International Society for Disease Surveillance

2011 Abstract Submission

New Announcement

Call for Abstracts

Abstract Submission System Change

Tracks

Types of Submissions

Format Guidelines

Submit an Abstract

Conference Homepage

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT

Updated August 24, 2011

Over the last few weeks, we have heard from many ISDS 10th Annual Conference abstract submitters, and potential submitters, that the August abstract deadline has proven difficult for many to meet, due to the timing of seasonal vacations and other aspects of the summer schedule.  In the interest of presenting the best conference possible and fully representing the work of the society membership, we have made the decision to significantly extend our abstract submission deadline.

For those of you who were able to complete and submit your abstract by the previously published deadlines, but felt rushed in doing so, please know that you will be able to modify and resubmit your abstracts through the ISDS abstract system (you can click on "return to draft" to edit your previously submitted abstract).  For those of you contemplating a submission, we hope the deadline extension will provide sufficient opportunity for you to complete your submissions; unfortunately, no further extensions will be possible.

The new (and final) deadline for abstract submission is Sunday, September 11, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

Revised Important Dates:

Abstract submission deadline: September 11, 2011 (11:59 pm US Eastern Daylight Time)

Author notification of abstract acceptance: October 10, 2011

Early registration for the conference ends: October 24, 2011

Pre-Conference Workshop:  December 6, 2011

Conference:  December 7-8, 2011

Call for Abstracts

Submissions of original work are now being requested for peer review and presentation at the Tenth Annual Conference of the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS), to be held in Atlanta, Georgia from December 7-8 2011. 

The ISDS Annual Conference is the premier annual scientific gathering for researchers and practitioners in public health, epidemiology, health policy, biostatistics and mathematical modeling, informatics, computer science, and related fields focused on disease surveillance and emerging challenges to public health practice.  The conference will feature internationally renowned speakers from health departments, leading universities, government agencies, and top industrial organizations. 

This year's conference will focus on the theme of "Building the Future of Public Health Surveillance."  The conference seeks to present scientific work at the juncture of innovative analytical techniques, progressive public health practice, and cutting edge informatics to support a timely, accurate and informed response to emerging outbreaks of disease and other health threats.  Authors may wish to draw from the tracks listed below but are in no way limited to those topics.  Abstract submission will be performed online and all selected abstracts will be published online in a special supplement of the Emerging Health Threats Journal. 

Please visit the 2011 Annual Conference page for details on how to register for the conference.  Questions regarding the Call for Abstracts may be sent to the 2011 Scientific Program Chairs, Daniel Neill and Karl Soetebier. 

We look forward to receiving your submissions and to seeing you at the Annual Conference in December.

Best regards,

The International Society for Disease Surveillance

Abstract Submission System Change

For those who have submitted to the ISDS conference previously, please note that our abstract submission system has changed.  A major advantage of the new system will be that you won't need to spend as much time on the formatting of your submission.  The new system requires that each section of your abstract be composed or cut and pasted into the system as plain text and the system will manage the layout and formatting for you.  You will, however, likely need to plan on additional time to go through the submission process itself.  We estimate around 30 minutes per submission.  Once you establish your account with the ISDS ScholarOne site, you can begin a submission, log out, and then return to it as often as you need to complete it.  Once you are happy with your proof you can submit the final version.  For all selected abstracts, the online publisher will provide the final formatting of the abstract and the lead author will have the opportunity to proof the final version before its publication. 

Tracks

For review purposes, authors will be asked to place their abstract into one of the four following tracks that most closely aligns with their submission.

Analytical Methods

  • This track is focused on important and novel advances in the field of surveillance methodologies and analytical approaches

Public Health Practice

  • This track is focused on improving the daily processes of surveillance, outbreak investigation, management, and response.

Informatics

  • This track is focused on the technological aspects of electronic health information analysis and exchange and the systems that enable and support these processes.

Novel Approaches

  • This track is focused on applying methodologies to broader domains beyond traditional infectious disease surveillance

See the 2011 list of topics and detailed track descriptions

Types of Submissions

Abstract submissions must conform to the instructions and will be reviewed by at least three reviewers.  You may indicate a preference for either an oral or poster presentation when you submit an abstract.  All presenters are required to register for the conference and sign any necessary disclosure forms.  All selected abstracts will be published as one-page papers in a special supplement of the online Emerging Health Threats Journal.

Oral Presentations

Authors of accepted oral presentations will present their work at the symposium.  Oral presentations should ideally describe work that has not previously been published or presented.

Posters

Posters are the preferred format for presenting preliminary research and results of small scale sutdies; describing experimental projects/programs or works in progress; and reporting biosurveillance system descriptions.  Poster sessions are designed to offer direct access to the authors in a way not possible through oral presentations.

Accepted posters will be displayed for the duration of the conference.  In addition, at least one author must be present at the poster reception.  Electrical power will not be supplied to individual posters at the time of presention. 

Format Guidelines

Submitted abstracts for oral presentations and posters should be formatted as follows:

  • Size:  Overall character count including spaces and special characters should be no greater than:  4810.
  • Title:  Will be limited to 2 lines and 85 characters including spaces
  • Structure:  Objective, Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions, References
  • Graphics:  Figures and tables may also be included in the abstract.  (Please note that the inclusion of graphics will reduce the overall character count based on the dimensions of the image.)

View a sample abstract (can be used as a template)