Abstract Submission 2023
Reef Conservation UK (RCUK) will return for our 26th Annual Conference taking place at Newcastle University on 9 December 2023.
Abstract submission is now closed. We will inform all presenters about the status of their submission by early October.
Guidelines for abstract submission
At a glance:
About RCUK:
RCUK promotes multidisciplinary conservation, public awareness and education about coral reefs, as well as a platform for reef enthusiasts of all backgrounds and career levels to share their work. Contributions are encouraged from all, including: university lecturers and students, aquarists, field conservation workers, government staff, consultants, and those involved with ecotourism or benefiting from reef ecosystem services. We also actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and promote equity and diversity in science.
Presentation options:
Presentations will take the following forms:
Session themes:
We welcome submissions on all aspects of science, management, policy, or culture associated with reefs or adjacent ecosystems. We especially welcome abstracts on temperate, cold water, and deep sea reefs, in addition to tropical coral reef ecosystems. This year we will structure the event around the following session themes:
Meaningful international collaboration statement:
Abstract review:
We will initially review all presentation abstracts blind - removing author names and institutions. We will then evaluate these initial blind decisions alongside other contextual information (i.e. to ensure a balance of institutions represented, the meaningful international collaboration statement, etc) before making final decisions. All abstracts will be considered for the requested presentation type, but please note that due to time constraints, only a limited number of talks and posters can be accepted. If we are unable to offer you your preferred presentation type we will endeavor to offer you an alternative presentation type. We may also move your abstract between themes if upon review we consider it fits better within a different theme. All accepted abstracts with authorship details will be made electronically available on the RCUK website and in the conference app.
Abstract submission is now closed. We will inform all presenters about the status of their submission by early October.
Guidelines for abstract submission
At a glance:
- Submissions open for full oral talks (12 minutes), speed talks (5 minutes), or posters
- Abstracts should be no more than 300 words
- Please select your preferred session option (see below)
- Abstracts based on data collected outside the authors' home country must be accompanied by an international collaboration statement (see below)
About RCUK:
RCUK promotes multidisciplinary conservation, public awareness and education about coral reefs, as well as a platform for reef enthusiasts of all backgrounds and career levels to share their work. Contributions are encouraged from all, including: university lecturers and students, aquarists, field conservation workers, government staff, consultants, and those involved with ecotourism or benefiting from reef ecosystem services. We also actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and promote equity and diversity in science.
Presentation options:
Presentations will take the following forms:
- Oral presentations (12 minutes followed by questions)
- Speed talks (5 minutes without questions)
- Posters (no larger than A0 in portrait or A1 in landscape format)
Session themes:
We welcome submissions on all aspects of science, management, policy, or culture associated with reefs or adjacent ecosystems. We especially welcome abstracts on temperate, cold water, and deep sea reefs, in addition to tropical coral reef ecosystems. This year we will structure the event around the following session themes:
- Reef Ecology and Behaviour
- Reef Conservation
- Reefs under the Microscope
- Reefs in a Changing World
- Other - an open session for all other presentations related to coral reef science, management, policy, or culture
Meaningful international collaboration statement:
- RCUK aims to take positive action against parachute science and encourage meaningful and equitable international collaborations. We therefore ask for a brief statement on meaningful international collaboration when submitting abstracts.
- If your research involved field work outside your home country or is based on datasets collected outside your home country, we ask that you provide a brief statement that describes your partnership with host country scientists and practitioners.
- This statement should include details on those involved in the collaboration and how meaningful collaboration was built to allow opportunities for host country scientists to input into work and participate in outputs led by scientists from outside the host country.
- RCUK expects that presentations focused on coral reefs in Low, Lower-Middle, and Upper-Middle Income Countries should generally include authors from the relevant country/countries. A list of these countries can be found here. This requirement is intended to recognise contributions made by researchers, conservationists, and others that may not in the past have been acknowledged. We also believe that equitable involvement of partners from nations where research is conducted will improve the accuracy of the work. If it is not obvious from the authors' institutional affiliations that you comply with this policy (e.g. if your authors have different institutional addresses from their home country) please make a note of this in your statement.
- If you do not have any authors from the nation where the research was conducted, please use this statement to briefly explain the context. We are aware that many students and early-career researchers may have had limited opportunities to build international collaborations.
- Contributions from anyone who does not meet the normal criteria for authorship should be acknowledged when giving the presentation. If these planned acknowledgments include collaborators from the host country where research was conducted this can be noted in the statement, along with any ongoing efforts to build more meaningful international collaboration.
- Information provided in this statement may be used to evaluate your submission alongside other information provided during submission.
- If this statement is not applicable to your presentation (i.e., no fieldwork or datasets from outside the primary authors' home countries were used), please just note this in place of submitting a full statement.
- More contextual information on parachute science and the importance of building meaningful international collaboration can be found in the following papers:
Abstract review:
We will initially review all presentation abstracts blind - removing author names and institutions. We will then evaluate these initial blind decisions alongside other contextual information (i.e. to ensure a balance of institutions represented, the meaningful international collaboration statement, etc) before making final decisions. All abstracts will be considered for the requested presentation type, but please note that due to time constraints, only a limited number of talks and posters can be accepted. If we are unable to offer you your preferred presentation type we will endeavor to offer you an alternative presentation type. We may also move your abstract between themes if upon review we consider it fits better within a different theme. All accepted abstracts with authorship details will be made electronically available on the RCUK website and in the conference app.
