- GENERAL GUIDELINES
Abstracts have two principal uses:
- represent the means by which the work is assessed for formal presentation at the conference;
- if published, will comprise an important part of the public record of the profession’s scientific and clinical activities.
There are three submission categories:
- Research (speech and language therapy research contributing new knowledge)
- Quality improvement/audit/service evaluation
- Showcase & Share (showcasing how evidence is being applied in practice)
For further information about the similarities and differences between research, (clinical) audit and service evaluation projects, please see here. Quality improvement (QI) refers to projects using formal QI methodology e.g. Six Sigma, Lean thinking, Model for Improvement, Plan Do Study Act cycles). For internationally recognised guidelines on reporting on research projects, please see https://www.equator-network.org/
Abstracts should support the RCSLT Conference 2023 themes. You may choose as many as necessary when submitting:
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - promoting greater equality, diversity and inclusion, and embedding anti-racism within the profession and in service provision
- Co-production - embedding co-production with service users and their families and carers
- Funding and recovery - learning the lessons of the past to ensure future provision is better than before
- Innovation and excellence in research and clinical practice - building the speech and language therapy evidence base and delivery of best practice in collaboration with service users
- Workforce development - supporting growth and development of the speech and language therapy workforce
- Profile and opportunity - championing the value and impact of speech and language therapy within society
- Member engagement: empowering members to lead the profession
- Organisational excellence: helping ensure that the RCSLT is recognised as an excellent organisation
Those interested in presenting at the conference are invited to submit abstracts for the following:
- Oral presentations
These will be a showcase for research, quality improvement/audit/service evaluation, and Showcase & Share submissions. The number of presentations will be limited by the number of sessions available. All presentations must describe original work to which all the authors listed have made a significant contribution. Oral submission is open to all (eg. Students, SLT teams, those is non-SLT professions). Submissions with pending results will not be accepted.
- Poster presentations
Poster presentations are recommended for submissions that have not been developed to the completeness required for oral presentation. There will be prominent communications about viewing posters prior to the conference, and presenters may have the opportunity to interact with delegates via the Conference software. Submissions with pending results will be accepted. Poster submission is open to all (eg. Students, SLT teams, those is non-SLT professions)
Abstracts of all accepted presentations may be published as part of RCSLT Conference resources; abstracts may be edited prior to publication.
2. GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS
- Selection of abstracts is competitive, so please adhere to the guidelines below when preparing your 500 word abstracts for submission. Failure to do so may result in the abstract being rejected.
- The abstract is the only means by which a proposed paper or poster is assessed, and should be complete in itself
- The abstract should be written in plain English, as there may be lay reviewers on the panel, and lay delegates at the Conference.
- Whilst ‘Equality, diversity and inclusion’ (EDI) is a theme in and of itself, we expect to see all submissions referring generally to how the work completed promotes greater EDI, or anti-racism, within the profession and/or service provision
Research
Within the 500 word limitation, abstracts should include:
- a brief introduction or rationale
- aim(s) of the study
- an outline of methods used
- a summary of main results
- conclusions
- contribution to new knowledge
- implications for practice and/or policy service
- brief description of any service-user engagement/involvement in the study
Quality improvement/audit/service evaluation
Within the 500 word limitation abstracts should include:
- a brief introduction or rationale
- aim(s) of the project
- an outline of methods used
- a summary of main results
- conclusions
- implications for practice and/or policy
- if you have worked collaboratively with service users in your project (if so, how?)
Showcase & Share: evidence into practice
Within the 500 word limitation abstracts should include:
- a brief introduction or rationale
- aim(s) of presentation or case study
- outline of evidence used and how it was implemented
- summary of main outcomes
- conclusion
- implications and future directions
- if you have worked collaboratively with service users in your project (if so, how?)
- FORMAT FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS
All submissions must be sent electronically. Please submit your abstracts to https://rcslt2023.exordo.com by 17 May 2023.
- To create an account please enter your email address; Ex Ordo will prompt you to create login details, which will allow you to create, save and edit your submission(s) until 17 May 2023.
- Please note that due to known security flaws, Ex Ordo does not support Internet Explorer 9 or 10. This means if you use either of these browsers, you won't be able to access Ex Ordo. Please upgrade your browser to Internet Explorer 11, or use an alternative browser e.g. Chrome, Safari, etc.
Please pay particular attention to the format given below. The online abstract submission form must be fully completed
All submissions via Ex Ordo should include the following information:
- FORMAT: oral presentation/poster/no preference
- TITLE AND ABSTRACT:
- Title of your paper (no word limit)
- Brief outline of your submission (50 word limit): If your submission is accepted, this outline would appear as part of a presentation/poster programme along with the submission’s title and authors
- Abstract (500 word limit): please ensure that this follows the guidelines above
- Outcomes (100 word limit): please indicate a maximum of three learning outcomes for your submission
- Three key words to describe your submission (3 word limit)
- References (no word limit): Quoted references of the papers cited in the abstract should be listed and the APA reference style should be followed.
- AUTHORS: details of all authors associated with your submission.
- Corresponding author: please indicate which one author should receive correspondence about your abstract submission.
- Presenting author: please indicate all of the authors who will be attending the RCSLT Conference 2021 to present your work if your abstract is selected
- Collaborating author: please include MDT colleagues or service users who have contributed to the submission and who will co-present your work if your abstract is selected. We welcome co-presenting with non-SLT colleagues and/or service users.
- TOPICS: you are only able to submit under one category. Please choose the category that is most applicable/salient to your project from the list below:
- Adult acquired - aphasia
- Adult acquired - progressive neuro/ motor speech
- Adult service provision
- Augmentative and alternative communication
- Autism and social communication
- Brain injury
- Child language
- Child speech and cleft
- Children's service provision
- Clinical education
- Co-production, service-user involvement/engagement
- Critical and/or Neonatal care
- Deafness
- Dementia
- Dysfluency
- Dysphagia
- Functional neurological disorders
- Head and neck
- Justice sector (youth offending, prisons etc.)
- Learning disabilities and complex needs
- Mental capacity
- Mental health
- Multi-lingualism, cultural-linguistic diversity, social justice and equity
- Public health
- Selective mutism
- Showcasing good examples of Independent and NHS services working in collaboration
- Voice, and Voice and Communication Therapy
- ABOUT YOUR SUBMISSION:
- Select the category your submission relates to:
- Research (speech and language therapy research contributing new knowledge)
- Quality improvement*/audit/service evaluation (*this refers to projects using formal quality improvement methodology e.g. Six Sigma, Lean thinking, Model for Improvement, Plan Do Study Act cycles)
- Showcase & Share (showcasing how evidence is being applied in practice)
- Please see below the list of conference themes that your submission can relate to. You are able to select as many conference themes as you wish based on what you feel your submission aligns with. This ensures that you are submitting appropriate content and helps us to identify where best to place you on the programme, should your application be successful:
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - promoting greater equality, diversity and inclusion, and embedding anti-racism within the profession and in service provision
- Co-production - embedding co-production with service users and their families and carers
- Funding and recovery - learning the lessons of the past to ensure future provision is better than before
- Innovation and excellence in research and clinical practice - building the speech and language therapy evidence base and delivery of best practice in collaboration with service users
- Workforce development - supporting growth and development of the speech and language therapy workforce
- Profile and opportunity - championing the value and impact of speech and language therapy within society
- Member engagement - empowering members to lead the profession
- Organisational excellence - ensuring that the RCSLT is recognised as an excellent organisation
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
- Note any possible conflicting interests, and if the work detailed in your abstract is due to be presented before the RCSLT conference. Please also let us know how you heard about the call for papers.
- CONFIRMATION: confirm the statements listed to finalise your submission
If you have any queries, please contact Jazmin Padhiar, events and engagement manager, via email: conference.paper@rcslt.org
- Abstracts may address any issue relating to speech, language, communication and/or swallowing
- The abstract should not be more than 500 words in length
- The abstract should be submitted online via https://rcslt2023.exordo.com by 17 May 2023
- ASSESSMENT OF SUBMISSIONS
A panel of assessors will judge submitted abstracts on the following criteria:
Research
- Aim/objective clearly formulated and stated
- Originality/innovation
- Quality of methods (including service-user engagement and/or involvement)
- Quality of data analysis
- Conclusion reflecting data and includes limitations
- If your research is meeting the needs of diverse populations where relevant
- Contribution to new knowledge
- Impact – practice and/or policy
- Importance and relevance
- Overall clarity, including learning outcomes
Quality improvement/audit/service evaluation
- Aim/objective clearly formulated and stated
- Originality/innovation
- Quality of methods
- Quality of data analysis
- Conclusion reflecting data and includes limitations
- How your project is meeting the needs of diverse populations where relevant
- Impact – practice and/or policy
- Importance and relevance
- Overall clarity, including learning outcomes
Showcase & Share
- Aim/objective clearly formulated and stated
- Originality/innovation/impact
- Quality of methods
- New or important area of practice
- How your project is meeting the needs of diverse populations
- Strong likelihood that the results will be of interest to the audience, and change/inform clinical practice or new research
Please note that allocation of presentation slots throughout the meeting will be determined by the conference organisers and once allocated cannot be altered. We cannot accept individual requests for specific timings due to scheduling complexities.
We look forward to receiving your abstract.