Biosci Abstracts – Policies

Editorial policies
Authors of abstracts must conduct their research in line with best practices of relevant professional and regulatory bodies.

Authors must ensure that the work does not contain anything which is libelous, illegal or infringes any copyright or other rights.

All submissions are peer-reviewed and selected anonymously (blind) by the relevant Organising Committee, on behalf of the governing society.

Conflict of interest
Authors must declare any conflict of interest caused by financial support or relationships during submission of abstracts. This information will be treated as confidential during peer-review and selection.

Examples of conflicts include:
• Research grants from funding agencies
• Financial support for attending educational programmes or conferences
• Honoraria for speaking at conferences or events
• Employment or consultation
• Support from a sponsor for a project
• Intellectual property rights (e.g. copyrights and royalties)

Human and animal rights
For abstracts containing patient data, authors must confirm that the research complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and that subjects have given their informed, written consent (see Informed Consent). This must be confirmed during the submission process.

Abstracts containing research involving animal experimentation must comply with the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare guidelines. This must be confirmed during the submission process.

Informed consent
Abstracts must not include any information that could identify a patient, unless essential for scientific purposes. This could include names, dates of birth, identity numbers or other information. In these instances, the patient (or parent/guardian) must give informed, written consent for publication. Written consent should be obtained if there is any doubt that anonymity cannot be maintained. This must be confirmed during the submission process.