Call for Abstracts

Steps and Instructions:

1. General Instructions

   No names or titles should be included in the abstract text. Names will be automatically hidden during the abstract review process and will be automatically inserted and properly formatted upon publication.

   Presenting authors will be automatically informed of the abstract ID numbers assigned to their abstracts. Abstracts may be viewed by all authors and modified only by the corresponding author at any time between submission and the deadline by logging in to the Author's Homepage.

   Contact technical support for help submitting an abstract online.

2. General Rules and Guidelines

   • Proffered Abstracts should be original work not previously presented or scheduled to be presented at any other conference except for at the Presenting Author’s local AAPM chapter meeting. The work should also not yet be published in a journal, although work submitted but not accepted for publication is acceptable. Substantial overlap with other previous presentations at conferences with substantially different audiences may be submitted with prior specific permission from the Program Directors.
   • No part of the Abstract, Supporting Document, or Funding Disclosure should contain identifying information such as title, author names, affiliations, institutions, etc. Submissions containing such information may be rejected without review.
   • The Abstract is limited to 300 words and should be structured as Purpose, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.
   • The abstract entry field is text only and does not support symbols or equations except those shown in the table. The abstract field cannot contain graphs, figures, tables, images, or other multimedia objects. (These can be entered in the Supporting Document.)
   • The Abstract cannot depend on the Supporting Document, nor should it refer to it. The Supporting Document will not be published in the program, so references to it (e.g. "as can be seen in Fig 1 of the Supporting Document" or "Results are listed in the table in the Supporting Document") should not be made.
   • Please note that once abstracts are submitted and the submission deadline has passed, no further modifications are permitted.

3. Policy on Number of Submissions

   • An individual can present up to ONE presenting-authored presentation at the meeting, although the individual's name may appear on more than one Abstract.
   • The system will restrict you to ONE proffered submission as presenting author.

4. Submission Types

   Early-Career Investigator Symposium

   This symposium is an opportunity for early-career investigators (defined below) to submit an abstract for the competition. Clinical projects or research are welcome for both imaging and therapy categories. Highest scored Early-Career Investigator submissions, i.e., the finalists, as determined by the abstract reviewers will be selected for presentation in a special symposium on Saturday, March 29, 2025, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM.

   An Early-Career Investigator is defined as, at the time of abstract submission, someone in:

   • a graduate program, OR
   • a CAMPEP certificate program, OR
   • a medical physics residency OR
   • a postdoctoral fellowship within two-years post-degree.
   
   
   • Supporting Document is REQUIRED and must not exceed 2 pages in length.
   • Only one first author submission from each Early-Career Investigator can be submitted for consideration for the Early-Career Investigator Symposium.

   FINALISTS are identified on October 16, 2024, at which time the Finalists will be contacted with further instructions. Contact the Meetings Content Manager at AAPM HQ with any questions regarding the Early-Career Investigator Symposium.

   A panel of judges will score the oral presentations according to criteria that includes scientific merit, originality, and organization/presentation of the material.

   All abstracts submitted to the Early-Career Investigator Symposium that are NOT selected for the competition, will be considered for the Best Poster Competition.

   Best Poster Competition

   Abstracts may be submitted for a poster presentation in imaging, therapy, or professional categories. The emphasis of the work must be clinical to reflect the overall focus of the Spring Clinical Meeting. The AAPM will conduct a Best Poster Competition! A panel of judges will score posters according to criteria that includes clinical relevance, originality, and organization/presentation of the material.

   • Supporting Document is REQUIRED and must not exceed 2 pages in length.

   Onsite at the meeting, you are required to display your paper poster when the exhibit hall opens.

   To allow Judges the appropriate time to review and select a Winner, the Presenting Author will be required to upload a PDF file of their poster by March 11. The Presenting Author will be notified by email when the system is open to accept posters.

   The Winner will be announced on March 30, 2025, at the beginning of the 8:00 AM session.

   In the Clinic: Short Oral

   Abstracts may be submitted for a short oral presentation about interesting, innovative, helpful, and/or unique clinical activities in imaging, therapy, or professional categories. Each accepted Presenting Author will be allocated ten minutes (an eight-minute presentation plus a two-minute Q&A) and will be grouped by a broad theme. These will be clinically-oriented talks with a focus on process rather than a lengthy history of the procedure. Practical solutions that others can access, and implement will be given highest priority.

   • Abstract text will be free-form, it will not follow the formal scientific format of Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusion.
   • Supporting Document is OPTIONAL and must not exceed 1 page in length.

   The submission type will be reviewed by the Spring Clinical Meeting Subcommittee and will not be published in the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics.

5. Select Taxonomy and Keywords

   Enter taxonomy information and up to three keywords.

6. Enter Authors

   Enter author name, affiliation, and contact information.

   • The Corresponding Author is automatically added to the submission.
   • Continue adding additional authors, if needed
   • Select the Presenting Author
   • If you need to change the Corresponding Author to someone other than yourself, the submitter, then you agree that you have obtained prior authorization from that author to sign off on the Agreements & Disclosures in the following step. If you have not obtained authorization, please withdraw this submission (link is in menu in upper left corner) the new Corresponding Author should begin a new submission.

7. Abstract Submission Information

   Abstract

   Review the Sample Abstract before preparing your submission.
   The Abstract text MUST be structured as follows for both Early-Career Investigator Symposium and Best Poster Competition submission types:

   • Purpose:
   • Methods:
   • Results:
   • Conclusion:

   **Any abstract that does NOT conform with this structured format will be REJECTED.**

   The Abstract text for In the Clinic: Short Oral submission type will allow for free-form text.

   • Abstracts must not exceed 300 words.
   • Enter Abstract text directly in the designated field on the website. If you Copy/Paste from word processing software, be sure to proofread integrity of the text. Symbols and equations are not supported.
   • DO NOT include Title, Author names/institutions, graphs, figures, tables, images, or multimedia elements. Titles and Author information is entered elsewhere in the system and will be merged with the abstract file later in the process.

   Supporting Document

   • A Supporting Document is REQUIRED for Early-Career Investigator Symposium submissions and limited to 2 pages - using 11-point Arial Font and 1" margins. The Supporting Document should be limited to a few figures and/or equations with clear, self-explanatory captions. The Supporting Document should NOT be used for extensive text descriptions and should not repeat material contained in the abstract.
   • A Supporting Document is REQUIRED for Best Poster Competition submissions and limited to 2 pages. Follow the above instructions.
   • A Supporting Document is OPTIONAL for In the Clinic: Short Oral submissions and limited to 1 page. Follow the above instructions.
   • Preferred format is illustrated in the Sample Supporting Document.
   • The Supporting Document must be submitted as a PDF format file.
   • The Supporting Document should include the title and should be limited to a few equations and/or a small number of figures or tables with self-explanatory captions. A small number of references may also be included.
   • Do NOT list authors in the Supporting Document. In support of our blind review policy, there is to be no author information in the Supporting Document nor any information identifying the authors or affiliation.
   • The Supporting Document must be uploaded to our server by clicking the "Upload Supporting Document" icon that will appear on your status page once you have provided all the required information.

8. Confirmation

   You will have a chance to look over the submission to make sure all is complete.
   Your submission is automatically submitted when you reach the confirmation page. You can still edit your submitted information by accessing the relevant step, making the change, and saving before the submission deadline.