Upon submission, the abstract is directed to the Breakout Session selected by the submitter on the abstract submission form. Each MHSRS Breakout Session has a separate group of subject matter expert peer reviewers. Each abstract is reviewed and scored by a minimum of two peer reviewers. (Note: The goal is to have tri-Service representation on each breakout session review panel).

Each abstract is scored on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being the highest and 5 the lowest score) for clarity and relevance in each of these three areas:

• Quality of the written abstract. (1) Research focused abstracts should contain a Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions section; (2) Product development focused abstracts should be formatted as: Introduction, Capability Description, Methods/Technical Approach, Results, Applicability to Medical Roles of Care, Impact to the Warfighter/Significance, Developmental Status of the Technology.
• Scientific rationale/Technical approach/Methods.
• Significance of the results/Impact to the warfighter

Abstracts are rank ordered according to the sum of their scores. After considering the scores, individual reviewer recommendations, and comments from committee discussion, the Abstract Review Lead will recommend the abstract for either an oral breakout session or a poster presentation, nominate for the Young Investigator Competition, or not accept the abstract. Submissions to the Young Investigator Competition not selected to go forward to the next level of review will be considered for an oral breakout or poster presentation within that Breakout Session. Abstracts will also be considered for "poster presentation only", if requested by the submitter.