Advice line: share your work at the CSP’s flagship scientific conference

The deadline to submit abstracts for Physiotherapy UK is coming up on 24 April. This year, there is a choice of four themes: Innovation in rehabilitation; managing complexity (including a musculoskeletal focus on the Saturday); fit for work; and the next generation. The conference website has a description of each theme, as well of details of how to submit your extract.

Quick tips 

• Read the guidelines: These cover what is expected. They include the scoring criteria against which your abstract is reviewed to help you understand what to focus on. 
• Find a critical friend: Ask a colleague to read your finished abstract and rate it against the scoring criteria. Their questions will help you understand how a reviewer will respond and what to improve. 
• Ethics: This is often a weak area. Make sure you fully explain your answers and check the guidelines.
• Title : The title sets the tone. Make it interesting and an accurate description of your work.
• Key messages: Start with a list of your major points in each section. Make each sentence count and if a word or sentence doesn’t add anything, don’t include it.  
• Published work: Every abstract from Physiotherapy UK 2018 was published in a special edition of Physiotherapy bit.ly/2JoZcF1. These will give you a good idea of the quality expected. 
• Check and double check: Remember to check spelling. Even better, ask someone to proofread. Once submitted your abstract can’t be amended and, if successful, it will be published with those mistakes.
• Think about the format: You can state how you would like to present your work. Some research lends itself better to poster presentation, others to a rapid five or platform.
• Give it a go:The process of submitting is a great exercise, no matter outcome and a useful skill to practice. 

Katie Prangle is Council for Allied Health Professions Research support officer