Center for Practice Transformation | College of Nursing, Michigan State University

<aside> <img src="/icons/alert_red.svg" alt="/icons/alert_red.svg" width="40px" />

Before you draft: IRB approval or non-HSR determination, both with approved dissemination plans. If your project involved human subjects, you need documentation of either IRB approval or a formal QI/non-HSR determination from your institution before you present or publish. Most health systems have a short determination form. Retroactive IRB approval does not exist. Resolve this at the project level, not at the abstract level.

</aside>

Your Project

Pre-Submission Self-Audit

Run your draft against this list. If you can't check a box, rewrite before you submit.

<aside> <img src="/icons/book_blue.svg" alt="/icons/book_blue.svg" width="40px" />

Background (1–2 sentences)

• [ ] First sentence names the specific clinical gap, population, and setting (not "cancer is a leading cause of death")
• [ ] No lengthy literature review </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/gear_purple.svg" alt="/icons/gear_purple.svg" width="40px" />

Methods (2–3 sentences)

• [ ] Project type named explicitly (QI, EBP, case report, etc.)
• [ ] Intervention described, not just the framework
• [ ] Setting, sample or population, and timeframe all present
• [ ] Audited against the relevant reporting guideline (table below); gaps filled inside the conference's required structure </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/chart-line_green.svg" alt="/icons/chart-line_green.svg" width="40px" />

Results (2–3 sentences)

• [ ] Primary outcome leads the section
• [ ] At least one specific number (percentage, pre/post mean, sample size)
• [ ] No vague verbs ("improved," "enhanced," "increased") without quantification
• [ ] Preliminary results, if any, are labeled as preliminary </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/light-bulb_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/light-bulb_yellow.svg" width="40px" />

Implications (2–3 sentences)

• [ ] Passes the "So what?" test: names who benefits and how, without overclaiming
• [ ] Connects findings to settings beyond your unit
• [ ] Does not end with "more research is needed" (unless you specify what, by whom, to what end) </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/checklist_orange.svg" alt="/icons/checklist_orange.svg" width="40px" />

Whole-Draft Checks

• [ ] Background is not longer than results
• [ ] Word count and reference format within the conference's stated limits
• [ ] At least one outsider has read it and told you what questions remain
• [ ] This is not the first draft </aside>

Reporting Guideline Quick Reference

Guidelines are written primarily for manuscripts. Use them as a rigor checklist against your draft, not as a template. An abstract aligned to the right guideline is one revision away from a manuscript draft. All guidelines free at equator-network.org.

Finding the Right Venue

Match the venue to the work, then build backward from the deadline.