CNS 2013 Paris: Abstract Submission

Submissions can include experimental, model-based, as well as more abstract theoretical approaches to understanding neurobiological computation. We especially encourage research that mixes experimental and theoretical studies. We also accept papers that describe new technical approaches to theoretical and experimental issues in computational neuroscience or relevant software packages.

Submissions to the meeting will take the form of a formatted abstract. Submission instructions, submission website, and a full description of the review process are below. Authors wishing to give oral presentation or travel award applicants are required to also submit a 1-3-page summary (for the OCNS reviewers only) describing the nature, scope and main results of the work in more detail. The summaries will be reviewed to construct the oral program and to select travel award recipients. All submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail.

NEW: one of the authors has to register as sponsoring author for the main meeting before abstract submission is possible. If your abstract is rejected you can request a full refund. OCNS members may sponsor up to two abstracts that they are an author of, non-members only one abstract. See our FAQ for more details.

Important Dates

  • Abstract submission opens: January 16, 2013, registration of sponsoring author required.
  • Latest safe date for membership application before abstract submission: February 23, 2013.
  • Abstract submission closed: extended deadline February 25, 2013 (11:00 pm Pacific time USA).
  • Notification of abstract acceptance: March 22, 2013.
  • Notification of oral/poster presentation: April 30, 2013.

Abstract Submission

Authors should prepare a formatted abstract using the template and, if requesting an oral presentation or applying for a travel award, also prepare a 1-3 page summary in PDF format.

Download the template and save it on your computer. Open it in a word processor that can read Word files (Word, Wordperfect, etc.). Replace the title, author names and affiliations, e-mail, and abstract text with your data. Specific instructions are given within the template and since this formatted abstract will be published it is important that these formatting instructions are followed carefully. When you have finished entering your abstract into the template, save the file in Word format (.doc NOT .docx).

Next register for the CNS Main Meeting (and more if you want). Shortly after the registration is paid and completed you will receive an e-mail with a voucher code needed for abstract submission. 

Go to the abstract submission site and log in. Note that this is a different login, specific to the Confmaster website. Use an existing account, or create a new one by selecting "Register as new author". Once logged in, press on Redeem Voucher in the Author menu (left side bar after login). Then enter the code you received and the system will tell you how many abstracts you can submit.

Next click on “Register paper” in the Author menu.

Enter the title of the paper.

Use the pull down menu to select presentation preference type (“poster preferred”, “oral preferred”, “oral or featured preferred”). Note that “oral preferred” and “oral or featured preferred” papers will be considered equally for the short oral format. Those who select “oral or featured oral” will also be considered for the longer featured oral format.

Select a field of study keyword (keyword1), a system keyword (keyword2), and up to 2 additional keywords that best describe your paper. These will be used to assign reviewers and to organize the program by topic.

Upload your formatted abstract.

List all authors and their e-mail addresses so that contact with all authors communication can be maintained. Mark the presenting author and the sponsoring author.

If “oral preferred” or “oral or featured preferred” is selected, upload a 1-3 page summary in PDF format describing the work in more detail. These summaries will be used together with the abstracts to select papers for the oral program. Summaries have no template and can include figures within the 3 page limit.

Also please answer the questions at the bottom and click the check box.

When done, CLICK the SUBMIT button (very important!)

Questions on the instructions can be addressed to [email protected].

The Review Process

Submissions will be judged and accepted for the meeting based on clarity, substance and appropriateness for the meeting. It is particularly important that the biological relevance of the research be made clear. OCNS strongly believes in the open exchange of ideas and rejections are usually based on absence of biological relevance (e.g., pure machine learning) or the absence of any computational aspect (e.g., purely clinical neurology studies). Authors will be notified of acceptance of their abstract before the end of March.

Submissions to be considered for oral presentation will be reviewed by at least two independent referees and results of the review process will be used to construct the oral program and to select travel awards. In addition to perceived quality and significance, the novelty of the research and the diversity and coherence of the overall program will be considerations for selection as an oral presentation. We particularly encourage women and underrepresented minorities to apply for an oral presentation. To ensure diversity, those who have given talks in the recent past will not be selected and multiple oral presentations from the same lab will be discouraged. Most oral presentations will be 20 minutes in length, but a few papers will be selected for longer "featured oral" presentations.

All accepted papers not selected for oral talks may be presented during the poster sessions. Authors will be notified of the presentation format of their papers by the end of April.

Open Access, Citable Abstract Publication:

The formatted abstracts will again be published as a Supplement to the online journal BMC Neuroscience. The supplement is citable, indexed by PubMed, and open access.

Previous year's abstracts are available under the Publications menu.