title: Causes of historically low abstract submissions for the ASCLS annual meeting.
abstract: The Abstract Review Committee (ARC) has an ongoing objective of encouraging abstract submissions for the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science's (ASCLS) Annual Meeting. The purpose of this research study was to survey ASCLS members to determine the cause of historically low abstract submissions and how submissions could be increased. An electronic survey was developed and sent to ASCLS members via electronic mail blast. The survey focused on five areas: 1) participant demographics, 2) positives and negatives of the current submission and review process, 3) suggestions for improvement, 4) barriers to participation, and 5) level of attendance at poster and oral presentation sessions at annual meetings. Results of the survey indicated that the foremost reason cited for not submitting an abstract was lack of active research. The ARC believes limited research activity is due to the lack of educational preparedness of educators and practitioners to conduct research.
authors.affiliation: Medical Laboratory Sciences University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0200, USA. Michelle.Butina@uky.edu
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Butina
authors.forename: Lester G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Pretlow
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Scarano
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Polancic
mesh_terms: D000043:Abstracting and Indexing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003226:Congresses as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003625:Data Collection; D006801:Humans; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017712:Peer Review, Research / Q000639:trends*; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*