R02160110 ASIA PACIFIC DENTAL STUDENTS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONGRESS SINGAPORE 10 13 AUGUST 2016 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH COMPETITION RULES AND GUIDELINES Table of Contents How to Submit Abstract 1. Eligibility 2 2. Categories.. 2 3. Deadlines and Submission Instructions. 2 4. Judging and Awards.3 5. Rules, Policies and Agreements.3 Annex A: Presentation Guidelines. 5 Annex B: Abstract Submission Guidelines 6 Annex C: Judging Guidelines..7 Download the PDF form from congress website. All fields must be duly filled in electronically. Signatures will be the exception and can be done using digital ink, or using physical ink on the electronically filled out and printed form. Email the soft copy (original or scanned) of the form in PDF to apdsa.sg@gmail.com. Deadline: 27 March 2016, 2359 hours (GMT+8) APDSA Annual Congress Singapore 2016 SRC Rules and Guidelines Page 1 of 8
ABOUT The Scientific Research Competition (SRC) will be held on 12 August 2016 as part of the Asia Pacific Dental Students Association (APDSA) Annual Congress Singapore 2016. 1. ELIGIBILITY The Scientific Research Competition (SRC) is open to all undergraduate dental students enrolled in a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S.), Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.), Doctor of Dental Medicine (D.M.D.), or equivalent program at the time of registration. Graduate clinical students enrolled in a Master of Dental Surgery (M.D.S.) or equivalent program, and graduate research students are not eligible to register. 2. CATEGORIES Category 1: Oral Presentation Presentation will have a maximum duration of 10 minutes, followed by a 5-minute Question and Answer session Presentation is to be aided by a slide show and any accompanying presentation aids Basic presentation equipment will be provided Category 2: Poster Presentation Presentations will have a maximum duration of 5 minutes, followed by a 3-minute Question and Answer session Presentation is to be aided by a poster of A0 size, in portrait orientation Basic poster mounting facilities will be provided Poster printing services will not be provided Refer to Annex A for presentation guidelines 3. DEADLINES AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Abstract submission deadline: 27 March 2016, 2359 hours (GMT+8) Notification of acceptance: 15 May 2016 onwards The Abstract Submission Form is to be downloaded from the congress website and duly filled in electronically, and signed. The form is to be emailed to apdsa.sg@gmail.com by the stipulated abstract submission deadline. Contact persons of selected and accepted abstracts for the competition will be notified via email after the date for Notification of Acceptance. Dates are subject to change without prior notice. Please refer to the congress website for the latest updates. Refer to Annex B for abstract submission guidelines APDSA Annual Congress Singapore 2016 SRC Rules and Guidelines Page 2 of 8
4. JUDGING AND AWARDS Oral Presentations will be performed in front of a panel of 5 judges and an audience. Poster Presentations will be performed separately to 2 individual judges during the Poster Presentation judging session. The following awards will be presented within each category: First Prize : 500 Singapore Dollars Second Prize : 350 Singapore Dollars Third Prize : 150 Singapore Dollars Prizes are subject to change without prior notice. Refer to Annex C for judging guidelines 5. RULES, POLICIES AND AGREEMENTS By submitting for the competition, all participants agree to comply with the following rules, policies, and agreements listed out by the APDSA Annual Congress Singapore Local Organizing Committee (LOC), in accordance with the International Association of Dental Research (IADR) guidelines, failure to adhere to which may result in sanctions as deemed appropriate by APDSA and the LOC, including denial of permission to present at future competitions. General Competition Rules 1. Participants may present only one abstract across both categories. Multiple individuals may be involved in the presentation of an abstract, within given time limits. 2. Projects being submitted must be original research. 3. Previously published abstracts (in print or any electronic format) or those presented at another meeting or competition are not allowed. 4. Abstracts must be submitted strictly in accordance with the official submission instructions. Other forms of submission will not be reviewed. 5. There will be no review of research manuscripts in the competition process. 6. You must receive the approval of all co-authors before putting their names on the abstract. 7. There will not be an abstract replacement period. Abstracts are reviewed for selection as submitted by the abstract submission deadline of 27 March 2016. Participants are not permitted to modify their abstracts after this date for purposes of this review, or for the competition. 8. Changes or withdrawal in participants must be made known to the LOC in writing prior to the congress. 9. All presentations must be made in a professional manner, without disparaging colleagues, companies or products. Unnecessarily demeaning comments and attacks on colleagues, companies or products are unacceptable. Participation Agreement Participants must: 1. Affirm that any work with human or animal subjects reported in the abstract complies with the guiding principles for experimental procedures found in the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association, and this research project has been duly cleared APDSA Annual Congress Singapore 2016 SRC Rules and Guidelines Page 3 of 8
by Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Ethics Committee or an equivalent ethical body. 2. Affirm that the work has not been published (in print or electronically) or presented elsewhere prior to the SRC. 3. Agree that if the abstract is accepted, the LOC has permission to publish the abstract in printed and/or electronic formats. 4. Agree to register for the congress by the deadline for Submission of Abstracts of 27 March 2016, failure of which will result in the abstract being automatically withdrawn from the selection review. 5. Agree to pay the registration fee within one week upon acceptance of the abstract, failure of which will result in the selected abstract being automatically withdrawn from the competition. Abstract Licensing Policy By submitting an abstract to the LOC, and in consideration for the opportunity to be included in the competition, the author(s) of the abstract hereby provides to the LOC a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to use the abstract in APDSA s and the congress publications and materials, including but not limited to the Congress Book. Full Disclosure Policy The LOC seeks to provide congress delegates with current, scientifically-based information relevant to dental, oral and craniofacial research, the practice of dentistry and the oral health of the public. Once an abstract is selected, the LOC makes no attempt to control the content of the presentation or the content of any submitted abstract. Therefore, in submitting an abstract for presentation and publication, a participant represents and warrants to the LOC that any intellectual property associated with or contained in the content of the abstract representation is owned by the participant or the participant is authorized to use said content along with any applicable intellectual property associated with the content. The participant further agrees to indemnify and hold harmless APDSA and the LOC from any and all claims of third parties regarding the content of the abstract or presentation, including but not limited to any claims of infringement of intellectual property or misappropriation of proprietary or trade secret information. Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) Agreement The LOC aims to comply with the requirements of the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) of the Republic of Singapore. Personal data collected by the LOC through the Abstract Submission Form and all subsequent correspondences with the participant will be for the purposes of abstract selection and publishing, SRC registration and judging, and future communications with the participant. The LOC is committed to protecting SRC participants personal data and will not disclose any personal data to third parties without the participant s prior consent. Participants may withdraw at any time their consent to the LOC for collecting and using their personal data, and they may inform the LOC about their intentions for withdrawal in writing. However, withdrawal of consent will also result in the automatic withdrawal of the participant s participation in the SRC. By filling out and submitting the Abstract Submission Form to the LOC, participants consent to personal data being collected and used by the LOC for the abovementioned purposes. APDSA Annual Congress Singapore 2016 SRC Rules and Guidelines Page 4 of 8
ANNEX A: PRESENTATION GUIDELINES Category 1: Oral Presentation 1. All participants must submit any form of presentation aid intended for presentation 48 hours prior to their allocated time slot, or as otherwise stipulated by the LOC. 2. 10 minutes is allocated to each presentation. There will be one ring on the bell to notify of the 8 minute mark, and two rings on the bell to notify of the 9 minute mark. 3. Presentation will be followed by a 5-minute Question and Answer session. 4. There can be multiple presenters for a group presentation, but no marks will be deducted if otherwise. 5. Basic presentation equipment will be provided on the day of the competition. Category 2: Poster Presentation 1. All participants are required to present their research findings with their posters in A0 size (841 x 1189 mm), and portrait orientation. 2. 5 minutes is allocated to each presentation. 3. Presentation will be followed by a 3-minute Question and Answer session. 4. There can be multiple presenters for a group presentation, but no marks will be deducted if otherwise. 5. Title of project should be brief, informative and readable from 2 or 3 metres away. 6. Headings should include purpose, hypothesis, procedure, results and conclusion. 7. Text should be kept to a minimum; be clear and concise. 8. Keep Tables, Diagrams and Photographs simple; use colours effectively; legends and labels should be easy to read. Only originals are accepted. 9. Mounting facilities and labels will be provided on the day of the competition. APDSA Annual Congress Singapore 2016 SRC Rules and Guidelines Page 5 of 8
ANNEX B: ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 1. Language: Abstracts must only be written in U.S. English. 2. Title: The title should be dynamic and conclusive, rather than descriptive, and should be entered in title case format, APA format. In general, you should capitalize the first letter of each word unless it is a preposition or article. Do italicize scientific names of organisms such as streptococci or candida. 3. Authors: Each author should be added separately to the submission form to ensure proper listing. Enter first (given) name, and last (family/surname) name for each author plus institution/affiliation. Presenting authors must be listed accordingly. The LOC will not list each author s department in the Congress Book due to space limitations. 4. Text: All abstracts should be 300 words or less. When composing your text, be sure to use a plain-text (UTF-8 encoding) word processor in order to save your abstract in advance. Do not include your title or authors in the abstract text - these items will be collected separately. The abstract should be text-only; no graphics or tables are permitted. Simple formatting (e.g. italics, superscripts) can be made. 5. Special characters: Special characters in the title or body of the abstract or in the coauthor s names or affiliations should be in plain-text (UTF-8 encoding). 6. Content Of the Abstract: Titles, authors and authors' affiliations are not included in the 300 word limit (references are not collected). The abstract must contain a brief statement of: a. The objectives of the investigation, b. Experimental methods used, c. Essential results, including data and, where appropriate, statistics, d. Conclusion APDSA Annual Congress Singapore 2016 SRC Rules and Guidelines Page 6 of 8
ANNEX C: JUDGING GUIDELINES Listed below are the judging guidelines and recommended criteria for the SRC. Actual judging rubrics will be based on the following guidelines. 1. Is the problem stated clearly and unambiguously? 2. Was the problem sufficiently limited to allow a plausible approach? (Good scientists can identify important problems capable of solutions) 3. Was there a procedural plan for obtaining a solution? 4. Are the variables clearly recognized and defined? A. Project Goals (50 %) I. Scientific / Mathematical Thought 5. If controls were necessary, did the students recognize their need and were they correctly used? 6. Are there adequate data to support the conclusions? 7. Does the student / team recognize the data s limitations? 8. Does the student / team understand the project s ties to related research? 9. Does the student / team have an idea of what further research is warranted? 10. Did the student / team cite scientific literature, or only popular literature (local newspapers, Reader s Digest)? 1. Does the project have a clear objective? 2. Is the objective relevant to the potential user s needs? A. Project Goals (50 %) II. Engineering / Clinical Goals 3. Is the solution workable, acceptable to the potential user, economically feasible? 4. Could the solution be utilized successfully in design or construction of an end product? 5. Is the solution a significant improvement over previous alternatives? 6. Has the solution been tested for performance under the conditions of use? APDSA Annual Congress Singapore 2016 SRC Rules and Guidelines Page 7 of 8
1. Was a Project Log Book kept throughout duration of the project? Is it well-documented? 2. Was the purpose carried out to completion within the scope of the original intent? 3. How completely was the problem covered? B. Thoroughness (20 %) 4. Are the conclusions based on a single experiment or replication? 5. How complete are the project notes? 6. Is the student / team aware of other approaches or theories? 7. How much time did the student / team spend on the project? 8. Is the student / team familiar with scientific literature in the studied field? 1. How clearly does the student discuss the project and explain the purpose, procedure, and conclusions? (Watch out for memorized speeches that reflect little understanding of principles) 2. Does the written material reflect the student s or team s understanding of the research? C. Clarity (20 %) 3. Are the important phases of the project presented in an orderly manner? 4. How clearly are the data and results presented? 5. How well does the project display explain the project? 6. Was the presentation done in a forthright manner, without tricks or gadgets? D. Teamwork (10 %) INDIVIDUAL PROJECT: 10% will be re-distributed to the three categories abovementioned in a 4-3-3 fashion respectively 1. Are the tasks and contributions of each team member clearly outlined? 2. Was each team member fully involved with the project, and is each member familiar with all aspects? 3. Does the final work reflect the coordinated efforts of all team members? APDSA Annual Congress Singapore 2016 SRC Rules and Guidelines Page 8 of 8