Reminder of unofficial phase and CinC abstract deadline

[PhysioNet Challenge]

Dear Challengers,

The deadline for the unofficial phase (8th April) is two weeks away, and the deadline for submitting your CinC abstract (15th April) is three weeks away! We are writing to remind you to make your first submission this week, and not in the days or hours before the deadline, in case there are errors with your entry. Even a simple entry would help you qualify.

Almost all first attempts fail for simple reasons. However, we unfortunately do not have the bandwidth to fix last-minute entries. Please remember that you must have at least one successful entry during the unofficial phase of the Challenge and have an accepted CinC abstract to be eligible to be ranked at the end of the Challenge. Please register your team and read the submission instructions before submitting your entries.

Please note that your Challenge abstract won’t be judged on the quality of your results, but rather on the coherence of your proposal of what you will do. More info on what makes a good abstract can be found here.

Your participation during the unofficial phase of the Challenge is also invaluable for helping us to improve the Challenge before the official phase. Every year, we receive insightful feedback when we’re no longer able to make changes, so please submit your entries and share your insights now so that we can incorporate them into the Challenge.

For more updates on the Challenge and announcements, please visit our website and the Challenge discussion forum:

https://physionetchallenges.org/2022/

https://groups.google.com/g/physionet-challenges

We look forward to receiving your submissions to the Challenge.

Best,
Gari, Matt, Ali and all the team at PhysioNet

Quick links for this year's Challenge:
- Registration form
- Submission instructions and form
- Public discussion forum
- Rules and deadlines
- Abstract submission

[PhysioNet Challenge]

Dear Challengers,

Please remember to submit your code before the unofficial phase deadline of the 8th April and to submit an abstract to CinC by the abstract deadline of the 15th April.

Unfortunately, most teams that make their first submissions on the final days and hours before the deadline are unsuccessful, so please test and retest your code before submitting! We receive many requests for urgent feedback and updates before the deadline. However, because of the upcoming CinC abstract deadline, we are unfortunately unable to debug entries immediately before the deadline or to allow submissions after the deadline regardless of the cause of the error.

On that note, it is important to think about the CinC abstracts even as you submit your final submissions for the unofficial phase. In order to qualify for a prize, your abstract *must* be accepted by the CinC reviewers. You should be notified about the decision by June. Please read our “Advice on Writing an Abstract” for important information on writing a successful abstract. Here is how to get an abstract accepted:

1. Ensure that all of your authors agree on your abstract, and be sure that all of the author details match your registration information, including email addresses.
2. Your title, abstract and author list (collaborators) can be modified in September when you submit the final paper.
3. Include your team name and score from the unofficial phase in your abstract. 
4. Be specific, and include results, even if they are on cross validation of training data, but clearly indicate the data for your results. 
5. Do not be embarrassed by low scores. We do not expect high scores at this stage. We are focused on the thoughtfulness of the approach and quality of the abstract.
6. If you are unable to receive a score during the unofficial phase, then you can still submit, but the work should be very high quality and you should include the cross validation results of your algorithm on the training set.
7. While your work is bound to change, the quality of your abstract is a good indicator of the final quality of your work. We suggest you use spell check, write in full sentences, and be specific about your approaches. Include your method’s cross validated training performance (using the Challenge metric) and your score provided by the Challenge submission system. If you omit or inflate this latter score, then your abstract will be rejected.
8. Stick to the word limit and deadline on the conference website. Don’t wait until the last minute to submit. Include enough time for submission errors, internet outages, etc.
9. Select ‘PhysioNet/CinC Challenge’ as the submission topic so it can be identified easily by the abstract review committee. However, do not include the words ‘PhysioNet’ or ‘PhysioNet/CinC’ or ‘Challenge’ in the title because this creates confusion with the hundreds of other articles and the main descriptor of the Challenge.
10. This is a good example of an abstract: https://physionetchallenges.org/2020/papers/112.pdf
    

Best,

The PhysioNet Challenge Organizers

Quick links for this year's Challenge:
- Registration form
- Submission instructions and form
- Public discussion forum
- Rules and deadlines
- Abstract submission