General Policies

Meeting Format

The ISHLT2025 Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions is being planned as an in-person meeting. Accepted abstracts must be presented in person.

Responsibility of Presenting Author

The person indicated as presenting author during abstract submission will be the sole point of contact for information regarding the submission and is responsible for notifying all co-authors regarding the outcome of the abstract submission and any changes to the program, as communicated by ISHLT, in a timely manner. The Presenting Author must register for the meeting and deliver the presentation in person.

Submission Fee

There is a $25 USD nonrefundable fee for submitting an abstract.

Abstract Revisions

Revisions to a submitted abstract can be made up until the submission deadline of 15 October, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET / 16 October, 2024 at 3:59 UTC. After this deadline, revisions to the abstract are NOT permitted.

Permission to Publish

Submission of an abstract signifies that the abstract author(s) have given permission for the abstract to be reproduced in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation for distribution and/or sale by ISHLT.

Permission to Record in Digital Formats

Acceptance of an invitation to give a presentation based on a submitted abstract signifies that the presenter has given permission for his/her presentation to be recorded in digital formats of ISHLT’s choosing for distribution and/or sale by ISHLT.

Previous Publication of Abstracts

Research based on an accepted abstract may not be presented if the abstract is published as an article prior to the first day of the meeting: 27 April, 2025.

Abstract Withdrawal

Abstracts accepted for presentation can be withdrawn during the presentation confirmation period in January. The decision to withdraw should occur only in exceptional circumstances and must be made collectively by all authors. ISHLT reserves the right to withdraw any presentation that is in violation of the Society's Abstract Submission Policies.

Presentation of Data

Any abstract author who accepts an invitation to give a presentation based on a submitted abstract agrees to present the data described in the abstract and may not present data not described in the abstract. Any presenter who does not present the data described in the abstract and/or declines the presentation invitation without arranging for the presentation to be given by an abstract co-author (pending approval of ISHLT), will be appropriately sanctioned from future participation in ISHLT meetings by the Society’s Board of Directors.

Informed Consent

Submission of an abstract signifies that the author(s) agree and confirm that their study involving human subjects adheres to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association, adheres to the principles of the ISHLT Statement on Transplant Ethics, and meets the informed consent requirements of the institution and country in which the study was performed.

Compliance with the Declaration of Istanbul

Submission of an abstract signifies that the author(s) agree and confirm that their study involving human subjects adheres to the principles of the Declaration of Istanbul and to the principles of the ISHLT Statement on Transplant Ethics.

IMPORTANT: Due to ongoing concerns about compliance with the Declaration of Istanbul and the ISHLT Statement on Transplant Ethics, abstracts related to transplantation and involving either organs or tissue from human donors in China will not be accepted for consideration to the Annual Meeting. This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Use of Animals

Submission of an abstract signifies that the author(s) agree and confirm that their study involving the use of animals conforms fully within current NIH, EU, or analogous national guidelines for the care and use of animals.

Use of Institutional Names and Commercial Trade Names

For purposes of blind scoring, institutional names must be omitted whenever possible in the title and body of the abstract. Authors are requested to avoid the use of commercially branded names of medications or devices. If a specific medication/device is only identifiable by its trade name, then this should appear in brackets after a generic description of the medication/device.

Use of Generic Versus Trade Names

Abstracts must use scientific or generic names when referring to products. Should it be necessary to use a trade name, then the trade names of all similar products or those within a class must be used.

Embargo Policy

The information contained in the abstracts is embargoed until the abstracts are available online (1 March). The abstracts selected for plenary, oral, and poster presentations will be posted online in compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation FD. At that time, the embargo will lift on the data included in the abstract, including the abstract title, presentation time and date, and study authors. Information that goes beyond that which is contained in the four corners of the abstract (e.g., additional analysis, commentary, or updated information from those individuals and companies involved in the study) is embargoed according to the following criteria:

• For oral presentations: The embargo time is the start time of the session in which the presentation is being made.
• For poster presentations: The embargo lifts when the poster session containing the poster opens for viewing in the morning.

Programming Decisions

ISHLT is accredited by the ACCME as a provider of Continuing Medical Education (CME) credit. The Annual Meeting Program Committee is responsible for determining what content will be included in all portions of the Scientific Program where CME is offered. Contacting any member of the Program Committee to influence decision-making or inquire as to the status of a submission is strictly prohibited and may result in repercussions.

Content Validation

Fair Balance, Independent Content Validation, and Level of Evidence

All recommendations involving clinical medicine in a CME/CE activity must be based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contra-indications in the care of patients. All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in CME in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.

Off-Label Uses and Limitations of Data

Presenting Authors must make meaningful disclosure to the attendees of a CME/CE activity when products or procedures discussed are off-label, unlabeled, experimental, and/or investigational (not FDA approved), and disclose any limitations on the information presented, such as data that are preliminary or that represent ongoing research, interim analyses, and/or unsupported opinion.

Additional Provisions

Presenting Authors must:

• attest that CME/CE activity materials will be HIPPA compliant (i.e. using de-identified patient information when possible);
• agree to obtain the necessary copyright permission(s) for any portion of the CME/CE activity materials that are not their original work or for which they do not hold the copyright;
• agree to provide meaningful opportunity for questions or scientific debate during any live presentation;
• agree to provide additional disclosure information if a financial relationship or interest is indicated.

Disclosure Policy

As an ACCME accredited provider of Continuing Medical Education (CME), the ISHLT must collect financial disclosure information from all planners, faculty, and others in control of educational content about all their financial relationships with ACCME-defined ineligible companies within the prior 24 months.

An Ineligible Company is any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

Individuals must disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies. There is no minimum financial threshold. Individuals must disclose regardless of their view of the relevance of the relationship to the education. Disclosure information must include:

1. the name of the ineligible company with which the person has a financial relationship.
2. the nature of the financial relationship. Examples of financial relationships include employee, researcher, consultant, advisor, speaker, independent contractor (including contracted research), royalties or patent beneficiary, executive role, and ownership interest. Individual stocks and stock options should be disclosed; diversified mutual funds do not need to be disclosed. Research funding from ineligible companies should be disclosed by the principal or named investigator even if that individual’s institution receives the research grant and manages the funds.

It is ISHLT’s responsibility to identify relevant financial relationships between individuals in control of educational content and ineligible companies and managing these to ensure they do not introduce commercial bias into the education. Financial relationships of any dollar amount are defined as relevant if the educational content is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.

Submitting authors must indicate if an ACCME defined ineligible company funded the research study. If so, they must provide the name or names of the ineligible companies. They must also indicate if any of the co-authors are an owner or employee of an ineligible company.

ISHLT excludes owners or employees of ineligible companies from participating as planners or faculty of accredited continuing education, and must not be allowed to influence or control any aspect of the planning, delivery, or evaluation of any education carrying continuing education credit.