Abstract Submission Guidelines

Submissions for abstracts, symposia, post-graduate courses and workshops will open on 19 February and will close 9 April 2025 at 23:59 Central European Time (CET).

Find out about The Union’s Abstract Mentor Programme.

All abstracts must present original research and at least preliminary results; abstracts reporting pending data will not be accepted. Submission implies that the material has not been previously presented or published elsewhere before presentation at The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2025. Abstracts are under embargo until they are presented at the conference.

TBSCIENCE ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS

In addition to the Conference Scientific submissions that launch on 19 February, there will be a separate call for TBScience abstracts, between 14 May and 10 June 2025.

TBScience focuses on the following research areas, for which abstracts will be considered: basic science (microbiology, immunology, cell biology, etc.), animal models, clinical, particularly investigational medicine and product development, and modelling for epidemiology and transmission.

TBScience does not focus on the following research areas, for which abstracts will not be considered: implementation science, health systems and policy, operational and programmatic, descriptive epidemiology (e.g., prevalence surveys), health economics, social science.

LIST OF TRACKS

Your abstract must be submitted under one of the official tracks of the conference. You can view the list of tracks here.

SELECTION REVIEW SYSTEM

The Conference Scientific Committee (CSC) of The Union World Conference base their programme selection decisions according to a pre-defined review system.

Abstract Guidelines

Please read the abstract guidelines below carefully before submitting.

Session dates

18-22 November 2025

Abstracts accepted for these session types

Oral abstract session
E-poster session

Abstract session format

This year’s conference will be in-person. Technical specifications will be provided at a later stage to help presenters prepare.

For oral abstract sessions, presenters will both present and participate in the live discussion that will take place during the session.
E-poster presenters will be required to present and address audience questions during their allotted presentation time.

Please note that virtual presentations are not accepted.

Track

Abstracts should be submitted to the most appropriate track. This is to assist with programme planning. Track choice has no impact on the selection process.

The list of tracks is available here.

Abstract title

The title of the abstract should be written in upper and lower case, using capitals only for the first word, acronyms, and proper nouns. Titles of more than 25 words (110 characters and spaces) will be truncated.

Abstract summary

A 50-word summary of your abstract should be provided for publication on the online programme, prior to the lifting of the conference embargo. This must not include any results but should provide information of relevance to assist delegates in selecting sessions of interest.

Abstract body

The abstract text should not exceed 300 words. Abstracts of more than 300 words will be truncated.
Please note that affiliations do not count as part of the 300 words.
Abstracts must be submitted in English only. No simultaneous translation will be provided for the conference.
Formatting options provided to insert symbols, accents, and special formatting (e.g., italics, bold, β, μ, etc.) can be used.
Abstracts should be submitted with unjustified text and aligned to the left for an easier read (compared to justified text).
Authors are responsible for proofreading and submitting an abstract without errors, as they will be reproduced in the form they were submitted.
Abbreviations and acronyms must be written out in full at the first mention in the text.
The content to be submitted needs to be approved by all co-authors beforehand and cleared by your organisation (if required). No changes will be accepted after the submission deadline.

The 2024 Conference Abstract Book is available here for your reference.

Abstract format

All submitters can choose out of two abstract categories:

Category 1: Scientific Research
This category is for reporting scientific and public health evaluations as well as operational research. Abstracts in Category 1 should be organised as follows:

Background: State the study objectives, study question/hypothesis or describe the challenge addressed by the research.
Design/Methods: Describe study design, setting, desired outcomes, procedures and techniques used to collect and analyse data. Include a description of appropriate statistical analysis.
Results: Present specific findings to date.
Conclusions: Describe the implications of the results presented and summarise key recommendations. Explain specific findings on how the research addressed the study question or challenge.

Category 2: Public Health Practice
This category is for reporting experiences in overcoming policy or programme barriers and demonstrating best practices in implementing effective prevention and control programming. This includes identification of service delivery issues and the presentation of evidence-based practices that programmes have adopted. Abstracts in Category 2 should be organised as follows:

Background and challenges to implementation: Identify the context and the specific challenges to programme implementation.
Intervention or response: How was the challenge overcome? Detail the methods, activities and implementation steps used to overcome the challenge. Describe the procedures and techniques used to collect and analyse information that informed your conclusions.
Results/Impact: Describe the results and impact of the project. Explain the potential application or benefit to other programmes. Define what worked, what did not work and the evidence that led to this determination.
Conclusions: Describe the public health practice implications of the results and summarise key recommendations. Highlight opportunities for future programme practice and implications for other programmes or setting

Tables

Authors may submit one table or one figure per abstract. If more than one table or figure are submitted, one of them will be deleted.

Tables should be smaller than 10 rows x 10 columns.

A table can be submitted with the abstract, by clicking on the “Insert Table” icon on the pink ribbon.

Data/characters included in the tables are not considered for the word count if inserted via the ‘Insert a table’ icon.

Figures

A figure/image can be submitted with the abstract, by clicking on the “Insert Image” icon.
The maximum file size of each figure/image is 5 MB. The maximum pixel size of the figure/image is 600(w) x 800(h) pixels.
Graphs can be uploaded in JPG/JPEG, GIF or PNG formats.
The graphic content must be clearly legible when previewing the abstract.
Recommended resolution: min. 150 dpi, 300 dpi for images, 600 dpi for line art (charts). Low-resolution images will not be included in the Abstract Book.
Please note that tables and figures are reproduced in a single column with the abstract and that legibility is the responsibility of the author. We recommend that you use a sans serif (Arial or Calibri) font for clarity.
Data/characters included in the figures are not considered for the word count if inserted via the ‘Insert a figure’ icon.

Authors

A maximum of 12 authors will be allowed.
If all authors belong to a single institution, there is no need to create new affiliations for each author. Click on “Institutes” to prefill the form.
The corresponding author is responsible for the abstract content. They are the contact person for submission and communication purposes and they are also responsible for disseminating information related to the abstract to the co-authors.
A listed co-author other than the corresponding author may register and present the study at the conference.
Once the abstract is submitted and reviewed, the list of co-authors can no longer be amended. Please make sure there is no oversight in the final list of co-authors before proceeding with the submission.

Biographies

A biography of no more than 100 words must be submitted by the proposed presenter.

Submission

Online submission will be open from 19 February until 09 April 2025 at 23:59 Central European Time (CET). Abstracts are editable until 09 April 2025. No further changes are accepted after that deadline.
The corresponding author will receive an email confirming that the submitted abstract has been received.
An abstract should be submitted only once and only under one or two tracks: resubmission is not permitted. The submissions of multiple abstracts on the same topic by varying the authors or under different titles with only minor word changes or the submissions of multiple abstracts on the same study with the same first author are not encouraged. In such cases, all the submissions on that topic will be automatically rejected.
Abstracts submitted by email will not be considered.
Abstract submitted as an attachment will not be considered.
First-time users of this platform will need to create an account to be able to submit an abstract. Other authors can reset their password if they have forgotten it.
Abstracts should be submitted only if there is a plan to present the abstract by the authors (in case of abstract acceptance).
It is the responsibility of the authors to save a copy of their abstract as submitted. The Conference Secretariat will not share copies of the abstracts.

Review

All submitted abstracts will be sent for peer review to a panel of international experts in each one of the conference tracks. Each abstract will be reviewed and scored by at least three reviewers. The scores will then be submitted to the members of the Conference Scientific Committee who will determine which abstracts are accepted and whether they are best suited for oral abstract presentation sessions or e-poster sessions. The review criteria are available here.

Use of non-stigmatising language

The Union is committed to promoting people-centred language in all conference abstracts and presentations. During the abstract preparation and submission. The Union requests that guidelines laid out in the Stop TB Partnership’s publication, Words Matter – Suggested language and usage for tuberculosis communications, be followed.

Abstracts using stigmatising language will be penalised in the review process.

Below is the list of stigmatising words that will be considered by the reviewers:

TB Contact (prefer ‘contact person’)

Defaulter (prefer ‘person lost to follow-up’)

Illegal/alien worker (prefer ‘noncitizen resident or unauthorized resident/worker’)

He-his or she-her (prefer ‘they-them’)

Suspect (prefer ‘person with presumed TB’)

TB control (prefer ‘TB prevention and care or ending TB’)
AIDS patient (prefer ‘person living with HIV/AIDS PLWHA/PLHIV’)

Ethical research declaration for Scientific research

Abstract authors must have obtained ethical clearance (if needed) for their abstract before submission. Research presented in the abstract must have been conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of World Medical Association or the WMA Statement on Animal Use in Biomedical Research. The Conference Scientific Committee may contact you to enquire further into ethical aspects when reviewing the abstract. This does not apply to public health practice abstracts or to abstracts submitted for a late-breaker session.

Contact with submitters

To facilitate access to the submission, registration, conference digital devices and apps, all communications will be made with the active email address of the corresponding author. Otherwise, the system will not recognise the user.

Notifications

Corresponding authors will be notified of the status of their abstracts by mid-June. Co-authors will need to be informed of the abstract submission status by the corresponding author.

After an abstract is allocated to a specific session, it will not be possible to change the date, time, or type of the session. Any allocation is final. A co-author or colleague can present on behalf of the corresponding author if they are not available on the assigned date and time.
Abstracts that are not accepted cannot be reconsidered for review or presentation at the conference.

Publication

All accepted and presented abstracts will be included in the Abstract Book, which is a supplement to the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IJTLD). The Abstract Book will be made available online for download from the website soon after the conclusion of the conference. Accepted abstracts ultimately not presented at the conference will not be included in the Abstract Book.

Attendance and registration

Abstract submission implies that if accepted, the submitter is aware that to present and attend the conference they need to be registered.

Delegates registered for the conference can attend all abstract sessions.

Consent

If selected, the abstract presenters agree to the attached information relating to the release, recording and publication of their presentation and session.