Late Breaking is the act of braking later than the car you are trying to pass. It’s a hard move to master and one that often has devastating consequences. Brake too early and you may miss the other car and get re-passed or slide wide and hit your noggin – both of which are bad. Brake too late and you could end up with your wheels off the track or in a ditch.
While the importance and popularity of the “Late Breakers” at SRI are well founded, it is worth considering whether or not a pendulum has swung too far. The focus on this group of original research presentations casts a shadow over many other clinically important and relevant studies that occur in other sessions and might undermine the credibility of those other findings.
The LBW category provides an opportunity to present preliminary and/or exploratory data that demonstrates significant potential for impact, identifies new avenues of inquiry or advances the field in general. This includes work that is hypothesis generating and/or mechanistic and is intended to lay the foundation for future study or application; research that is at the pre-specified, post-hoc or follow-up stage of a trial (primary, subgroup or meta-analysis); and laboratory or device-based studies with potential clinical impact. LBW submissions should not have been presented or published in another venue prior to the time of submission and must be accompanied by a statement from the authors documenting their reasons for eligibility in this category.