One of the objectives of this Conference is to assist in the development of rigorous activities supporting safety and quality initiatives, outcomes research and epidemiology.

The Free Paper and Project Discussion session will allow the presentation of preliminary findings or literature reviews linked to proposals for ongoing work in consultation and collaboration with other interested parties. It is expected that this form of dialogue with the audience will offer opportunities for improvement and implementation of the proposals.

Abstracts describing current quality initiatives and outcomes, methods papers, statistical or outcomes and epidemiological topics will be considered.

Presentations are to be 15 minutes in length with 5 minutes for discussion and questions. The session may be extended slightly if there are sufficient proposals

Key dates

Application process
To be selected to present you are required to submit an abstract following the instructions detailed below.  Submissions found not to be within the guidelines, including the word count, will not be reviewed and automatically declined for presentation.
 
Abstracts should be submitted by email only. Please ensure the abstract complies with the instructions below and send to sqao2009@arinex.com.au. If you have any questions please contact the Conference Managers on the above email address or +61 3 9417 0888.

Closing date
Closing date for receipt of Abstracts and Project Proposals is Friday 19 June 2009, 5.00pm AEDT.  All presenters must register to attend the Conference. Acceptance of abstracts into the program is contingent upon receipt of the registration fee. 

Notification of abstract acceptance
You will be notified of the acceptance or otherwise of your abstract no later than Tuesday 30 June.

Authors will have until Monday 6 July to confirm in writing to the Conference Managers their acceptance of their presentation offer.

If your abstract is accepted for inclusion in the program, information pertaining to your presentation at the Conference will be forwarded to you by the Conference Managers.

Abstract Submission Guidelines

• Abstracts must be written in English.
• Abstracts should be a maximum of 250 words and contain a 50 word biography on all presenters.
• Abstracts must be submitted using the abstract template
• Any conflict of interest should be declared at the time of submitted an abstract
• Abstracts should be written in the past tense, i.e. should state what was done, not what is being, should or will be done. 
• The abstract must contain sufficient information so that if it is published in the proceedings of the Conference or in a journal, it will be a complete report independent of the presentation. 
• The abstract should not contain statements alluding to results or conclusions not presented in the text; abstracts stating “will be discussed”, “will be described” or “will be presented” will be rejected. 
• Only standard abbreviations should be used.  Non-standard abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and defined in parentheses in the text.  In general, no more than 2 non-standard abbreviations should be used and should only be used to replace words appearing 4 times or more in the text.  Use SI units except for pressure; use cmH2O or mmHg with kPa units in brackets (optional).
• References are not to be included.
• Abstracts must be submitted in MS Word format only; pdf and other formats are not acceptable. If you're using MS Vista or the latest version of MS Word for Mac (Word 2008) please save your abstract as a Word 97-2004 document (.doc) and NOT docx.

Please note:

• Abstracts will be reviewed by the Organising Committee.
• Presenters are responsible for their own travel, accommodation and incidentals in respect of attending the Conference.
• By submission of an abstract, the author(s) transfers copyright ownership to the Conference Managers for publication in the Conference Handbook.
• Full papers are not required.
• Acceptance or otherwise of abstracts is at the discretion of the Organising Committee.
• Abstracts that do not adhere to the guidelines will not be accepted.
• Abstracts received after the closure date will not be accepted.
• For proposals with more than one author, only one person should submit the abstract, and this person will be the contact for all correspondence concerning the abstract with the Conference Managers.

SQAO Conference Managers
arinex
GPO Box 128, SYDNEY NSW 2001 Australia
P: 1300 799 691 (within Australia)
OR: +61 2 9265 0890 (International)
F: +61 2 9265 0880
E: sqao2009@arinex.com.au