CNS 2012 Atlanta/Decatur: 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. All submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail.

NEW: Presenting authors have to register for the main meeting before the abstract can be published and incorporated into the program. This can be done after the abstract has been formally accepted. Member presenting authors may submit maximum two abstracts, non-member presenting authors may submit only one abstract.

Important Dates

  • Abstract submission open: 16 January 2012
  • Abstract submission now closed. More than 200 abstracts were submitted.
  • Notification of abstract acceptance: 25 April 2012
  • Presenting author has to register for the meeting: 31 May 2012

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).

Login to http://cns.confmaster.net and register as a new author.

Once registered and logged in, 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.

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 four-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). 

Submissions to be considered for oral presentation will be reviewed by two independent referees and results of the review process will be used to construct the oral program. 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.