Abstract Submission Guideline for Authors

    Dear authors,

    The following guidelines will be helpful to you before submitting abstract to our 24th Kenya Clinical Officers Association Annual Scientific Conference in Mombasa City Kenya at Sai Rock Beach hotel and Spa, from 16th to 18th November 2022.

    • Abstract submission deadline is 30th September, 2022.
    • Abstracts may be submitted electronically only via the conference website https://kecoa.org/abstract.  If there are any problems please contact the conference organizers at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
    • Abstracts sent by mail, direct e-mail, or fax cannot be accepted
    • The abstracts must be submitted in English
    • All abstracts will be reviewed and may be selected for oral or poster presentation
    • The time allotted for each oral presentation will depend on the session to which the abstract is allocated but it usually is a 15-minute presentation including questions.
    • English will be the language for all oral and poster presentations
    • Notification of acceptance by the Local Scientific Committee will be mailed to the author
    • Failure by the presenting author to register for conference by 30th September 2022 will automatically imply that the paper will be withdrawn and the abstract will not be included in the Final Program.

     A scientific abstract should summarize the main elements of the oral presentation. An abstract should be structured with the following sub-headings: Introduction, Background information, Methodology, Results and Conclusions. The total length of the abstract should be no more than 300 words. You should not put any references in the abstract.

    1. Preparation of presentations.

    Please prepare your presentation as a PowerPoint file (.ppt) and bring it on a flash disc or CD to the conference. Please contact the conference organizers on arrival at the venue to check that your presentation is compatible with the hotel’s computer.

    1. Please aim for your talk to last (approximately) 15 mins only.

     Normally, speakers cover approximately 1 slide/minute, so you should aim to have about 15 slides. The moderator for each session will give a signal when there are 5 minutes and 1 minute remaining for each speaker, and will stop any speakers going beyond their allotted time. There will be some time available for questions from the audience at the end of each session.

    1. What makes an effective (scientific) presentation?
    • Many presenters fall into the trap of “reading out” their slides – this is very boring for the audience. To AVOID “reading out”, decide what you want to say in advance and memorize this (or make notes) – you do not have to have everything that you say on the screen as well.
    • Your slides should provide the ILLUSTRATION for what you are saying – and may contain some data, which you can highlight as you go along using the pointer.
    • Try to put lots of IMAGES into your presentation: colorful graphs, figures and pictures can all get information across very well.
    • Use LARGE text size if you have any text to include in your presentation – you should not expect your audience to read more than a few lines of information from any slide.
    • Do a “practice run” of your presentation with your slides a few days beforehand – try to time yourself and see if your talk actually lasts 15 minutes.

    The guidelines for reviewers will be:

    1. Does the tittle reflect the objectives
    2. Does the background information provide a good rationale for the study
    3. Are the objectives of the study well stated in terms of population and intervention outcome
    4. Are the methods clear and complete
    5. Is the intervention clearly stated, feasible, appropriate to produce desired results
    6. Do the results correspond with the study objectives  and are the details explained
    7. Are the conclusions appropriate given the study limitations if any. Do they relate to the objectives
    8. Are the study results generalized appropriately
    9. Are the project outcomes and benefits clearly stated and pertinent
    10. Have conflicts of interest or study sponsorship been disclosed

    We look forward to welcoming you in Mombasa.

     

    Best wishes,

    David Njeru

    CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN