Submission and Review: All Abstracts must be submitted electronically using the APHA Meeting website by the date published on the APHA website for the Student Assembly. Late, faxed, and email submissions cannot be accepted. APHA will send email notices of acceptance to abstract authors in early June 2014. All Abstracts are subject to masked peer review by at least three reviewers. Please remove any references to a specific institution in the body of the abstract to permit masked review and ensure fairness. By submitting an abstract proposal, the author(s) agree that, if accepted, the paper will be presented as scheduled.
Abstracts should be submitted in a structured format. Please use one of the following two formats: Structured Abstract Format (suitable for abstracts on scientific research): o Background: Study objectives, hypothesis, or a description of the problem; o Methods: Study design, including a description of participants, procedures, measures, and appropriate analyses; o Results: Specific results in summary form; and o Conclusions: Description of the main outcome of the study. Alternative format (suitable for abstracts about policy, programs, interventions, and other types of research evaluations):
◦ Issues: A short summary of the issue(s) addressed;
◦ Description: Description of the project, experience, service, or advocacy program;
◦ Lessons Learned: A brief description of the results of the project; and
◦ Recommendations: A brief statement of next steps.
Review Criteria: Standardized criteria will be used to evaluate all abstract submissions. These criteria include: (1) adherence to specified format as indicated under structured abstract format, (2) importance/originality, (3) description of subject matter, (4) methodology/sound conceptual framework, and (5) clarity of content. Note that incomplete abstracts will not be judged.
Final Program: The final program will be based on peer-reviewer evaluations of the abstract proposals with consideration for available time and space, the program theme, and diversity of topics. Because of limited sessions and space, the programmers may not be able to accommodate your preference for presentation format (oral versus poster). However, if you will only present your abstract in your preferred format, please make note of this in the section “Comments to Programmers”. Topical sessions are determined based on accepted submissions. All topics related to the APHA Annual Meeting are encouraged. Only listed authors who are both APHA members and registered for the Annual Meeting may present accepted work.
APHA does not provide any financial support for author attendance at the Annual Meeting. All expenses incurred for presenting at APHA are the sole responsibility of the student author. Presenters must pay their own APHA membership, registration, travel, and lodging. If presenting at the APHA Annual Meeting is contingent on receiving financial support, please do not submit an abstract – there is only limited space for student presentations, and it is not fair to other students to withdraw your abstract just before the APHA Annual Meeting because of lack of funds. Also note there are NO free or reduced registrations for presenters. Student presenters must pay the student registration rate. Though we have accepted abstracts with research that is still in progress at the time of submission, the project must be completed by the Annual Meeting.
It is important to note that after the submission deadline has passed, NO CHANGES to the title or body of text will be allowed. Therefore it is important that your abstract contain the correct information at the time of submission, which should include any preliminary results and/or anticipated results. Before preparing your abstract, it is recommended that you review the Abstract Writing Guide available at http://aphastudents.org/docs/abstractguide05.pdf. This document was written by a former programmer of APHA-SA, based on common errors seen in student abstract submissions in previous meetings. Likewise, it is recommended to review previously accepted student abstracts at http://www.apha.org/meetings/pastfuture/pastannualmeetings.htm. You can see previous research and presentations completed by students during APHA-SA sessions (select the meeting, APHA Student Assembly, and then a session). It is recommended to also review the Abstract Submission FAQ at http://aphastudents.org/docs/abstractsubmissionfaq.doc Many of your questions may have already been answered there. If you have any questions, contact the APHA-SA Program Planners directly at programming@aphastudents.org. Planners can only respond to e-mail inquiries NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.
Continuing Education Credit APHA values the ability to provide continuing education credit to physicians, nurses and health educators at its annual meeting. Please complete all required information when submitting an abstract so members can claim credit for attending your session. These credits are necessary for members to keep their licenses and credentials. For a session to be eligible for Continuing Education Credit, each presenter must provide: 1) an abstract free of trade and/or commercial product names 2) at least one MEASURABLE objective (to understand or to learn are not measurable objectives). Examples of Acceptable Measurable Action Words: Explain, Demonstrate, Analyze, Formulate, Discuss, Compare, Differentiate, Describe, Name, Assess, Evaluate, Identify, Design, Define or List. 3) A signed Conflict of Interest form with a relevant qualification statement Thank you for your assistance in making your session credit worthy. Contact Cody Mullen (programming@aphastudents.org) if you have any questions.Ready?
Cody Mullen, BS
Richard M. Faribanks School of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
4418 Lakevilla Dr.
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Phone: 765-404-5607
cody.mullen@gmail.com
