Abstract submissions should consist of recently published or unpublished research or clinical case presentations, or new solutions for management/husbandry problems. Abstract submissions are not the appropriate forum for topic reviews. Abstracts are designated for either poster or platform sessions; awards are presented to the best poster from each of the poster section categories. Members and nonmembers are eligible to submit abstracts. And, unlike many other professional societies, AALAS does not charge an abstract submission fee.

If you have presented your research in other conference forums (for example, FASEB, ASM, SOT), we encourage you to submit the same presentations at the AALAS National Meeting.

Abstract Central

Abstracts are submitted through the Abstract Central portal. Please click here to access Abstract Central. Returning users to the site will use the same log in information as in previous years. The deadline to submit a poster abstract is June 1, 2024. 

Platform Sessions

Platform sessions are succinct presentations of worthwhile new information. Each speaker is assigned an exact amount of time (typically 12 minutes with an additional 3 minutes allowed for questions) for delivery. Time begins with the first moment of introduction by the moderator and ends exactly at the moment the speaker finishes or is requested to leave the podium. The time period immediately following the presentation can only be used to answer questions posed by members of the audience or the moderator. During the same time period, some persons will be moving to and from other concurrently running sessions.

Audiences for platform sessions can range from 50 to several hundred people. Speakers may wish to distribute reproduced tables, graphs, and/or other illustrative materials pertinent to their presentation. Time used in handing out material will be included in the speaker’s allotted period of time. Facilitators are available for handing out materials.

Rooms used for scientific platform sessions are equipped with a computer, video projector, screen, a speakers’ platform with a table, podium and microphone, and a lighted electric pointer. The room moderator is equipped with a timer. Refer here for more instructions on presentations.

Poster Sessions

The presentation of a poster provides an alternative opportunity for presenting scientific or technical information at the National Meeting. Each participant is provided with a 4 ft. x 8 ft. tackboard for mounting data; all material must be prepared before the set-up time. Common and very readable poster sizes are 56" wide by 42" high or 48" wide by 38" high. Authors should plan to attend a reception on Tuesday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Additional, detailed poster instructions will be made available on the National Meeting website after submissions close.

The Awards Committee will judge the posters on Monday and Tuesday. They will present awards for the three best posters in each category. First-, second-, and third-place ribbons will be placed on the winning posters. Presenters of winning posters will be recognized on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. during the Poster Reception with a certificate and an honorarium: $300 for first place, $200 for second place, $100 for third place.

Abstract Preparation & Submission

The purpose of an abstract is to provide a clear and concise summary of the information to be presented in greater detail in a paper, oral presentation, or poster session. An abstract usually contains some of the major components of a research paper (hypothesis, conclusion), but presents the information in a single paragraph. In preparing your abstract, consider that your audience will have a very diverse expertise.

All abstracts should meet these criteria:

  • Abstracts should be a single paragraph, not to exceed 2,300 characters (approximately 300 words).
  • The title (maximum 20 words) should convey without excessive detail the abstract subject matter.
  • The abstract body should address the specific points listed under the abstract type (see below).
  • Tables of data are not permitted in the abstract.
  • Do not use trade names, technical jargon, names of products, companies, or institutions, or abbreviations other than units of measurement.

Each sentence in the abstract should be examined out of context for clarity and economy of words. The abstract should be unified, coherent, and logical in its progression from one section to the next.

Authors should familiarize themselves with AALAS journal style, as described on the Information for Authors page. Review abstracts from past National Meetings to get a feel for style and format. Abstracts from select meetings are available in the AALAS Abstract Archive.

Have grammar, punctuation, and spelling checked by more than one reviewer before final submission. A person unfamiliar with the work may be helpful in pinpointing problems in content.

AALAS highly recommends that authors whose first language is not English is to have someone review their abstract before submission.

Laboratory Investigation Abstracts. Scientific abstracts should contain the following elements: hypothesis, methods, results, and conclusions.

  • Hypothesis or problem addressed: Why the study was conducted.
  • Methods: How the study was designed and conducted; include pertinent information such as the number of animals in the study, analytical techniques, sampling frequencies or times, and statistical analyses.
  • Results: The outcome of the study; only include the most important results, but include enough detail to support conclusions.
  • Conclusions: Implications of the study results; for example, identification of novel findings or placing the work in perspective by stating whether the report confirms or extends the findings of previous studies.

View a sample laboratory investigation abstract 

Clinical Abstracts. Clinical abstracts tend to be less conventional than scientific ones, but should nonetheless contain the following elements for a clear and logical presentation: problem or event, approach, observations, and conclusions.

  • Problem: The circumstances leading to the work to be described.
  • Approach: The steps taken to address or solve the problem. Include differential diagnoses and diagnostic strategies.
  • Observations: Important clinical, physical, and laboratory findings.
  • Conclusions: Implications of the study results; include the diagnosis and a declaration of any implications for colony or public health.

View a sample clinical abstract 

Husbandry/Management Abstracts. Husbandry/management abstracts, like clinical abstracts, do not always follow the conventional scientific format, but should contain the following elements: problem or event, approach, observations, and conclusions.

  • Problem: The circumstances leading to the work to be described.
  • Approach: The steps taken to address or solve the problem. Describe administrative or technical methodologies used.
  • Observations: A summary of the objective observations or data used to evaluate the success (or failure) of the approach.
  • Conclusions: Whether or not the approach was a success or failure; includes major recommendations that the author(s) feels can be made as a result of the work.

View a sample husbandry/management abstract 

What's Your Diagnosis? Abstracts.   What’s Your Diagnosis abstracts should follow the same format as the clinical or husbandry abstracts, including a description of the problem, approach, observations and conclusions. The abstracts are not published in JAALAS prior to the meeting and only the title is printed in the National Meeting program.

  • The title should not give away the diagnosis of a clinical case (e.g. “Diarrhea and Lethargy in a Laboratory Beagle”) or what was determined to be the cause of a facility or husbandry problem (e.g. “Cloudy drinking water in a mouse breeding facility”). However, the diagnosis/answer/cause must be included in the submitted abstract.
  • The WYD sessions are meant to be interactive, so the presenter should be prepared to design the talk to maximize audience participation. For example, a standard WYD presentation format involves several pause points to question the audience and ask for rule-outs/potential causes, next diagnostic steps, etc.

  • There is no WYD poster session, so abstracts submitted this will way will be moved to another category and require revisions. Some WYD platform abstracts will be moved to another category due to limited space in the WYD platform session. These will also require revisions.

View a sample What's Your Diagnosis? abstract 

Animal Welfare, Training and the 3Rs.  These abstracts, like the other abstracts, do not always follow the conventional scientific format, but should contain the following elements: problem or event, approach, observations, and conclusions.

  • Problem: The circumstances leading to the work, method, or improvement to be described.
  • Approach: The steps taken to address or solve the problem or situation. Describe administrative or technical methodologies used.
  • Observations: A summary of the objective observations or data used to evaluate the success (or failure) of the approach.
  • Conclusions: Whether or not the approach was a success or failure; includes major recommendations that the author(s) feels can be made as a result of the work.

Submission Instructions. Before submitting your abstract, collect the following information:

  • Complete contact information for all authors: name, title, institution, mailing address, phone, fax, and e-mail.
  • AALAS membership number (if applicable) for corresponding author and presenting author.
  • A statement indicating whether the study has been approved by your Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
  • Preferred format: oral presentation, poster session, or either are acceptable.
  • The category that best applies to your presentation: laboratory investigation, clinical, husbandry/management, what’s your diagnosis?, or animal welfare, training, and the 3Rs.
  • Verification that your abstract is original work.

The abstract itself must be 2,300 characters or approximately 300 words. Once you’ve gathered all required information, go to aalas.abstractcentral.com and follow the instructions to submit your abstract.

Reasons for Rejection

Abstracts may be rejected for one or more of the following reasons:

    • The hypothesis, study objective, question being addressed, or reason for process or technique development are missing.
    • The experimental design, diagnostic work-up, process, technique, or management approach are not sufficiently described.
    •  Insufficient data, information, or description is given to support the conclusions, or statements such as “results will be presented at a later time” or “the new process is under evaluation” are used.
    • The abstract does not concisely summarize results or provide a logical conclusion.
    • The abstract is poorly written or demonstrates an improper use of the English language.
    • The abstract promotes a product or procedure on behalf of a specific company or organization.
    • The material is better suited for an alternate National Meeting presentation category. The Abstract Review Committee does not reassign abstracts and such submissions will have to be submitted for a future meeting.
    • The abstract results or information add little to the body of knowledge, are not novel, or are of limited value in advancing the field.
    • The first author did not present his/her accepted abstract in the previous year and failed to notify the AALAS national office, leaving a poster space blank or presentation slot unused; submissions from this first author for the current year's meeting will be automatically rejected.

Notification of Acceptance

The National Meeting Abstract Review Subcommittee (NMARS) will review submissions and prepare the program. Abstract authors will be notified of their submission status in July.

The NMARS reserves the right to request changes or edits to the abstracts prior to acceptance. Abstracts and titles will be copyedited to conform with ASM style prior to publishing in AALAS publications without notification to the author.

Only the presenting author will be listed as a program participant and receive the program participant registration fee. National Meeting registration fees are not waived for abstract presenters.

Once an abstract has been submitted through the submission website, the only means of communication and notification of status will be by email. Therefore, it is very important that a valid and current email address be on record. It is incumbent on the presenting author to update the online submission system with email address or other contact information changes. Please note that the abstract submission site is not connected to the AALAS membership database. Therefore, changing your address in the membership database does not cause a corresponding change in the abstract submission site.

Publication Rights

Accepted abstracts are published in the Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science and the AALAS National Meeting Final Program, and may also be published in Comparative Medicine.

AALAS may request permission to incorporate a recording of all or part of your presentation in future professional development products, which could include AALAS Learning Library courses or educational DVDs. Your session PowerPoint® and an audio recording of your presentation may also be presented as a webinar on the AALAS web site.

The editor in chief of Comparative Medicine and the Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science encourages submission of manuscripts related to the subject material presented at the National Meeting. Acceptance for publication is solely within the jurisdiction of the editors. A statement of credit should be included, stating “Presented at the National Meeting of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, (place and date).”