Regular Abstract Submission Guidelines & Policies

Policies

  • The first author must be a current 2025 VSS member in good standing.
  • All first (presenting) authors must register for the meeting.
  • Substitutions for talks are not allowed.
  • Substitutions for posters require pre-approval by the VSS Program Committee and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. If an author substitution is approved, the first author must still pay the registration fee.
  • Only abstracts presented at the meeting will be published in the Journal of Vision.
  • Each member may submit only one first-authored abstract to the meeting.
  • Each member may present only once at the meeting, unless part of a symposium.
  • All abstracts are submitted through your MyVSS Account.
  • Abstracts must be work that has not been accepted for publication or published at the time of submission.
  • Submitters must note any scheduling constraints under “special requests”.  Due to the complex constraints and time required, special requests received after abstract notices may not be accommodated.

For questions about Abstract Submission Policies, please Contact Us.

Abstract Format

Regular abstracts are limited to 300 words. This does not include title, authors, and affiliations. Additional space is provided for funding acknowledgments and for declaration of commercial interests and conflicts.

Your abstract should consist of an introduction, methods and results sections, and a conclusion. It is not required that the sections be explicitly labeled as such. Abstracts must contain sufficiently detailed descriptions of methods and results. Do not submit an abstract of work that:

  • you are planning to do
  • without sufficient results to reach a clear conclusion
  • has been accepted or published elsewhere at the time of submission

Please complete your submission carefully. All abstracts must be in final form. Abstracts are not proofread or corrected in any way prior to publication. Typos and other errors cannot be corrected after the deadline. You may edit your abstract as much as you like until the submission deadline.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

It is the responsibility of the First, Corresponding, or Presenting Author to list on the abstract any relevant commercial relationships or other conflicts of interest.

For each abstract and presentation, the First/Corresponding Author must also disclose the name of the organization with which a commercial relationship exists for the First Author and each Co-author.

Each Platform Presenter is to orally state and display on a slide at the beginning of the presentation all relevant commercial relationships or other conflicts of interest, as well as the name of the organization(s) with which a commercial relationship(s) exists for the First Author and each Co-author.

At a poster presentation, the presenter must display the relevant commercial relationships or other conflicts of interest, as well as the name of the organization(s) with which a commercial relationship(s) exists for the First Author and each Co-author.

Conformity with this Policy is a requirement.

Abstract Review Process

The Abstract Review Committee evaluates all submitted abstracts in a double-blinded review process. Abstracts submitted for talk sessions are assessed by 2 reviewers; all other abstracts are assessed by 1 reviewer unless they have applied for a travel grant, in which case, 2 reviewers will be assigned. Reviewers are chosen whose area of expertise matches the topic of your abstract.

Abstract Scientific Rating

Abstracts submitted for talk sessions and/or travel grants are evaluated using a five-point scale. Blind ratings from all reviewers are aggregated, and reviewers have the option to recommend rejection of an abstract.

Abstracts submitted for poster sessions are reviewed by a single reviewer, who either approves the abstract for presentation or makes a recommendation to reject the abstract.

Abstract scientific ratings are completed prior to the VSS Board Meeting in late January, during which the abstracts are scheduled into talk and poster sessions.

Rejection Criteria

Criteria for the rejection of abstracts are: insufficient results to reach a clear conclusion, significant flaws or absence of methods, incomprehensibility, repetition of well-known literature, a complete lack of novelty, or describing work that has been accepted for publication or published elsewhere at the time of submission.

Abstracts that are recommended for rejection by at least one reviewer will be evaluated by the Board of Directors and will only be rejected if a two-thirds majority of directors at the board meeting vote for rejection.

Scheduling of Abstracts into Sessions for the Meeting

The VSS Board of Directors meets in January to schedule presentations for the upcoming VSS conference. Abstracts are divided up into thematically organized sessions that include talks or posters, taking into account presentation preferences listed by authors during abstract submission (see below for definitions).

Because there are usually more requests for talks than slots available, a given abstract’s scientific ratings (assigned by its “blind” reviewers) will primarily determine assignment to a talk session. Additionally, the Board will make adjustments to ensure that the talks in a single session fit well together, are gender-balanced, and to prevent a session from being dominated by a single laboratory.

Options for Presentation Preferences

  • Talk Preferred – Your abstract submission will first be considered for a talk presentation. If not accepted for a talk, your abstract will be considered for a poster presentation.
  • Poster Only – Your abstract submission will only be considered for a poster presentation.

Notices of Abstract Acceptance

After reviewing and scheduling of the abstracts, the authors will be informed of the outcome.

All correspondence, including notification of abstract acceptance and details for poster and talk presentations, will be sent to the “corresponding author” (submitting author) via email.

The corresponding author shall be responsible for informing all contributing authors of any related correspondence.

Presenter Requirements at the Meeting

Talk and poster presenters should plan to attend the meeting in person. There will be no virtual components to VSS 2025.

First authors must register for the meeting and present their poster or talk.

Presenter substitutions for posters require pre-approval by the VSS Program Committee and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. If an author substitution is approved, the first author must still pay the registration fee.

Substitutions for talks are not allowed. 

Each registered attendee may present only once at the meeting, unless they are part of a symposium.

Abstract Withdrawal

To withdraw an abstract prior to the meeting, the first author must send an email to .

Under exceptional, unavoidable circumstances, the VSS Board of Directors will consider a co-author replacement for a presentation. To request such a special substitution, a clear explanation must be given in writing in advance (send such requests to ).

Abstracts withdrawn or not presented at the meeting will not be published in the program or in the Journal of Vision.

Authors who fail to present their poster or give their talk without withdrawing their abstract may forfeit the right to present the following year.

Abstract Publication

Titles and authors of all accepted abstracts (talks and posters) are included in the VSS Program. Full abstract text is included in the Abstracts Book. All abstracts presented at the conference are published online in the Journal of Vision.

Submission Schedule

Submissions Open: October 22, 2024
Submissions Close: December 5, 2024
Notification of Accepted Abstracts: February 7, 2025

Submitting an Abstract

To submit an abstract, Log in to your MyVSS Account or Create a New MyVSS Account, pay for your 2025 membership, and then click the Submit an Abstract button.

For questions about Abstract Submissions, please Contact Us.