Resident and Fellow Trauma Paper Competition

About the Competition

The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) announces the call for abstracts for the 2026 Resident and Fellow Trauma Paper Competition (RFTPC).

Eligibility

The competition is open to all general surgery residents, surgical specialty residents, and trauma fellows. Medical students are not eligible. To be eligible for presentation at the COT Annual Meeting (Central competition), abstracts submitted may have been previously presented but not published in any peer-reviewed journal before March 30, 2026.

Submission of Military/Civilian Resident and Fellow Trauma Papers

If you are a resident or fellow in the U.S. military, the abstract must be submitted through the ACS COT Military Region XIII, regardless of whether the work was performed in a military or civilian institution.

Scope

• The one-page abstracts should describe original research in any aspect of trauma care.
• The topics must be categorized as either: basic laboratory research or clinical investigation (as applicable).
• The two winning abstracts from each ACS COT Region are submitted to the COT.
  • The regions’ first-place winner will now automatically present at the COT Annual Meeting for the final Central competition with travel costs provided.
  • The second-place abstract winners will be eligible for a scholarship to attend the Mattox Vegas Trauma, Critical Care a& Acute Care Surgery (TCCACS) annual meeting in Las Vegas, NV. The scholarship program has previously awarded meeting registration and hotel accommodations. Second-place winners are not eligible to present at the March COT Annual Meeting.
• All presenters at the final Central competition will be expected to submit a full manuscript by February 1, a month in advance of the competition.

Submission Schedule

• The Resident and Fellow Trauma Paper Competition should include only research completed during either the applicant’s residency or fellowship years.
• The presenter does not have to be a trainee at the time of the competition. There is a time limit for competition eligibility: 2 years from completion of residency and/or 1 year from completion of fellowship.
• A presenter can only submit their work to one Region for the competition.
• A non-military presenter (regardless of nationality) is allowed to present in the Region where the research was completed (even if they have moved out of the State/Province/Country).
• Winners of the regional competitions should submit a one-page abstract to the appropriate ACS Regional Committee on Trauma (RCOT) Chair.
• Each Region Chief will establish a regional competition to select one abstract for consideration to present at the Central competition and a second abstract for consideration of the TCCACS scholarship (see above).
• The dates for state/regional competitions vary, often based on scheduling of their Regional meeting. For the dates of specific competitions, please contact your State, Provincial or Country Chair. Review a list of current leadership.
• The Region Chief will submit the completed Title Page that will include the principal author’s name, institution, phone, fax, and e-mail [total of two pages] to the Trauma Office by December 10, 2025. The Region chief will also submit the name, contact information and abstract of the second-place winner for consideration of the Mattox Vegas TACCACS scholarship.
• A full manuscript is now required for all abstracts selected to compete in the final Central competition and must be submitted to the Trauma Office annually by February 1.
• The manuscript will be part of the final Central competition judging.
• The presenter at the Central competition should be “in person.” A virtual presentation with a pre-recorded presentation will only be approved in case of an emergency. If translation to English is needed or desired, please communicate this with your Region Chief and the COT office by the February 1 submission date.

Specifications for Preparation and Submission of Abstracts

• The Regional winning abstracts should be no more than one page (excluding the Title Page) and provide adequate information and objective data to evaluate the abstract properly. Graphs and tables must fit on one page.
• The abstract should be submitted electronically, preferably as a Word document. It is permissible to single space the abstract. Charts and graphs may be embedded in the document as .jpeg files.
• The abstract must have a title page (not included in the page count) that includes the principal author’s name, the title of the abstract, the author’s institution, the author’s preferred mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address. (Please use our Title Page template.)

• The first two winning papers from the Central competition will be submitted to JACS for publication consideration, but publication in this journal may be declined by the presenter. The hope is that all manuscripts will be submitted for publication to a journal.

• At the Central competition, the following will also be components of the judging: quality of oral presentation and full manuscript, ability of the presenter to answer questions, and the novelty of the research and its potential impact.

Title Page Updates

The title page should include:

• Title The title of abstract should include the key concepts so that search engines will locate the abstract. No abbreviations are allowed in titles, unless they are standard acronyms (e.g., TQIP)
• Author names and affiliations List the name(s) of all authors, including first name and middle initial, graduate degrees of authors, and FACS if author(s) are Fellows of the American College of Surgeons. No more than 10 names may appear under the title except in special circumstances. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a hyphenated name), please indicate this clearly.
• Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate affiliation. Provide full affiliation for each author, including department and institution, city, and state.
• Correspondence address, phone number and email Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of review, revision, publication, and post-publication. Only one corresponding author is allowed. Ensure that the phone number (with country and area codes) is provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address.) Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main affiliation address.
• Meeting presentation Include meeting presentation information: the name (spelled out) of the sponsoring organization (i.e., Committee on Trauma Spring Meeting, Resident and Fellow Trauma Paper Competition, ACS Committee on Trauma), city and state, and month and year of the meeting.
• Brief title. List a brief title of no more than 45 characters, including spaces (with no abbreviations except for standard ones such as TQIP).

The abstract page should be one page (8 1/2 x 11 inches), font Times Roman, size 11 or 12, and it should not include the name nor affiliation of the authors.

Format is: Title. Background (1 paragraph) Study Design (about 1 paragraph) Results (1-2 paragraphs) Conclusion Describe the problem addressed in the manuscript, how the study was performed, the salient results, and the conclusions of the authors.

Awards and Presentation of Papers

One winning resident from each Region will attend the Annual Meeting of the Committee on Trauma in Birmingham, AL, in 2026. The competition will pay for coach airfare to the meeting and up to a 3-day hotel stay for each winning presenter (four days for international participants).

Papers will be presented during the Scientific Session on Thursday, March 12, 2026. All regional winners are expected to attend the COT Banquet on Friday, March 13, 2026, where the winners of the Central competition will be announced.

The first-place and second-place papers will be eligible for publication (after the Annual Meeting) in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Please follow the submission rules on the JACS website. 

• JACS Homepage
• Submission Rules

Find the name of the local COT Chair. For any other information regarding the Resident Trauma Paper Competition, contact Jené Hickman at jhickman@facs.org at the ACS Trauma Programs Office.

Achieving Excellence in Surgery through Equity

Central Resident and Fellow Trauma Paper Competition (RFTPC)

1. An equity topic will be included as a subgroup prize from the manuscripts submitted to the final Central competition. This is not a separate competition.
2. The prize will go to the research paper that best addresses key issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Research presented at the final COT Central competition will be eligible if it fits into one of the following categories:

• Addresses inequities in access to trauma care or diagnosis/management of trauma-related conditions
• Investigates heterogeneity of treatment effect among diverse populations
• Describes how social determinants of health are associated with or can affect trauma-related outcomes
• Provides data for interventions that address disparities/ promote equity in trauma care
• Discusses interventions to modify social determinants of health
• Describes issues related to diversity and equity in the trauma workforce and leadership
• Explores interventions to reduce disparities in the trauma workforce and leadership

3. A single prize for Achieving Excellence in Surgery through Equity prize of $750 would be given each year. There will be no second-place prize in this area.
4. Participants selected for the final Central paper competition (~17 papers) will designate on the title page whether they wish their paper to be considered for the Achieving Excellence in Surgery through Equity prize.
5. The COT DEI Work Group will provide at least three judges to determine the Achieving Excellence in Surgery through Equity prize.
6. The criteria that will be used to judge the equity prize manuscript will include:

• Significance:
• Provides rationale for the significance of the research in the context of just and equitable trauma care
• Reports novel results and/or innovative solutions to address known disparities
• Methodology:
• Is hypothesis-driven
• Uses appropriate research methodology for the research question
• Interpretation and conclusions:
• Has conclusions that are supported by the results
• Has a direct impact on outcomes

Changes to the Central Competition

1. Monetary prize for the overall competition. First-place winners in both basic science and clinical research will receive $750 each; the second-place basic science and clinical research winners will receive $375 each. A single prize for Achieving Excellence in Surgery through Equity prize of $750 would be given each year.
2. Manuscripts to the final Central competition will be eligible for both the best paper prize (basic science or clinical research) AND the Achieving Excellence in Surgery through Equity prize (it is possible for a paper to receive both the equity award and another monetary prize).
3. The COT encourages State and Regional COT committees to recognize exemplary papers at those levels (but will not provide any monetary support for those prizes at the Region level).

Format for the Oral Presentation at the March COT Annual Meeting

There will be 17 papers presented and discussed by an independent reviewer. In addition, there will be a brief period for questions from the audience. While preparing presentations, presenters are requested to adhere to the session timeline outlined below.

Session Timing

1 min. - Introduction from Moderator

9 min. - Presentations

5 min. - Q&A from the discussant and the floor

1 min. - Thank you from the Moderator

16 min. - x 17 presentations = 272min (4hrs 32min)
                 Session is scheduled 1–6 pm Central (5hrs in total)

Discussants Guidance

In an attempt to standardize the role and responsibilities of the discussant and to level the playing field:

1. The discussant is advised not to provide the questions to the presenter in advance (keep a level playing field, presenters are judged on their ability to speak to the topic)
2. Keep to the time limit of 3 minutes (cut off)
3. Submit your comments to the Trauma Office in writing (may get published)
4. No general review of the paper (not enough time)
5. Discuss the methodology and the scientific validity of the paper
6. How is this topic applicable to surgical practice or translational science?
7. What should be the follow-on research?