Abstracts due by October 22, 2018

The Petfood Forum 2019 content advisory board is seeking academic research abstracts for undergraduate and graduate oral presentations and research posters, due October 22, 2018.

Petfood Forum 2019 is scheduled for April 29–May 1 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., with the Student Program taking place April 30–May 1. Please do not submit an abstract if you are not sure you will be able to attend Petfood Forum during the relevant dates.

Why submit?
All abstracts selected will be published, and up to 10 abstracts will be chosen to be part of Petfood Forum’s oral competition for students (there is no cap at this time for the poster competition). One winner each will be selected by a panel of judges among the oral presentations and poster presentations and will receive cash prizes.

What to submit
Potential student speakers are invited to submit academic research abstracts on topics including:
• New research on companion animal nutrition;
• Novel ingredients and their potential applications in pet food or treat formulations;
• New information, techniques or processes for product development in pet food;
• New research, technology or processes for pet food production;
• New research, technology or other information on pet food packaging;
• New, specific information on one focused aspect of pet food safety (no general overviews of regulations or pet food safety programs).

An advisory board of pet food industry and academia experts will evaluate all submissions for:
• Relevance of topic;
• Presence of new or innovative information, concepts or research; originality is key, so please be sure your abstract gives a clear idea of how your topic is unique and/or based on new research findings or work not found elsewhere;
• Proposed speaker’s experience or background with the topic;
• Lack of commercialization or promotion — it is crucial that the paper/presentation does not come across as a sales pitch, seeking to promote a specific organization or product(s).

Each submission is evaluated on its own merits against these criteria but also in relation to other papers received — for example, it is highly unlikely two papers on the same or a very similar subject would be selected for presentations.

No abstract will be considered if it seems commercial or if it has been published or presented prior to Petfood Forum 2019.

How to submit
You will need to join as a new user or log in, using the links below. Once logged in, you will see a page with further information, as well as a link to start a new submission. If creating a new account, please click “Save” at the top of the page.

Follow the instructions to complete the submission form, using the guidelines below. When finished, be sure to click “Save” at the top of the page.

Guidelines
• Abstracts must be written in English.
• The abstract should sufficiently explain the topic, especially how it is unique or based on new information. The potential speaker’s expertise in or knowledge of the topic should also be clear.
• The following elements must be part of the abstract:

• Abstract title and name, title and organization of corresponding author/potential speaker (if different or in addition to the information given in your account);
  
• The learning objective(s) of the presentation;
  
• A concise list of 3–5 useful take-home points;
  
• Information presented in sufficient detail to support the conclusions and take-home points, plus how the topic is unique or based on new information.

The submission form also includes a required field for a 50–100 word biography of the potential presenter. For oral presentations, is helpful to include information on both the speaker’s knowledge of or experience with the topic and any prior public speaking experience.

Abstracts must be received no later than October 22. After this deadline, the abstract submission system will no longer accept submissions. Any requests for late submissions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

After review of submissions
All submissions will be reviewed and decisions made roughly three weeks after the October 22 deadline; you will receive an email from the abstract system about whether your submission has been accepted or declined, using an email address named “Petfood Forum 2019.”

If your abstract is chosen for an oral presentation, you will receive a Word template to complete a proceedings document, plus a PowerPoint template to use to create your presentation, including a set range of number of slides and amount of information or bullet points to include on each slide. Please use and follow these templates.

Authors will be required to sign a copyright release to permit publication of the abstract and the use or re-use of other materials. For oral presentations, you will also be required to provide a photo (head shot) and, by a specified date, a longer, more developed abstract if your initial submission is not sufficient for publication.

Failure to provide required files and information by the specified deadlines could result in your being replaced as a speaker or poster presenter for Petfood Forum 2019.