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Abstract Submission

The 50th Anniversary Annual Conference of the British Society of Gerontology will be hosted online by Lancaster University from 7 - 9 July 2021. The theme of the 2021 conference is 'Ageing Past, Present and Future: Innovation and Change'.

The conference welcomes symposium, paper and poster submissions from academics, researchers, practitioners, educators, policy-makers, the third sector, students, and those interested in researching ageing and later life.

Abstract submission for presentations and symposia is now open through Oxford Abstracts, accessed through the buttons below. There are two forms, one for submitting a poster, oral presentation or an oral presentation for a symposium, which you will select during submission. The second form is for submitting a symposium. Please see the sections below for more details on these processes.

Please note that the submission deadline has been extended to 20 January 2021.

Notifications regarding the programme will be issued on Thursday 25 March 2021 by email. Accepted presenters will be asked to register by the early bird deadline, Thursday 29 April 2021, in order to secure their place in the programme.

For any queries about the 2021 Annual Conference, please contact bsgconference2021@britishgerontology.org

How will the online format be different for symposia and paper presentations?

Please note that we have adapted the usual programme timings to work better with an online format this year, so that parallel sessions are shorter than you may be used to in previous conferences, and there are more breaks to reduce fatigue from intense online engagement.

All parallel sessions, which include symposia, will be one hour long each, which is shorter than we have had in the past. This means that to fit in 4 talks, each talk will need to be 10 minutes plus 5 minutes for questions, although symposia chairs are welcome to structure their sessions how they wish.

Presenters are invited to submit a recording of their talks before the conference for use as back up only, in the event of your internet link failing. All presentations will be live otherwise.

How will poster sessions be organised?

The poster sessions are an important part of the BSG conference. You will interact with attendees and discuss the research through small Teams meetings, each with maximum five poster presenters. If you are a student poster presenter, you may become our next winner of the Stirling Prize (£100).

"The best things about the poster presentation is that you learn to balance elements of design with effective science communication, while simultaneously being given a stand-out opportunity as an early career research to showcase your work."

Nadine Mirza, PhD student, Manchester

Posters will be specifically timetabled into one of two sessions. In each session, you will be placed in a small group of poster presenters (4-5 presenters) in a meeting site where each of you will be asked to present your poster in informal 5 minute slots to those visiting the meeting, similar to how you might “run through” your poster in a live poster session to people who stop by. The rest of your session will be for discussion or for you to run through again if the meeting site gets more visitors later in the time slot, as people move from group to group.

Please continue to scroll down for further information on abstract submission.

Oral, poster presentations or oral-as-part-of-a-symposium

Abstract title word limit: 30 words
Abstract word limit: 250 words
Maximum number of references: 5 (optional, included in word limit)
Headings: Unstructured abstract with no tables, diagrams or pictures

Prospective authors are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 250 words with sufficient detail to allow the committee to judge the merit of the submission. In the submission form you will be asked to indicate your preferred type of presentation (oral, poster or oral-as-part-of-a-symposium) and you will need the following information as a minimum: title, abstract, authors and affiliations, and choice of sub-themes.

The title and abstract you submit will be used in the final programme so please ensure you have proofread and corrected any errors. You do not have to include references, but if you do these must be included in the 250 word limit.

You can submit no more than two abstracts as the lead author. However, there is no limit on the number of abstracts in which someone can appear as a co-author. The Scientific Committee will aim to reduce conflict in scheduling multiple presentations where someone is named as a co-author, however we cannot guarantee this. A submission of an abstract with multiple authors will be an indication that all authors approve the submission and content of the abstract.

You will be asked to select at least one and up to three conference sub-themes that most appropriately reflect your submission. The sub-themes are listed on the Conference Programme page. The Scientific Committee reserves the right to allocate an abstract to a different sub-theme, if more appropriate.

If your abstract is part of a symposium and the symposium convener has already submitted the symposium, you will be invited to connect your completed abstract to the symposium. Please ensure you use the same email address for your submission as in the symposium submission. If the symposium has not already been submitted you can attach your abstract to it later through the Oxford Abstracts dashboard. If you have any questions or need support with this please contact us by emailing bsgconference2021@britishgerontology.org

If you are a student entering a poster, you may wish to be considered for the BSG's Stirling Prize. Further information on this is available here. Please enter the information in the questions labelled 'Stirling Student Prize'. If you are not student or you are not entering a poster you can leave these questions blank.

Please note that abstracts not selected for oral presentation will automatically be considered for poster presentation, unless the author informs us otherwise by emailing bsgconference2021@britishgerontology.org

Submit Your Abstract for a Presentation

Symposia

Symposium title word limit: 30 words
Symposium overview word limit: 250 words
Maximum number of references: 5 (optional, included in word limit)
Headings: Unstructured abstract with no tables, diagrams or picture

Prospective convenors are invited to submit a proposal, of no more than 250 words detailing the symposium title and symposium abstract to be held during the conference. Please give enough detail for the reviewers to understand what your symposium is about. This usually comprises 4 oral presentations dedicated to a particular theme, topic or research project. We advise that you discuss and agree the details of the symposium with those involved before you submit.

Please note that the Scientific Committee is happy to consider innovative or alternative formats for symposia. Please detail your intentions in the description of your symposium.

To submit your symposium you will need the following information:

Symposium title
Symposium abstract (overview of the symposium)
Information about the Chair of the symposium (and Discussant if relevant)
Choice of sub-themes
Email addresses of those you wish to invite to present at your symposium - please ensure you use the same email address that the presenter will then use to submit their abstract.

The convenor will be responsible for chairing/acting as a discussant at the symposium, or nominating a chair (and discussant where applicable) for the symposium.

Convenors should suggest up to three conference sub-themes that reflect the submission. The sub-themes are listed on the Conference Programme page. The Scientific Committee reserves the right to allocate the symposium to a different sub-theme, if more appropriate.

Please note you will also be asked if there are any dates that the symposium cannot be presented. While individual submitters will also be asked this in the abstract submission process, we recommend consulting those involved beforehand regarding restrictions on availability.

Once the symposium has been submitted, the presenters invited will receive an email with instructions on how to submit their abstract and link it to your symposium. Please advise presenters to check their 'Junk' folder if they do not receive an email invitation. If you need further support please contact us on bsgconference2021@britishgerontology.org

All presenters must submit their abstracts and link them to the symposium before the deadline for submissions.

Submit Your Abstract for a Symposium