General Policies

• Only a Member of the SLVA (with updated subscription) shall be permitted to submit an abstract of a paper for presentation at the Annual Scientific Sessions, and s/ he shall be the Corresponding Author. The abstract may have co-author/ swho may be SLVA members (life / ordinary / student), or Session Members (other scientists / researcher who is not a SLVA member). 

• Only a Member of the SLVA (with updated subscription) shall be permitted to present a paper (oral or poster) at the Scientific Sessions. In the event an author is unable to make the presentation due to ill-health or any other valid reason, it shall be the responsibility of the presenter to notify the Secretary/ SLVA in writing three days prior to the day of the presentation and by identifying a co-author as the official presenter. 

• All members should not be in arrears of membership fees including the current year subscription at the time of submitting the abstracts. All arrears, if any, should be paid by cheque drawn in favour of ‘Sri Lanka Veterinary Association’ before the deadline for submission of abstracts.  Members may call SLVA treasurer (Dr. Sanjaya Wasala, 0770207341) to check the status of their subscription.

• Receipt of submission of abstracts will be acknowledged by e-mail within three working days after the closing date. SLVA will communicate on matters related to the respective abstract only with the corresponding Author. 

• Following a preliminary review of all abstracts by the SLVA Scientific Sessions Committee, those that meet the basic requirements will be forwarded to at least two independent reviewers. Notice of acceptance (with instructions for necessary improvements, if any) or rejection will be sent to the corresponding Author within one month.

• Submission of the edited final version of accepted abstracts will be due in two weeks after mailing to the authors. The reviewers’decision on whether the abstract is accepted for oral or poster presentation will be notified to the Corresponding Author. 

• By submitting an abstract the author(s) agree to publish the abstract in the Book of Abstracts, which will be distributed to all participants attending the Annual Scientific Sessions/ AGM and in the Sri Lanka Veterinary Journal (SLVJ).

Format of the Abstract

• All abstracts must be in English, prepared using MS-Word, page size of A4 with 2.5 cm (1 inch) margins and font Times New Roman 12. 
• Abstracts must be based on original research or clinical information
• The content/ information in the abstract should contribute to the advancement of knowledge of the veterinary professionals in Sri Lanka.
• The word count should be limited to a maximum of 350 words( single line spaced) excluding title of paper, names and affiliations of authors.
• Name of the corresponding author should be underlined. A telephone number and an e-mail address of the corresponding author should be provided. 
• All abstracts must also include an extended abstract in order to facilitate the scientific review process (details are givenbelow).
• The general structure for a research abstract shall include: (a) Introduction – a statement of the hypothesis or research question; (b) Methods - the study design and experimental methods used; (c) Results - a concise summary of the major findings, with sufficient data to permit evaluation by the reviewers; and (d) Conclusions - summary of the overall findings and the importance of the study.
• The format for clinical case reports shall have an Introduction, Clinical examination and laboratory and other diagnostic findings, Diagnosis, Treatment and discussion
• Clinical papers could cover aspects of clinical and translational studies including treatment, prevention, screening, and diagnosis. Publication priority will be determined by factors such as novelty and impact upon clinical practice.
• Abstracts that present single clinical cases of previously reported diseases, clinical cases where the outcome of the treatment procedures was negative, investigations of compounds that involve inadequate numbers of study subjects, or studies that lack quantitative data will not be accepted. 
• No tables, graphs, figures or references are allowed in the abstract (but may be included in the extended abstract for reviewing purposes (see below)). Whenever possible, generic names for drugs and SI units should be used. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at the first mention.
• Source of funding may only be acknowledged (in one sentence).
• Authors should declare any conflicts of interests.

Guidelines for Preparation of the Extended Abstracts 

Format: Must be in English, prepared using MS-Word, page size of A4 with 2.5 cm (1 inch) margins and font Times New Roman 12. The extended abstract should be 2-3 pages giving priority to the results and discussion, to facilitate reviewers to better understand the work presented. A fairly detailed description of results (with statistics if necessary) can be included. Figures and tables, if any, can also be included in the extended abstract.
Layout: The extended abstract should be organized as follows: 

• Title (same as that of the abstract) and author affiliations (email of corresponding author)
• Introduction (with objectives) 
• Materials and Methods 
• Results 
• Discussion 
• Conclusion 
• For clinical case reports, sections on introduction, Clinical examination and laboratory findings, Diagnosis, Treatment and discussion should be included
• References - only the very important references should be included. The format for citing references are given below; 

Tokhi, A. M., Peiris, J. S., Scotland, S. M.,Willshaw, G. A., Smith, H. R. and Cheasty, T. (1993). A longitudinal study of Vero cytotoxin producing Escherichia coli in cattle calves in Sri Lanka. Epidemiology and infection 110, 197-208. 

Figures: If any, should either be done using computer software (included in the text as JPEG images), or be drawn separately with Indian ink on tracing paper. They should be clear and dark enough for photographic reproductions.

 Submission of Abstracts

All abstracts must be submitted in English, prepared using MS-Word, page format of A4 with 2.5 cm margins and font Times New Roman 12.
Abstracts should be emailed to info@slva.org  in electronic format on or before the deadline along with scanned copy of duly signed author declaration form. Abstracts submitted without author declaration form will not be considered.

Please contact Dr. Ruchika Fernando, the Secretary of Sri Lanka Veterinary Association, for further details.
Dr. Ruchika Fernando
Secretary
Sri Lanka Veterinary Association
Department of Veterinary Public Health & Pharmacology
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine & Animal Science
University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400
Tel : 0711373743 
Email : ruchikalk@yahoo.com

Scientific Session Awards

Each year the SLVA commemorates notable abstracts submitted for its Annual Scientific Sessions with awards and recognition. Following awards will be offered.

• Dr. Hector C. Perera Memorial Award for the most outstanding Clinical Communication
• Dr. and Mrs. A.R. Mohamed Award for the best presentation in the Animal Health
• Air Commodore Dr. R.M.P.A. Dassanayake Award for the best presentation in Animal Production
• Hayleys Award for the best presentation in the Reproduction and Breeding Session
• Dr. Arunasiri Iddamalgoda Award for the best Poster

SLVA reserves the right to determine the number of awards made and to cancel the competition in a given year if submitted abstracts are deemed to be of inadequate quality or interest.

All awards of the Scientific Sessions will be presented at the forthcoming Presidential Induction Ceremony of the SLVA. Dr. Perumal Pillai award for the best research paper published in the Sri Lanka Veterinary Journal will also be presented at the same ceremony.