GUIDELINES FOR
LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

2 SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME

• Decide on the number of papers (about 40 - 60)

• Decide on length of papers, usually:
  • 15 minutes plus 5 minutes' discussion for main subjects
  • 10 minutes plus 5 minutes' discussion for preferred papers
    
    
• Usually only one paper will be accepted per author or group of authors for platform presentation but more than one paper may be accepted for poster presentation. If there is space for more than one paper per author, preference will be given to authors who are only able to attend occasional meetings, e.g. developing countries. However, the scientific merit of the papers available must be considered the primary reason for acceptance.
  
  
• Call for abstracts at Annual Scientific Meeting one year before and have Abstract Form and instructions for submitting abstract available at the homepage of the host organisation with a link from the Society’s website.
  
  
• Review, grading and final selection of Abstracts and proposals for Instructional courses/workshops/symposia for the Annual Scientific Meeting will be made by the ISCoS Scientific Program Committee (SPC).
  
  
• The ISCoS Scientific Program Committee is comprised of the Chair of the Scientific Committee and the officers of ISCoS, the Editor of the journal ‘Spinal Cord’, the Chair and members of the Host Scientific Committee (HSC).
  
  
• The Chair of the Scientific Committee of ISCoS will function as Chair of the SPC and is responsible for review and grading of all abstracts. Abstracts for review will be divided between members of the Scientific Committee of ISCoS, who will provide a second grade. The HSC members will also divide the abstracts for review and provide a third and in certain instances a fourth grade. The method of grading will be on a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best) (see in appendix). Collation of all grades will be provided to each member of the committee prior to final selection. Members of the SPC should not grade abstracts from their institution or where they appear as an author. Among the authors who have preferred oral presentation those with abstracts evaluated to have the average highest grading (best grading) will be offered oral presentation according to space available in the programme. Other authors will generally be offered to present their work as a poster, unless the abstract is found to be of a quality that presentation has to be declined.
  
  
• The Chair of the SPC with assistance from the staff of the secretariat of ISCoS is responsible for informing the members of the HSC each year of the process for review, grading, selection, allocation and scheduling of accepted abstracts and confirming methods and facilities for communication well in advance of the review process. The guidelines and an illustration for scheduling the scientific program in regard to keynote speakers, sessions, AGM, breaks, opening and closing remarks should be provided to the Chair of the HSC by the secretariat staff also well in advance, preferably at the previous ASM.
  
• Each of the SPC members will receive the abstracts by electronic mail within 2 weeks of the deadline for submission after they have been categorised and placed on grading sheet and will be responsible for returning the grade within two weeks.
  
• Representative members of the three groups who graded the papers will correspond via e-mail and make the final selection in regard to the papers for floor presentation and for poster presentation. The Chair of the HSC, with the assistance of the Chair of the SPC and staff, will perform the final categorization, allocation of time and scheduling of all accepted abstracts. These tasks will be completed in order to inform authors of acceptance and day of presentation or rejection 5 months prior to the meeting.
  
• The secretariat of ISCoS will be responsible for the acknowledgement of receipt of abstracts to authors, categorisation and distribution of abstracts and grading sheets to members of the SPC, collation of grades, arrangements for meetings for final selection, allocation and scheduling of Abstracts. The local organizers will be responsible for informing authors of acceptance or rejection.
  
• Inform authors by airmail (or e-mail) of acceptance or rejection not later than 5 months before the meeting. Provide instructions for presentation.
  
• Applications for instructional courses / workshops / symposia will be reviewed in a similar process as the abstracts. In addition, the chair of the SPC and the chair of the HSC have to make an overall consideration of the Meeting, regarding how many instructional courses / workshops / symposia it will be possible to find space for in the programme.
  
• Publish abstracts in booklet for distribution at meeting. Allow space for notes.
  
• A website with the programme should be available at least 7 months before the meeting. It should be possible to take the registration forms, accommodation forms etc. directly from the website.
  
• A website with the programme should be available at least 7 months before the meeting. It should be possible to take the registration forms, accommodation forms etc. directly from the website.
  
• Main topics should preferably start with an Introduction Lecture of 30 minutes including discussion. The person invited to do such a lecture should have the registration fee waived by the organizers, and be invited to be o-Chair of the session.
  
• If possible, special days should be devoted to Basic Science, Spinal Surgical, Urological issues, etc. to attract specialist for these days to just one-day registration.
  
• Invited lecturers who have their travel and accommodation paid by the organizers or the Society must submit a manuscript to ‘Spinal Cord’ prior to the meeting for possible inclusion in the journal. The manuscript should not have been published elsewhere before in that form. Honorarium or reimbursement of expenses must not be provided before the manuscript has been submitted to the Editor of ‘Spinal Cord’ or to his substitute.
  
• When the final programme has been made available on the Society website, changes are only allowed to take place in case of extraordinary circumstances because participants may have made arrangements in accordance with the programme which have been publicised.
  
• The organizers of the Meeting may provide the participants with a CD of the meeting abstracts.
  
• ISCoS will include the abstracts from the 5 last meetings on its website.