Abstracts

1. The abstract submission is categorized by field of expertise (anatomical region or subjects, and not by society). Selection of a field of expertise is required for submission.
2. Abstracts may be submitted either for a free communication, a visual abstract (former poster), or a video presentation. If the abstract is submitted as a free communication or a video, but is accepted by the jury as a visual abstract, the author may decide whether to present the abstract or to withdraw it. The video presentations will be integrated into free communication sessions or main sessions. 
3. Abstracts can only be submitted online. Submissions by fax and e-mail will not be accepted.
4. The abstracts must be submitted anonymously, i.e., no authors names, no institutions, no authors’ clinics may be mentioned, and no patient data may appear in the abstract title, text, supplements, or comments field. Important: the reviewers are obliged to REJECT your work if the above-listed anonymization criteria are not respected.
5. The responsibility for the content of the abstract lies with the submitting authors as well as the supervisors!
   • Writing style: clear, concise, fluent, no unexplained abbreviations
   • No grammatical and spelling mistakes
   • Accepted abstracts will be published unread and uncorrected
6. The addresses of the submitting authors - if the abstracts are accepted - are intended for publication. The operator and the organization assume no liability for incomplete or incorrect address information.
7. Title and text cannot be entered in capital letters. Please capitalize the title according to APA or AMA style rules: APA Style Title Case Capitalization.
8. Papers already published or accepted for publication may NOT be submitted as an abstract. If the abstract has already been presented at another congress or published as an abstract, this must be noted in the "Further remarks" field at the end of the online submission. However, such abstracts may be submitted for the SCS – Swiss College of Surgery annual meeting.
9. Abstracts can only be submitted in English. The top abstracts will be published in the special issue of the British Journal of Surgery (BJS).
10. If the presenting author is in training to become a specialist and presents for the first time, he or she may apply - provided that the work is accepted - for the "Award for the best first presentation at the SCS – Swiss College of Surgery annual meeting", which is endowed with CHF 2,500.
    The jury will consider both the abstract of the research work as well as the actual presentation at the congress.
11. The content of all abstracts (also for videos) must be structured as follows:
    Background / Aims / Material & Methods / Results / Conclusions. Tables and graphics can be integrated. References must not be provided.
12. The number of words is limited to 300 (Title, names of authors and institution not included). In case of non-compliance, the jury may note "rejected - does not meet submission criteria" in the form.
13. Evaluation of content is based on scores for content and style. Up to 4 points may be awarded for content and up to 2 points for style, for a maximum of 6 points. See review instructions below. Jury assignments will be made by the respective basic organisation of the SCS.
14. Tables and graphics, which are necessary for an objective evaluation of your abstract can be attached as images (JPG or PNG) in a seperate step of the submission process. These must also be submitted anonymously!
15. The submitting author will be notified via e-mail whether the abstract was accepted or not. Acceptance of abstracts results in a mandatory registration of the presenting author for the congress.
16. The abstracts of the free communication, visual abstract, and video will be published unread and uncorrected (especially as regards grammar and spelling) in a special online edition of Swiss knife. The responsibility for the abstract text lies entirely with the authors and the supervisors.

Notes on the review of abstract submissions

The evaluation of abstract submissions by the jury is based on the following checklist:

Checklist for Abstract evaluation

Content Scoring (max 4 points)

Style Scoring (max. 2 points)

Submission deadline

The submission platform for abstracts is open from 1 October 2026 until 18 January 2027, at 12:00 am.