The Association for Research in Otolaryngology is accepting abstracts for the 49^th Annual MidWinter Meeting to be held San Juan, Puerto Rico on February 7-11, 2026. To be considered for presentation, all abstracts must be completed and submitted online no later than end of business (5:00 PM Central Time) on date to be announced soon.

• Travel Award Application: Within the online submission, you will be asked if you wish to submit an application for a travel award.
• Podium Presentation - 15-minute live, verbal power point presentation on your submitted abstract.
• Poster Presentation – Poster’s will be presented live on site and a digital image will be collected from each presenter for the hybrid portion of the event.
• Poster Blitz – Open to graduate students and postdoc fellows with three years or less of postdoc experience, no individuals in a Faculty Position are eligible.

Fees: *The abstract submission fee is a separate fee from the MidWinter Meeting registration fee.

• ARO Members $30 per submission (whether they are first author or any of the co-authors)
• Non-members $120 per submission.

*No refunds will be given if a non-member joins ARO after submitting an abstract. Payment must be made at the time of submission for a submission to be considered complete.

 Please read carefully before submitting.

• There is no limit on the number of contributed abstract submissions from any one person or lab, fees are charged per submission.
• Abstract submissions are not required to be sponsored by an ARO member.
• There is no additional cost to withdraw an abstract; however, there will be no refund of the fee after the abstract has been successfully submitted.
• When submitting your abstract, you will be asked to identify your abstract’s primary category for review.
• Abstracts will include an overview of the research background, methods, results, and conclusions.
• Background: Make the specific aim of the presentation clear and relate to current literature.
• Methods: Where relevant, describe the sample including size, variables measured and interventions clearly.
• Results: Should be clear to a broad ARO audience including presenting findings and looping in clinical relevance. Summarize qualitative and/or quantitative changes and note the clinical significance of the outcomes.
• Conclusions: Emphasize new and important aspects of the findings and the conclusions drawn from them. Describe how findings are relevant to the science and practice of Otolaryngology, the need for future research or clinical investigation. Include or mention key “take-away” messages that will be presented.
• The online abstract submission will collect only text. (Figures, graphics and tables will be included in the physical poster).
• The word limit is 450 words maximum per abstract. This word count does not include the title or coauthor list.
• In the title text box, enter the abstract title exactly as you wish it to appear in the ARO Program and Abstract books. All information will be displayed and published exactly as it has been submitted. Double-check all spelling and capitalization. No copyediting will be performed, and no embarrassing typos will be corrected. Titles must be in Title Case, which is Initial Caps on All Significant Words. Do NOT type the title in all uppercase. *Example of Title Case: Molecular Basis of Obvious Hearing Loss in the Walking Dead
• The abstract submitter is responsible for ensuring that all information in the abstract is exactly as the authors wish it to appear.
• Following successful submission of an abstract, you can edit any of the fields until the September 1st due date. Edits are not possible after the deadline.

ABSTRACT REVIEW CRITERIA

Abstracts will be reviewed and selected for presentation based on significance, relevance, innovation, appropriate analytic approach, findings, implications for research and practice, and clarity of writing.  Preference will be given to proposals that (i) strive for timely syntheses across or within existing disciplines; (ii) explore novel approaches that will expand research in new directions; (iii) include speakers who are first-time ARO speakers, women, and/or speakers from underrepresented minorities. Speakers from outside the usual ARO circle are encouraged insofar as they contribute a novel perspective. Proposals that bridge clinical and basic research are encouraged.

Questions regarding the submission process or the 2026 Midwinter Meeting, please contact the ARO headquarters by email at headquarters@aro.org.