• Delegates, who would like to present their work at the Congress, either orally or as a poster, are invited to submit an abstract for consideration by the Abstract Grading Committee.

• A paper should not be submitted to the 41st ESPEN Congress if it has already been presented internationally.

• Abstract submission is only possible via the Internet: please go to the EspenCongress.com online. Click on ‘’ABSTRACTS’’ and follow the instructions as given.

• Please read carefully all the instructions available on the Internet and on the on-line abstract submission system before preparing your abstract.

• The creation of a user account is required for the submission of an abstract. The account only needs to be created once and can be re-used for future abstract submission and registration to the Congress. Submitters from last year’s meeting should use their existing account details.

• Abstracts can be saved in “Draft status” to be re-edited and modified until the submission deadline (5 April 2019, Midnight CET). Abstracts cannot be edited after the submission deadline.

• Abstracts fulfilling all criteria can be saved in “Final submission” status. Only abstracts in “Final submission” status will be considered for the Congress.

• Abstracts are accepted on a wide range of topics in clinical nutrition and metabolism. The submitter has to select the right topic for the abstract on the submission form. Available topics are:

– Nutritional assessment
– Nutritional epidemiology
– Carbohydrate and lipid metabolism
– Protein and amino acid metabolism
– Hormones, mediators and immunity
– Vitamins, antioxidants and minerals
– Critical Care
– Liver and gastrointestinal tract
– Nutrition and chronic diseases
– Obesity and the metabolic syndrome
– Nutrition and cancer
– Paediatrics
– Nutritional techniques and formulations
– Geriatrics
– Qualitative design studies
– Perioperative care

For standardisation, the acceptable length of the abstract is of not more than 2’000 printable characters (title included). This includes non-visible characters, such as spaces and line breaks. Authors’ details and conflict of interest are not included.

Please refer to the word count of the system as slight differences may occur when counting with WORD or similar programmes.

The abstract needs to be structured as follows:

• Rationale: this section should contain 1-2 sentences that clearly indicate the scientific question of the study and its clinical (or other) importance.

• Methods: this section should contain sufficient information to be able to understand the experimental design, the analytical techniques and the statistics used in the study.

• Results: this section should contain objective data to answer the scientific question(s).

• Conclusions: this section should provide only conclusions of the study directly supported by the results, along with implications for clinical practice, avoiding speculation and overgeneralisation.

One table can be included, but the total number of cells (columns + rows) may not exceed 16. Please note that tables may significantly reduce the number of the remaining allowed characters.

A paper cannot be accepted if the conflict of interest disclosure is not signed. On the on-line abstract form, provide the requested details for all authors.

The rules for preparing the abstracts can also be found on online on EspenCongress.com
Failure to observe these guidelines may result in disqualification.

Late breaking abstracts may be accepted until from the 10th May until 4th June 2019, Midnight, CET with a non-refundable fee of EURO 100 – that has to be paid upon submission. The fee is applicable although the abstract is accepted or not.

Late breaking abstracts will only be presented as posters, and are also published in the Supplement of Clinical Nutrition.

• Abstracts can be accepted either as poster or oral communication.

• The Abstract Scientific Committee will select submitted abstracts and determine whether they are accepted for oral or poster presentation.

• If your abstract is accepted as a poster, you will be requested to be available for discussion during the corresponding poster viewing session.

• The dimensions for posters is 90cm W x 150cm H (portait format).

• Please use letters large enough to be read from a distance of 1.5 meters.

Accepted abstracts will be published in the Supplement of Clinical Nutrition, “Nutrition and Metabolism – the ESPEN Journal”, and will be available on the Internet one month prior to the Congress as submitted by the authors.

• The Author of the abstract selected for presentation must be registered at the Congress

• Abstracts must contain data and meet international ethical standards

• Abbreviations should be defined

• Trade names cannot be mentioned in the title. However, trade names in brackets will be accepted in the body of the text

• Please ensure your abstract does not contain spelling, grammar, or scientific mistakes, as it will be reproduced exactly as submitted. Linguistic accuracy is your responsibility. No proof reading will be done

• No changes can be made to the abstract after the submission deadline 5 April 2019, midnight CET

• The reviewers will judge the abstracts according to the relevance to ESPEN, standard of English, objectivity of statements, description of what was done, suitability of methods to aims, conclusions confirmed by objective results, ethics, scientific value, potential clinical value, originality of work and overall impression

• Submitting authors will be notified by End-May 2019 whether their abstract has been accepted, and they will be informed at the same time about the date, time and form of their presentation. All notifications will be sent out to the e-mail address given on the submission form

• If you want to withdraw your abstract, a written statement reflecting the reasons for this decision must be sent to the ESPEN Secretary (espen.scienti@mci-group.com) no later than 1 June 2019.