Until the advent of 24-hour news networks, television and radio programmers could only interrupt regular programming with extremely urgent news stories, such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Today, the concept of “late-breaking” is applied to any news story that might be important to a broad audience but cannot be broadcast at the time it occurs, such as a severe storm warning or the closing of the stock market. These “special reports” are often accompanied by a ticker that appears at the bottom of the screen, along with dramatic lower thirds and other graphics to convey the sense of urgency.
Late-breaking abstracts report highly relevant, impactful research that became available for public dissemination only after the deadline for regular abstract submission. They must be novel (not a mere extension of previously published work or a replication of existing studies) and be clearly able to either confirm or refute other critically important work. They must also be able to be presented in a shortened, three-minute platform presentation at the International Congress. Clinical or laboratory-based investigations are eligible, but retrospective studies and single center studies are not.
Each late-breaking abstract will be reviewed to ensure that the research and results reported are scientifically sound, align with SfN’s Themes A-J and/or Theme K, and will not have been presented at another national meeting at the time of submission. Only one late-breaking abstract may be submitted per presenting author.