Both! The ACC is taking a hybrid approach for ACC.21 creating a 2 in 1 meeting with both in person and virtual options!

We are working with the Annual Scientific Session Program Committee to plan more than 225 sessions for ACC.21 that will be offered in Atlanta and virtually.

The ACC continues to monitor updates and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as state and local governments related to the spread of COVID-19 and hopes to be able to host an in-person event by May 2021. In the meantime, planning a hybrid event will allow us to respond to changes quickly and efficiently. Both! The ACC is taking a hybrid approach for ACC.21 creating a 2 in 1 meeting with both in person and virtual options!

ACC is planning a hybrid meeting with BOTH in person and virtual options! Offering ACC.21 in person provides a much-needed opportunity for the cardiovascular community to experience the excitement and camaraderie that only an in-person meeting can provide to navigate emerging science, learn from expert faculty and each other, and more importantly reengage and reconnect with colleagues. However, at the same time ACC is actively monitoring updates and recommendations to ensure that it will be safe to host an in-person event.

For our colleagues that are unable to attend in person, ACC.21 Virtual will allow them to participate in 50+ live streaming sessions in real-time and access 225+ on demand sessions, 3200+ eAbstracts, the virtual expo and learning destinations, and more! Learn more with the ACC.21 Virtual Schedule.

ACC.21 offers ALL-NEW registration packages — with GOLD, SILVER or BRONZE access to meet the needs of all our colleagues.

The GOLD Package offers the best of both worlds — get access to the in-person meeting in Atlanta, being planned in accordance with current health and safety guidelines, and get access to the virtual meeting until Dec. 31, 2021 so you can watch any of the sessions you missed in Atlanta. Learn more about the ACC.21 education being planned with the ACC.21 Program Planner.

For our colleagues that are unable to attend in person, we're offering the SILVER and BRONZE Packages which will allow them to participate in 50+ live streaming sessions in real-time and access 225+ on demand sessions, 3200+ eAbstracts, the virtual expo and learning destinations, and more! Learn more with the ACC.21 Virtual Schedule.

Yes. While we would love for everyone to be able to join us in Atlanta, we're very mindful that not everyone will be able to or be comfortable traveling in May. For that reason, we've created a flexible policy for changes and cancellations for GOLD Package registrants for ACC.21. Prior to April 7, contact ACC@maritz.com to adjust or cancel your Gold package registration. Cancellations are subject to a $49 administrative fee. Learn more about the changes and cancellation policy for ACC.21.

The health, safety and well-being of our members, staff, exhibitors, faculty, patients and other stakeholders is of paramount importance. We are working to create a healthy and safe environment that is in line with all current directives and recommendations that will enable attendees to make informed and safe decisions about their attendance. In addition, the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) in Atlanta, was the first convention center in the U.S. to achieve GBAC STAR™ Facility Accreditation to recognize the facility's commitment to cleaning, disinfection, and infection prevention. Learn more about the specific health and safety measures being put in place for ACC.21.

ACC will require all attendees, exhibitors, staff, and contractors to wear a mask while in the Convention Center. In addition, education rooms will have a smaller capacity with spaced seating and designated entrances and exits to assist with attendee one-way flow. Plexiglass dividers will be used between faculty on stage.

ACC will require all attendees, exhibitors, staff, and contractors to wear a mask while in the Convention Center. In addition, the Expo is being planned to allow for increased spacing on the show floor, and in the poster hall, theaters, and public spaces to allow for social distancing.

ACC will require all attendees, exhibitors, staff, and contractors to wear a mask while in the Convention Center. Attendee service areas, including Registration, IT Help Desk, Poster Registration Desk, will provide contactless systems as well as additional safety measures such as plexiglass dividers between attendees and check-in attendants. There will also be increased spacing and signage to achieve social distancing.

The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) in Atlanta, was the first convention center in the U.S. to achieve GBAC STAR™ Facility Accreditation to recognize the facility's commitment to cleaning, disinfection, and infection prevention. There will be an enhanced cleaning schedule within the Center as well as enhanced filtration systems. In addition, hand sanitizer stations will be placed throughout the Center, along with signage to remind attendees about social distancing, hand-washing, and mask requirements.

In the event that ACC is not able to safely host ACC.21 in Atlanta, we will provide the sessions to all attendees virtually. Our Gold attendees will have the option of a full refund or a partial refund/adjustment to the Silver package.

All participants planning to attend ACC.21 in Atlanta are urged to purchase personal travel insurance. For individuals who book their hotel through the ACC hotel block, you may cancel your hotel reservation up to 72 hours prior to your scheduled arrival date.

The ACC has been hard at work creating a virtual experience that leverages new technologies, educational formats and networking opportunities to bring ACC.21 directly to cardiovascular clinicians and other key stakeholders worldwide.

The ACC.21 Virtual experience will kick off on Saturday, May 15 and will offer three days of science and learning, with more than 50 session live streaming from Atlanta including Late-Breaking Clinical Trials, Featured Clinical Research, Young Investigator Awards and keynotes.

ACC.21 Virtual will also include on demand access to more than 225 sessions (available within 24 hours of the live presentation), as well as more than 3,200 abstracts (eposter, moderated eposter and oral abstract formats), learning destination sessions and a Virtual Expo. View the full schedule for ACC.21 Virtual.

Yes! ACC.21 Virtual will feature an interactive Virtual Expo experience that will be available over the course of the meeting and beyond. Additional details, including a list of sessions showcasing new product innovations, technologies and therapies in the field of cardiology will be posted on the ACC.21 website closer to the meeting. The ACC is deeply appreciative of the continued involvement of some of our closest industry partners in helping us bring ACC.21 and ACC.21 Virtual to life.

Yes! ACC.21 Virtual will live stream the Late-Breaking Clinical Trials and Featured Clinical Research sessions. The sessions will also be available on demand if you're not able to watch the live stream.

Yes! Both the in person and virtual components of the meeting will offer CME, CNE, CPE, ECME, MOC and PA credit. Check back soon for more information on this critical feature of ACC.21 Virtual.

Networking and engagement are one of the important elements of any ACC Annual Scientific Session, as is the time-honored tradition of Convocation. ACC.21 Virtual will feature a number of ways to engage with colleagues from around the world, including on Twitter (#ACC21) and ACC's Member Hub. In addition, you'll want to visit the Convocation section of ACC.21 Virtual to learn more about this year's award winners, hear from ACC's incoming and outgoing presidents, and recognize incoming FACCs and AACCs. More information on these activities and more will be available closer to the meeting.

While we hope many of you will join us live on May 15 – 17, we also know this might not be possible. One of the benefits of ACC.21 Virtual is that you can access late-breaking science, catch up on education and share in ongoing conversations at times that work for you. All ACC.21 Virtual content will be available on demand after the meeting (until June 8, 2021 for Bronze Package, and until Dec. 31, 2021 for Gold and Silver Package).

For ACC.21, we have revised the guidelines for submitting an abstract/case that has been presented previously. Please refer to the following table to determine eligibility for submission of scientific abstracts and complex cases for presentation at ACC.21. These criteria protect the quality, originality, and integrity of the science and case discussions featured during ACC.21.

Eligible

Not Eligible

Abstracts/cases that have not previously been presented either live or virtually at another professional society meeting or published prior to ACC.21 are eligible for submission. If an abstract/case has been presented (either live or virtually) only at an ACC state chapter meeting or ACC international meeting (ACC Asia, ACC Latin America, ACC Middle East), it is eligible for submission to ACC.21. If an abstract/case has been presented (either live or virtually) only to a state medical society or country society meeting, or local institutional meeting, it is eligible for submission to ACC.21. If an abstract/case is also planned for submission or presentation at a meeting taking place after ACC.21, it is eligible to be submitted to the ACC Annual Scientific Session. Abstracts/cases may be submitted to journals for publication if the journals agree to hold publication until the ACC.21 embargo is lifted on the designated day at 8 am ET.

Abstracts/cases are not eligible for consideration if they have been presented either live or virtually at a national meeting held in the United States or any non-ACC international meeting held prior to ACC.21.* Abstracts/cases are not eligible for consideration if they have been presented live or virtually at programs held by non-profit organizations (e.g., ACC live U.S. courses). Abstracts/cases are not eligible for consideration if the abstract has been published prior to ACC.21. If abstracts/cases are submitted to journals for publication and the journals do not agree to hold publication until the embargo is lifted and the abstract/case is published prior to that date, the abstract/case must be withdrawn from ACC.21.

* Examples of this type of meeting include, but are not limited to, scientific sessions by the American Heart Association (AHA), Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA), Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT), Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), and European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

Requests for exceptions to these eligibility requirements must be made in writing and will be reviewed by the ACC.21 Chair and ACC.21 Vice Chair. These situations are expected to be rare given the comprehensive guidance as detailed above.

If you have any questions, please contact Holly Santry on ACC staff at (hsantry@acc.org).

No, abstracts and cases are not eligible for consideration if it has been published prior to ACC.21.

Yes, if the abstract/case will be presented at another meeting taking place after ACC.21. If your abstract/case is accepted by another U.S. national or international conference taking place prior to ACC.21, or if it is published prior to ACC.21, you will need to withdraw it from the ACC.21 program no later than January 14, 2021.

If it is accepted for publication close to the ACC.21 dates, it is possible to coordinate the date of publication with the ACC Media Relations team and the respective journal so that the ACC.21 embargo policies are not violated.

This would not be advisable. Since the general abstract category is meant for scientific research only, case presentations are more likely to receive lower grades from abstract reviewers and are therefore less likely to be accepted.

Anyone is eligible to submit to this category, including non-ACC members and medical students.

As the submitting author, you are the most well equipped for knowing which category your abstract should be submitted to. However, if you would like a second opinion, we recommend reaching out to your colleagues, as they will have more expertise on the subject than ACC staff.

New for ACC.21, we are accepting complex clinical case submissions from the following three groups:

1) Fellow in Training (FIT): The first author and presenter must be a medical student or anyone in a fellowship or residency program.

2) Cardiovascular Team: The first author must be a non-physician CV team member, which could include nurses, advanced practice nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, CV practice administrators, technologists, registered dietitian nutritionists or exercise specialists/physiologists. The presenter must be a CVT member.

3) MD/PhD: The first author is a medical doctor or researcher. The presenter is a medical doctor or researcher.

Priority will be given to FIT and Cardiovascular Team submissions during the selection process.

All abstract presenters will receive a notification of their acceptance status on February 10, 2021.

The only person who will be notified of whether or not your abstract is accepted is the presenting author for that submission.

Yes, it will be published online in the ACC.21 JACC Abstract Supplement prior to the ACC Annual Scientific Session.

The fee is $49 for all general submission categories, including Abstracts, Complex Clinical Cases, and Interventional Challenging Cases. This fee cannot be waived.

In order to give you additional time to finalize your submissions, the deadline for abstract and case submissions is now Monday, December 7, 2020 at Noon ET.

Yes. We provide examples for the following categories on our Annual Scientific Session site: Complex Clinical Cases (FIT and CVT cases). If you would like to see examples of abstract submissions, you can view them in the ACC.20/WCC Abstract Supplements of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Supplement 1 and Supplement 2.

Visit https://disclosures.acc.org and log in using your ACC username and password. If you do not have an ACC username, you can create one for free on that page.

No. Only the presenting author and lead investigator are required to complete their disclosures. If a person is both the presenting author and lead investigator, then only they need to complete their disclosures.

No, they do not. The only person who must complete their disclosures in order for an abstract to be complete is the submitting author/presenting author. If the abstract is accepted, ACC will follow up with any lead investigators who have not disclosed.

Yes, the maximum number of authors that can be on a single submission is 25.

Generally, the Lead Investigator is the senior author of an abstract, but sometimes the presenting author will list themselves as the Lead Investigator as well.

Yes, you can. To do this, log back into the submission site, click on the submission you want to make the change to, and go to the "Author" tab on the left-hand side of the screen. There, you will see the option to "Change who is Presenting" underneath the author names.

Yes, you can change the order of all co-authors, except for the first author. To do this, log back into the submission site, click on the submission you want to make the change to, and go to the "Author" tab on the left-hand side of the screen. There, you will see the option to "Change the Order these Author(s) are listed" underneath the author names.

The system automatically makes the submitting author the first author because they have completed their disclosures. If you would like to make someone other than the submitting author the first author, you will need to have them first complete their disclosures and then you will need to contact Annual Scientific Session staff to have them change the first author for you.

The first author will always have "n/a" displayed to the right of their name. This is normal and does not display anywhere else other than on the "Author" tab. Do NOT enter your name more than once to enter in your institution information since institution information is entered in on a separate tab.

Yes, the maximum character count per submission is 1,900 characters NOT including spaces. If you choose to add an image or table to your submission, it will count as 600 characters towards the total 1,900 characters that are allowed.

Yes, they do, and they cannot be removed. Please account for the section headers in your abstract's total character count.

No, the headers in the body of the abstract cannot be edited. However, if you are submitting a case to one of our regular abstract categories and your sections do not align with the section headers, you can add your own header after them.

o No, you do not. Commonly known abbreviations do not need to be counted towards the 5 unique abbreviation limit and they do not need to be written out in their entirety upon first use.

Yes, you may include a table in your abstract by uploading an image of it as GIF or JPG file. The easiest way to do this is by taking a screenshot. You can do this on a Windows computer by using the snipping tool, and you can do this on an Apple computer by hitting Command-Shift-4.

No, you do not. We work under the assumption that you have already taken all necessary steps to protect your patient's identity and respect their privacy.

All tabs on the left-hand side of the submission site will have checkmarks next to them and the "Review My Work" tab will have a message saying, "Your submission is complete and will be sent to review." You will also have the option to send yourself a confirmation email that your submission is complete at the top of the "Review My Work" page. This option will only appear if your submission is complete.

Yes. You can save a copy of your abstract by logging into the submission site, clicking on the submission that you want to save, and then going to the "Review My Work" tab on the left-hand side of the screen. On the top of that page, you will have the option to print your abstract for your records.

No, you cannot. Per ACC policies and procedures, no edits can be made to abstract submissions after the submission deadline. This includes adding author names or correcting errors in data. Please carefully review your submission prior to the submission deadline to ensure all co-authors are listed and all information is correct.