Abstract Guidelines

• After the submission deadline, the presenting author is the sole contact for all correspondence regarding the abstract.
• Queries from the contact person, co-authors or non-authors, including pharmaceutical or medical communications company employees, must be directed through the presenting author. AUA staff will respond only to the presenting author.
• The presenting author is responsible for forwarding communications from the AUA to all co-authors.

• Prior to the AUA Annual Meeting, the contents and conclusions of the abstract must not have been presented at or published in conjunction with any scientific, medical, or educational meeting with the following exceptions:
  • Abstracts previously accepted to AUA Section meetings or select urologic sub-specialty societies are eligible for submission even if presented or published under the scientific, medical, or educational outlets of those meetings. Authors are strongly encouraged to provide updated data in the abstract submitted to the AUA Annual Meeting.
  • Study results may be presented at closed (non-public) meetings on the condition that no meeting materials are publicly disseminated in any format.
• Additionally, the contents and conclusions must not be published as a full-length research article in a scientific, medical, or educational publication (in any medium), in whole or in part, before the abstract is published online by the AUA. Full-length pre-prints (non-peer-reviewed research articles published online for public dissemination and public comments are permitted before the abstract is submitted.

• Authors must refrain from using, sharing or uploading content accessed through AUA websites or educational activities into external applications, bots, software, or websites, including those using artificial intelligence technologies and infrastructure, including deep learning, machine learning and large language models and generative AI.
• Authors must refrain from using, or sharing any AUA content/data to train, alter, inform, or otherwise affect any form of artificial intelligence; deep learning; machine learning; similar automated, autonomous, self-improving, or otherwise adaptive software model or program (whether automated as a whole or in part).

Please follow this link to view the embargo policy.

Submission of an abstract confirms that all authors abide by several key standards to ensure the integrity and scientific quality of educational content:

• Evidence-Based Content: All recommendations for patient care must be grounded in current scientific evidence and clinical reasoning, presenting a balanced view of available options.
• Scientific Integrity: Any referenced research must meet accepted scientific standards in design and analysis. Authors must not cite studies with known allegations of misconduct.
• Use of Product Names: Only generic drug names should be used unless no generic exists. If a trade name must be used it must be in parentheses alongside the generic name. Device trade names should be used only when comparing available options. In other instances, the device product class or functional name should be used.
• Disclosure of Off-Label Use: Any discussion of off-label or investigational uses must include appropriate disclosures to the audience.
• Clarity on Emerging Topics: When discussing topics with limited or developing evidence, this must be clearly stated.
• Avoidance of Unscientific Practices: Abstracts must not promote practices lacking scientific support or are known to be ineffective or harmful.
• Patient Privacy: All patient identifiers must be removed, and patient images may only be used with written consent.
• No Promotional Content: Materials must be free from ineligible company (i.e. commercial interest) logos or other branding.

• The presenting author of an accepted abstract must attend the 2026 AUA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The presenting author is required to respond to the invitation to present by the date indicated in the acceptance letter. Upon accepting the invitation, the presenting author must register to attend AUA2026. Failure to register by this date will forfeit the opportunity to present and the abstract will be withdrawn from publication in The Journal of Urology®.
• The presenting author may be changed, but the new presenter must be listed as an author of the abstract and must be registered for the meeting. After this deadline, if a presenting author is unable to attend, the abstract will be withdrawn. Presenting author change requests may be sent to speakers@AUAnet.org. 

Select the most appropriate category for the abstract. If the same or similar abstract is submitted to multiple categories, all will be rejected. Please note, the Program Committee has the authority to recategorize an abstract.

There is no limit to the number of authors included in an abstract.

• Required fields:
  • First name, last name, email, affiliation, city, state (U.S. only) and country.
    • Do not include credentials (i.e., MD, PhD) in the name field. Maintain consistency in name formatting across multiple abstract submissions.
    • Only one affiliation/institution may be listed per author.
  • Optional fields:
    • AUA ID (include if the author has one)
    • If the author is currently enrolled in an accredited urology residency program within the U.S., please check the corresponding box. This information is used for the National Residency Abstract Olympics.
  • Presenting author: One author must be designated as the presenting author. The presenting author must disclose all financial relationships with ACCME-defined ineligible companies existing within the past 24 months.
    • The presenting author is not permitted to have financial relationships with ineligible companies (formerly commercial interests) that the ACCME would deem to be that of an owner or employee. An ineligible company is defined as one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care products used by or on patients. The AUA COI Review Work Group will determine which relationships are relevant and require mitigation.
    • Owners are defined as individuals who have an ownership interest in a company, except for stockholders of publicly traded companies, or holders of shares through a pension or mutual fund.
    • Employees are defined as individuals hired to work for another person or business (the employer) for compensation and who are subject to the employer's direction as to the details of how to perform the job.

limited to 255 characters, spaces included. The character limit is separate from that of the abstract body.

• The title should clearly define the topic.
• Refrain from the use of abbreviations unless necessary.
• For professional consistency, titles must be in sentence case, and not bold, underlined or italicized.

Text is limited to 2,280 characters, not including spaces. The body must be informative and detailed. Place abbreviations in parentheses immediately after the first mention of a term or phrase; the abbreviation can then be used throughout the abstract. The following sections are required:

• Introduction and objectives
• Methods
• Results: The inclusion of specific outcomes data (even if it is preliminary data) is required for all abstracts. The AUA will reject abstracts with no listed results or with a statement that reads, "Results will be discussed".
• Conclusions
• Source of funding: Must be disclosed. If there is no support, please write “None”.

Up to two images may be included with the abstract. Each image equals 225 characters and counts toward the 2,280-character limit.

• Only one subject/case per video presentation. No exceptions.
• The opening frames of the video must include the exact title of the abstract and all authors' names.
• The written and spoken language is English.
• The video must include either audio narration or background music (or a combination of both). Video submissions without audio will be rejected.
• Submissions of video presentations that are exceedingly commercial in character will not be accepted for presentation. Submissions funded by commercial companies must be identified as such in a disclaimer at the start of the presentation. Commercial logos are not permitted.
• We reserve the right to reject videos containing identifiable patient information or protected health information.

• Videos must not exceed 8 minutes in length.
• Videos should be submitted in HD format to allow for the highest possible video quality.
• Preferred dimensions: 1920x1080 (1080p); Minimum required dimensions: 1280x720 (720p).
• Frame rate: When preparing your video for upload, it is best to maintain the video's native frame rate when compressing your video. If your footage exceeds 60 FPS, we will automatically reduce the frame rate. If there is an option for key frames, choose the same value you used for frame rate. Always choose "constant" frame rate instead of "variable" frame rate.
• Bit rate: If your video editing software gives you the option, select "variable" and select a minimum bit rate between 2,000kb/s – 25,000kb/s depending on file resolution.
• Accepted file types: MPEG-2, MP4, QuickTime H-264, Windows Media Files, raw video files (.avi with little or no spatial compression). No third-party Codecs are accepted. Codec H.264 is preferred.

• After submitting the video, you can view and/or download the file from the home page by clicking "View Video".
• Revisions and resubmissions will not be accepted after the submission deadline.
• All videos must be uploaded to the abstract submission site. Email attachments and links to file-sharing sites will not be accepted.

Successfully submitted video abstracts undergo initial review by AUA staff to ensure minimum requirements are met. This process begins approximately three weeks before the deadline.

Quality review checklist:

• The length does not exceed 8 minutes
• Dimensions are greater than or equal to 1280x720 (720p)
• The title of the abstract and authors’ names appear in the opening frame
• The video does not contain identifiable patient information or protected health information
• The video is free from commercial logos
• Narration and captioning are in English. If music is used, ensure it exists in the public domain

Successfully submitted video abstracts received by 12 p.m. EDT on Thursday, October 30 will undergo quality review. If the video does not meet the minimum requirements, the author will be notified about the changes requested. The revised video must be resubmitted by the deadline. Failure to provide a corrected video by the deadline will result in automatic rejection.

Successfully submitted abstracts received AFTER 12 p.m. EDT on Thursday, October 30 will also undergo quality review. However, if the video does not meet minimum requirements, it will be rejected without the chance for correction.

Once a successfully submitted video abstract passes quality review, any edits to the video, abstract content or author list (no matter how minor) will require the abstract to be re-queued for quality review.