2022 Inclusivity Guidelines

adapted from YSC publicly posted guidelines

SIO constituents come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. We ask that speakers/facilitators use language and visuals that make everyone attending the conference feel welcome and included. We strive to create an environment where all attendees feel safe, supported, and empowered.

Please keep in mind the following:

• These individuals come from diverse backgrounds. This includes geographic location, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, economic background, language, politics and religion. During your presentation(s) and interactions with attendees, avoid stereotypes and making assumptions, and use language that is inclusive of those whose background may be different than your own.
• This is an inclusive and welcoming environment. Please refrain from making comments about an attendee’s appearance, experience, language or anything else that could make them uncomfortable. Even if you think comments are harmless, let individuals tell their own story.
• When speaking about romantic partnerships, acknowledge that some attendees are in same sex relationships. For example, consider using “partner” instead of “husband” or “boyfriend” during your presentation.
• Not all participants have a romantic partner. When speaking about relationships or support network, know that not all attendees are married or in a committed relationship. Sometimes their family and friends are their main source of support.
• Individuals are at various phases of breast cancer diagnosis. They may be newly diagnosed, post-treatment, a long-term survivor or living with metastatic breast cancer. Please provide information and use language that is inclusive of those who are living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), in-treatment for the rest of their lives or who don’t know their prognosis. For example, YSC uses “thriver” to describe those living with MBC, as opposed to survivor. For the same reason, YSC refrains from using the terms like “warrior,” “battlefield,” or “winning the fight.” When an individual dies of breast cancer, it is not because they didn’t fight hard enough.
• Co-survivors also attend SIO events. Co-survivors may be the partner (male or female), parent, sibling or friend of a young breast cancer survivor/thriver. Co-survivors will also have loved ones who are at various phases of diagnosis.

For additional useful tips that promote mindfulness in choosing language carefully for optimal inclusivity, click on this useful article link here.

For the 21^st International SIO conference hosted by City of Hope in Costa Mesa California on October 25-27^th 2024 (#SIO2024 for short), we will be introducing slight modifications to our processes in reviewing our annual conference scientific abstracts. In the past we would have simultaneous scientific abstract and educational workshop submissions managed by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC). This year the Scientific Review Committee will only be reviewing the scientific abstracts, and the Education Committee (see Educational Workshops FAQ for #SIO2024) will be reviewing the workshop submissions.  All submissions must be relevant to the field of integrative oncology to be considered competitive.

What are the new changes to the SIO 2024 International Conference processes regarding scientific abstract submissions?

The scoring system for scientific abstract submissions will be simplified to a 4 score system this year. “Needs assessment” i.e. one of last year’s criteria was found to confusing so it was removed this year. Each abstract will be rewarded a score of 1-5 with 4-5 being oral abstract quality, 2-4 being poster quality, and 0-2 being consider for rejection. Just because an abstract scores an average below 4 does not exclude the abstract from oral presentation as final rankings are decided upon by a meld of the absolute score and the SRC (Scientific Review Committee) qualitative assessment of the abstract and its fit with the rest of the selected oral presentations.

Keep in mind the scoring criteria will be different for educational workshops, so please review the Educational Workshop FAQ as well if you are planning on submitting a workshop as well.

When is the deadline for scientific abstract submissions for #SIO2024?

The deadline for scientific abstract submissions for the SIO 2024 Annual Conference will be April 8^st 2024 (recently extended from April 1st due to the overlapping Easter Weekend, but do not expect further extensions). Please note this is earlier than prior SIO conferences and we likely will not be extending the deadline so please respect the deadline this year! Keep in mind this deadline is >3 weeks later than the deadline for educational workshops (March 15^th) since the latter will require more post-submission production processes. You do not have to be an SIO member to submit an abstract or educational workshop. But you are required to be planning to attend and register for the SIO 2024 Annual Conference in person if you are submitting a scientific abstract.

What is the word limit for scientific abstracts?
This year we expanded it to 500 words (for the abstract total, and does not include text used in figures, tables).

When will I know whether my abstract was selected, and whether it was selected as a poster versus an oral presentation?

We cannot promise a date at this time, but every documented author who wishes to be notified of the result, will be notified via direct e-mail of the decision. We always share selection results with the authors before the end of the early bird deadline for registration discounts. Usually, the decisions are shared within 6 weeks of the deadline. When the decision letter is sent, it will include instructions of early bird registration, and other important things to know to help prepare the author and the group if applicable for the SIO 2024 Annual Conference. Please be aware that all poster and oral presentation selections will be expected to be presented in person at the SIO 2024 Annual Conference. There is no available compensation for registration or lodging, outside of the usual SIO accommodations and discounts for eligible people. If in person presentation is not available, then we will ask the submission to be cancelled if an alternative speaker cannot attend.

Is there an option to present my poster or oral presentation virtually?

No. If no in-person presenter is available, we will ask the poster/oral presentation to be cancelled. Please be mindful of this issue if you are an international member. The SIO 2024 Annual Conference will be a hybrid conference with option to attend virtually, but virtual attendance will not have access to all the scientific abstract breakout sessions, and the only presentations guaranteed to be recorded for virtual attendees, will be the Best of SIO session (top abstracts submitted to #SIO2024). Usually, we have at least one scientific abstract breakout session recorded each time interval, but we estimate only 1 out of 4 breakout sessions will be available for virtual attendees this way. We are aware sometimes things happen with international travel so please talk to us at SIO, if something comes up. But to be clear we cannot promise a virtual solution for people presenting, only those attending.

What if we expect results for our scientific abstract after the submission deadline and before the SIO 2024 Annual Conference?
If you guarantee results will be ready to discuss at the conference, please specify that in your submission as that might make it eligible for oral presentation but only in situations where the author has a track record of reliability as we cannot take on faith all promises will be kept, nor do we know if the results will be significant. If you do not include any results to discuss in your abstract, we will be more likely to assume your trial has no data to report and it is only a clinical trial summary and at best will only be selected as a poster. If you don’t have any clear results available before the conference, then please make it clear your presentation is to highlight and publicize a clinical trial, not to discuss results. ASCO calls these abstracts “Trials in Progress”, so specifying that in the title of your abstract will be very helpful for reviewers. Case reports and literature reviews are not typically selected for oral presentation and usually at best will be selected for posters, but we will accept those types of submissions for #SIO2024.

May I present findings if they have already been published or presented or will be presented elsewhere before the meeting date?
If an author chooses to submit information from an abstract that has previously been presented and/ or published, all data must be updated, current, and rewritten in a manner that does not infringe on copyright laws, and the audience/reviewer should be clear on what exactly that is being presented is new and the reason for another presentation. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to include any copyrighted material in their abstract presentations. All authors will be required to agree to a copyright assignment statement when submitting an abstract. The Scientific Review Committee will give priority to research that has not been presented elsewhere or published prior to #SIO2024.

Do I have to declare potential conflict of interest?
Yes, to comply with continuing education credit guidelines, the presenting author will be required to disclose all relationships with ineligible companies over the previous 24 months. These disclosures must be detailed during the abstract submission process. If the presenting author does not complete this disclosure process, then SIO will not be able to offer continuing education credit for your presentation. Authors of accepted poster presentations are not required to provide this information.

If I am selected for an oral presentation what will the presentation format be?

Your abstract and a few others will be combined into a ‘breakout session’ usually with a theme for that group of abstracts. Each breakout session will feature a moderator and the panel of speakers presenting the selected abstracts. The oral presentation will be limited to 12 minutes, with 3 min for Q&A afterwards or saved in sum for all speakers at the end of the breakout session.

How do I create a strong proposal?

The strongest proposals will be clearly written and as specific as possible, with avoidance of generalities and simple narratives in lieu of scientific data. Competitive edge will be given to scientific abstracts that fit well with the SIO 2024 conference theme “Full circle translational integrative oncology: from bedside to bench and back”. Also please follow standard scientific abstract format with an abstract title, introduction, methods, results, discussion. Variations on this format are allowed but we will not be giving the benefit of the doubt to a submission that is highly disorganized and does not respect any normal standard of scientific abstract writing. Obviously, some abstracts like a meta-analysis or review on a topic or a case report might not fit cleanly into this format and in lieu of the standard format we would just ask the abstract be clearly written and accurately reflect the content of the poster/presentation we can expect. The more specific the better. If the reviewer can’t have a clear idea of what it is you are planning to present, this will generally lead to a poor score.

What if I have a question not covered by this FAQ?

Feel free to reach out to cme@coh.org for any questions related in general about the conference such as registration and conference schedule/details. For any questions related to your scientific abstract submission, the Co-Chairs of the 2024 Scientific Review Committee are John Camariano MD and Sheila Garland PhD would be best to reach and you can be connected to them through info@integrativeonc.org.