The health, safety and well-being of our members, staff, exhibitors, faculty, patients and other stakeholders remain of paramount importance. With continued uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and travel advisories and restrictions still in place in the U.S. and globally, the College hopes the new dates will allow more people to attend ACC.21 in person. The exciting live program will provide unique opportunities to reimagine global heart health, refocus on science, and reconnect with colleagues from around the world.

Major meetings are years in the making so finding new dates on short notice poses many challenges. ACC was fortunate to be offered dates in May that became available.

While we hope more people can and will attend ACC.21 in person, we also understand that some members may have personal and/or professional conflicts in addition to ongoing concerns about COVID-19 safety. As a result, the ACC is absolutely committed to developing a robust ACC.21 Virtual program with on demand options that will ensure that members from around the world can participate and engage with the meeting at times and in ways that work for individual schedules. Look for more details on both options on the ACC Scientific Session website this fall. If you can't make it to ACC.21 in person, we look forward to seeing you in Washington, DC, for ACC.22.

Registration for both ACC.21 and ACC.21 Virtual will open in October. Look for announcements and more details in the coming weeks.

In addition, faculty invitations will also be sent in October to coordinate with the opening of registration.

The ACC.21 Abstract/Case Submission site will open in October. Submissions for LBCTs will open in early December. Look for more details on the submission process and deadlines on the in the coming weeks.

Please contact the ACC Expo Team directly. More information can be found on the ACC.21 Expo webpage.

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.

The submission deadline is Wednesday, December 2, 2020, at 1 p.m. 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.