and not the ACC.
19.   Clinical trial results are embargoed from being presented or announced in any forum until the time of the presentation. This includes presentations at satellite meetings or press conferences held before the scheduled Annual Scientific Session/i2 Summit trial presentation. Clinical trial sponsors must comply with embargo guidelines. Trials which ignore the embargo rules run the risk of being withdrawn from the program on-site. Failure of investigators or sponsors to honor this embargo will jeopardize future acceptance of clinical trials by the sponsor, or presentations by the principal investigator, at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Heart Association (AHA), and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) for a period of two (2) years.
20.  Investigator meetings: The only exception to the above mentioned embargo rules are closed investigator meetings for participants in the trial. These meetings must be held at the Annual Scientific Session and may be held beginning Saturday, March 11, 2006. The Annual Scientific Session and i2 Summit Program Committees wish to be apprized of these meetings. If your trial submission is accepted for presentation, you will be asked to supply investigator meeting date/time/location information with your acceptance material.

Accepted Submissions
Titles and presenters of accepted presentations will be listed in the Final Program available on site at the meeting. Title and presenter listings will also be posted in the online Program Planner in mid February.
The person submitting an accepted application will receive an e-mail during the week of Jan. 30. The submitter will be asked to reconfirm the name and contact information of the presenter; complete disclosure information; and indicate audiovisual needs on the Presenter’s Agreement.

The ACC provides an all-electronic format for audiovisual requirements. All meeting rooms will be networked. Presenters will be required to email their presentation in advance; or bring their presentation on a floppy disk or CD-Rom to the Speaker Ready Room, where they will have the opportunity to review or make changes on computers in the room, and then give the okay for the presentation to be uploaded to the appropriate meeting room. Presentations will be downloaded from a central server and sent to the respective meeting room on a secured site before the start of the session.

A listing of the audiovisual hardware/software provided in each of the education rooms will be indicated on the Presenter’s Agreement.

If you are a returning or past submissions user and wish to bypass the site instructions, click below to go to the ACC On-Line Abstract System.

     Click here to enter the submission site.  

Who Is a Returning/Past Submission User?
You were the person who submitted an abstract for consideration within the last three years.

Who Is a New User?
You have not submitted an abstract within the past three years.

I. Web Browsers
ACC recommends using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or later in order to take advantage of special features in the ACC on-line abstract system. Netscape browsers will work with the abstract system, but these special features will not be available. The system displays the browser type and version and provides links to download Web browsers.

In order to guarantee your submission appears exactly as you intend, you must set your Web browser encoding to:

Microsoft Internet Explorer: Western European (ISO) To verify the setting, touch “View,” then “Encoding” from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Netscape Navigator: Western (ISO-8859-1) To verify the setting, touch “View,” then “Character Coding” from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Please note:

1. Asian and Eastern European submitters may not see characters that are misinterpreted by the abstract system unless the encoding/coding is set properly.
2. Macintosh users may have different encoding choices than those listed above.

All Users

1. Salutations are only used in correspondence. Please select the American English version that is appropriate from the choices in the pull down menu.
2. Please use American English characters when entering your name and eliminate any non-English characters such as tildes and umlauts.
3. Names and initials should be properly capitalized. Names should not be all upper or lower case.
4. Punctuation (a period) is added to all initial fields. The fields for initials do not need to be filled in unless you want an initial included as part of your name in the final program. Only this first initial will be published. You may use as many or as few as you wish. Leave unused initial fields blank if you do not use them.
5. Suffix is the field used to distinguish intergeneration names. Examples are Jr. (Junior), Sr. (Senior), and III (third). Most individuals will leave this field blank.
6. E-mail addresses are not validated for correctness. Please make sure the address is properly formatted with no spaces, only one @ sign, and only periods (.) not commas (,).
7. Phone and fax numbers should be provided which will allow ACC staff members to contact you during daytime hours from Bethesda, Maryland.
8. ACC is implementing a “single sign-on” process this year to improve the efficiency of the registration process. The name entered in the passgate system should be the person/author who will present the abstract if selected. This information will automatically prepopulate the abstract submission system. Notification of acceptance notification information will be sent to this person. During the acceptance process in December, there will be an opportunity to change presenter author information, if so desired.

III. Entering Late-Breaking Clinical Trial Information
A. Title

1. Do not bold any words in the title.
2. Do not include authors in the title. If you enter authors in the title, they will be removed.
3. Do not include institutions in the title. If you enter institutions in the title, they will be removed.
4. Do not use the “Enter” button while in this field. This action will add unwanted carriage returns.
5. Capitalize the first letter of all major words in the title as well as prepositions, articles, and conjunctions of four letters or more.
6. Do not use abbreviations in the title. Abbreviations may be used in the abstract body.
7. Do not underline words in the title.
8. Do not end the title with a period.
9. If the title contains more than one statement, use only one space after a period or colon.
10. Use a comma before “and” in a series.
11. Use a comma for number 1,000 and above.
12. Substitute a colon for a dash/hyphen except when using prefixes.
13. Do not use quote marks in a title.
14. Do not underline, italicize, superscript, or subscript any item in the title.
15. Hyphenate the first prefix word when there is more than one prefix word used such as Non-Anti...
16. For more information about title guidelines see Guidelines.

B. Categories

1. Select one category that is closest to the subject of your late-breaking clinical trial.
2. Late-breaking clinical trials submitted to a category that does not match the subject matter of the late-breaking clinical trial may be given a low score from reviewers.

C. Keywords

1. Select up to four keywords from the list of medical subject headings.
2. Only one keyword is required.
3. Leave unused/unneeded keyword fields blank.
4. Do not enter the same keyword more than once.

Authors

1. List the complete name including a full first name and initials. Multiple word first names should be placed in the “First Name” field.
2. Please use American English characters when entering names and eliminate any non-English characters such as tildes and umlauts.
3. Do not include title, degrees, or suffix in the “Last Name” field.
4. Do not enter more than one author in each “First Name” or “Last Name” field. If this is done, you will be contacted to correct this entry.
5. If more than one abstract is submitted, please spell authors in exactly the same manner. This is important when indexing all authors in the listing in the Final Program.
6. Use the author group field only for the name of an investigating team. This is typically something like “Investigators for ACC.” Do not use the author group to list individual authors. If this is done, you will be contacted to correct this entry. Authors entered as an “Author Group” will not be listed in the author index of the Final Program.
7. The author order is the order that authors will be listed in publications if the abstract is selected. The person who is expected to be the presenter does not need to appear as the first author.
8. The person indicated as the presenter must have contact information supplied. If the indicated presenter changes, contact information must be supplied for that presenter. Keep in mind when selecting the presenter that a person may present no more than two abstracts.
9. The contact information is not used as part of the institutions listed in any abstract publication. Institutions are entered in a separate area.
10. The designated presenter is the person notified about the outcome of the review and selection process.

E. Late-breaking Clinical Trials
Important Issues

1. Late-breaking clinical trials MUST conform to specific size limits or they will remain in an incomplete status and will not be reviewed. Your abstract may not contain more than 1,900 characters, not including spaces. A graphic, or a table created with the table generator, equals 600 characters and is included as part of the 1,900 character limit.
2. Use the standard Times New Roman font for text and Symbol font for symbols (DO NOT USE A THIRD-PARTY SYMBOL FONT!); any other fonts will not be accepted. Set all text as flush left, unjustified, and wrapping text as you type. Do NOT place hard returns at the end of each line.

Late-breaking clinical trial/Text

1. You may type the body of the abstract directly into the space provided for the abstract body or upload this information by a file created with your word processor. To take advantage of the upload feature, use the following supported formats: Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect (only); Internet Explorer 6.0 for Windows and for Macintosh users we recommend Internet Explorer 5.2.3 or Safari 1.0 or 1.2.
2. Do not embed graphics or images in a file you intend to upload. They must be uploaded separately.
3. You may include a table in the body of the abstract by uploading a word processing document that has a table in it. This cannot be a table linked to spreadsheet.
4. You may use five unique abbreviations in the body of the abstract. Spell out the complete phrase followed by the abbreviation in parentheses the first time the abbreviation is used. Abbreviations are not allowed in the title of the abstract.
5. Do not include the title in the abstract body. The title will be collected in the Title Section.
6. Do not include authors and institutions in the abstract body. This data will be collected in the Author Section.
7. The abstract must be presented in the following sequence, using the headings listed:
   (These headings have been setup in the abstract body text for you.)
   Background: In an initial paragraph, provide relevant information regarding the background and purpose of the study, preferably in no more than one or two sentences.
   Methods: Briefly state the methods used.
   Results: Summarize the results in sufficient detail to support the conclusions.
   Conclusion: State the conclusions reached. It is not satisfactory to state “the results will be discussed.”
8. Do not underline, italicize, superscript, or subscript any item in the title.
9. Please proofread carefully for factual, spelling, and size errors. If published, the abstract will appear exactly as the online system confirmation shows.

Tables

1. You may include a table in a file that you upload or create it online using the table generator.
2. It is recommended you create the table in your word processor then use the file upload feature to transfer document to the abstract site. Table generation in a word processor is much easier to accomplish than using the table generator.
3. Do not embed a spreadsheet within your document. Even though it appears as a table, you will not be able to upload the file. You may copy the table from a spreadsheet and then paste it into the word processor as a table instead of a linked spreadsheet. If you are not certain you have done this correctly, please contact technical support at 217-398-1792.
4. A table equals 600 characters and is included as part of the 1,900 character limit.

Graphics

1. To insure readability of a graphic when viewed during peer review and when published, the following requirements are recommended when submitting a graphic:
   1. When creating a graphic consider that a graphic is not greater than 3 inches wide (7 centimeters/600 pixels) and 2 inches high (4.9 centimeters/400 pixels)
   2. It is strongly recommended to use 300 ppi/dpi, the higher the ppd/dpi the better quality of detail when the graphic is printed. A minimum of 72 dots/pixels per inch (ppi/dpi).
   3. If you need assistance in sizing a graphic please see the additional graphics help section.
2. Graphics should have a file type of “gif”, “jpg”, or “jpeg”. Even though the abstract system may allow you to upload a graphic with a different file type those graphics will not be reviewed or reproduced if the abstract is selected.
3. Do not submit tables as graphics. A table submitted as a graphic will not reproduce well.
4. Do not embed graphics or images in a file you intend to upload. Use the separate graphic upload feature if you wish to include a graphic/image.
5. A graphic equals 600 characters and is included as part of the 1,900 character limit.

Graphics Help Section

1. Graphics that are larger than the guidelines permit will be reduced in size, and if in doing so, are found to be illegible, they could be withheld from publication.
2. There should be no “white space” or border around the graphic.
3. Even though your browser may display a graphic format other than .gif, .jpg, or .jpeg, the graphic will not be reviewed and will be withheld from publication.
4. To properly size and set the resolution you will need a graphics program. Most computers come with a simple paint or graphics application with limited editing and file conversion capabilities.
5. If you need a graphics program, consider downloading the 30-day trial version of PhotoStudio from Arcsoft. Their Web site is www.arcsoft.com. This application is available for both Mac and PC users.
   1. To edit the image from within the application, select edit then image size.
   2. Save the image in .jpg format.
   3. Please note that the trial version will convert/open/save the following file types:
      i. JPG
      ii. BMP
      iii. TIF
      iv. PNG
      v. PCX
      vi. TGA
      vii. FPX
      viii. PSD
      ix. PCD
      x. PSF
      xi. EPS
   4. Even though the application supports a wide range of file formats, the trial version does not support the .gif format.
   5. If you have a .gif formatted file you wish to edit, it must be converted to another format first.
   6. There is no technical support provided for this application.

F. When Is an Late-breaking clinical trial Entry Considered Complete?

An Late-breaking clinical trial is complete and ready for submission when, in the “Review My Work” section, you see the words “This submission is complete.” The abstract is only submitted to reviewers after the deadline date. You may update or make changes to your abstract as long as the system allows you to do so. The date your abstract was last edited may be found in the Review Your Work Section next to the words “Current Date/Time”. This will change each time the abstract is altered.

Late-Breaking Clinical Trial Submission

The Late-Breaking Clinical Trial on-line submission system will open on Thursday, November 17, 2005. The deadline for submission is January 5, 2006 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. A written update on the trial status and a commitment to present trial results must be received by January 27, 2006, in order for the Program Committee to make a final decision. There will be a processing fee for each trial submitted online.

New this year: Early acceptance for key late-breaking clinical trials! Submit by Dec. 5, 2005; early acceptance notification for major trials will be provided by Dec. 14. All other submissions will be considered after the late-breaking clinical trial submission closes on Jan. 5, 2006, and notification of additional trial acceptances will be provided on Jan. 30, 2006.

Late-breaking clinical trial Revisions

Revisions to your abstract can be made until January 5, 2005 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. No changes will be accepted after this time. If any changes are made prior to the deadline, you must select “Review My Work” from the menu on the left. Make certain that you see the words “This submission is complete.”

Late-breaking clinical trial Withdrawal

To withdraw a submitted abstract, written notification (e-mail, fax, or letter) must be sent to:

The American College of Cardiology
9111 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814-1699
Phone: (800) 253-4636, ext. 667
Phone: (301) 897-2667
Fax: (301) 897-9745
djlee@acc.org

This notification must include the abstract title, authors and affiliations (as submitted), the abstract control number, and the name, affiliation, phone, fax and e-mail of the submitter. We recommend using the abstract summary page as part of this notification.

Logging Onto the ACC Late-Breaking Clinical Trial Site

The Late-Breaking Clinical Trial on-line submission system will open on Thursday, November 17, 2005. The deadline for submission is January 5, 2006 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time. A written update on the trial status and a commitment to present trial results must be received by January 5, 2006, in order for the Program Committee to make a final decision. There will be a processing fee for each trial submitted online.

New this year: Early acceptance for key late-breaking clinical trials! Submit by Dec. 5, 2005; early acceptance notification for major trials will be provided by Dec. 14. All other submissions will be considered after the late-breaking clinical trial submission closes on Jan. 5, 2006, and notification of additional trial acceptances will be provided on Jan. 30, 2006.

System

Because you have read the Abstract Policies and Procedures and the Instructions for Using the Web-Based ACC Abstract System, you are now ready to enter your Late-Breaking Clinical Trial. To go to the ACC On-Line Late-Breaking Clinical Trial System, touch the link below.

Once you have touched the link, please save it as a favorite in your Web browser so that you can quickly return to the Late-Breaking Clinical Trial System.

Click here to enter the submission site.

Style and Editing Guidelines