Overview
A "late-breaking abstract" (LBA) typically refers to a type of scientific abstract submitted to a conference or symposium after the standard submission deadline has passed. LBAs are often used in rapidly evolving fields where new and significant findings emerge close to the time of a conference. These abstracts allow researchers to present the most recent and impactful results that might not have been available during the initial submission period.
Several characteristics define late-breaking abstracts:
Timeliness: The primary reason for the existence of LBAs is to accommodate highly relevant and recent data. This ensures that the conference attendees get access to the latest discoveries in the field.
Significance: LBAs are not just for any new data. They should represent findings that have the potential to impact the field significantly. They are expected to be of high scientific importance.
Review Process: LBAs often undergo a rigorous peer review process. Given the short time frame, the review might be expedited, but the standards are typically very high.
Limited Scope: Some conferences may limit the number of LBAs they accept to ensure that only the most important and relevant findings are presented.
Different Presentation Format: Depending on the conference, LBAs might be presented differently than regular abstracts. They might be given a special session or might be highlighted in other ways.
Submission Restrictions: Some conferences might have specific criteria that an LBA must meet. For instance, the data should not have been available at the time of the regular abstract submission deadline.
How to Collect This Information with OpenWater
Each organization collects Late Breaking Abstracts slightly differently. This help article covers the features that can help get this done.
Option 1: Use of Submission Deadline + Pending Approval + Create Report
This basic option allows abstracts to be submitted after the deadline in any of the initial topics. Any abstract submitted after this deadline will be considered late breaking.
Follow these steps to configure the submission and review deadlines
After the initial submission deadline is closed you can re-open the program for new submissions just by extending the deadline
You may want to also turn on Pending Approval so that each of these submissions is manually verified. During the pending approval stage you may want to set some Admin Only fields to later report on.
Finally, using the reporting engine you can create a report using the Admin Only fields you collected and also filter on Submissions Finalized after the late breaking abstract call for submissions open date.
Option 2: Use of Category / Topic Specific Deadlines
If your late breaking abstracts contain information that deviates from your normal application process; or if you want to prevent submissions that are just late in general, you can open up a new category just for late breaking abstracts.
Although not required, it is recommended that if you use this option you do so at the start of your program setup. If not, we suggest using Option 1 as the stop-gap until your new cycle begins.
See Article on Category Specific Deadlines: Using the article as a guide, when you build out your initial submission form plan for both standard abstracts and late breaking abstract submission topic / categories at the get go.
Use the Prevent feature to properly block submissions before the standard deadline, and after the deadline.
To avoid having to set many deadlines you may want to set 2 top level categories "Standard Abstract Topics" and "Late Breaking", if you forget to do this, then it just means you may have to enter the same date in a bunch of times
Following this method all late breaking abstracts will go into a new bucket and there is no need for pending approval, admin only fields, or a special report.
Using Category Groups you can also request different information when late breaking abstracts.