Symposium Proposal Instructions (Deadline: July 15, 2016 -- 11:59 PDT)

Symposia are intended to provide the opportunity to bring together experts--biological anthropologists and others—to address an important topic or theme in a coherent fashion and to highlight new advances, topics and areas of emerging interest. 

Poster and Podium Symposia: Either podium or poster symposia may be proposed. Tribute and memorial symposia should be submitted as poster symposia. Regardless of the format of a symposium, each symposium must include dedicated time for discussion and each is limited to no more than one half-day in length. 

• Poster symposia proposals are flexible in format and length and may include as few as 10 or as many as 20 posters. Each poster symposium proposal should include designated discussion times for specific posters or groups of posters. If organizers of poster symposia wish to have poster space for an introduction, conclusion, or discussion, please request this space in your proposal submission. As in recent years, poster symposia will be housed individually to facilitate discussion. Organizers may request AV equipment to allow for short synopses of posters. Organizers who wish to cater their event (at their own cost) should contact the Program Chair as early as possible to make arrangements. Tribute and memorial symposia, if accepted, will designated poster symposia.  

• Podium symposia proposals vary in length depending on whether they are scheduled in the morning or afternoon. Morning symposia may include up to 14 papers of 15 minutes each, and a 15-minute presentation by a discussant(s). Afternoon symposia may include up to 11 papers of 15 minutes each and a 15 minute presentation by a discussant(s). The difference in length is due to the dedicated time for posters in the afternoons. There will be a total of six podium symposia. Quarter-day symposia are possible, and should include no fewer than 6 papers (plus discussion). Podium symposium proposals that conform to the required number of half or quarter-day papers will be ranked as more desirable during review than those that are shorter.  

Online Proposal Submission (Proposals must be submitted ONLINE by midnight (PDT), July 15, 2016):  

To submit your proposal, go to the ONLINE registration system at meeting.physanth.org. 

You will need the following information: 

1. Title of the symposium
2.  Submitter’s e-mail address and affiliation and the names and affiliations of co-organizers.
3. Indication of preference for poster or podium presentations. Please note that it may be impossible to honor your preference since we do not run concurrent podium symposia (thus six spots). Feedback from poster symposium participants has been very favorable.
4. A short abstract (300 word maximum) describing the content and purpose of the symposium. If your symposium is accepted, this paragraph will appear in the program issue at the top of the session.
5. Full names (spell out first names) and affiliations of the symposium participants, and the titles of their papers/posters in their order of presentation. Please indicate whether your participants have confirmed their participation. List all titles and authors in the order of appearance. Number each presentation. Start the next presentation on a new line.  

Use the Following Format:

1. Title. Author1 last name, first name spelled out (Affiliation); Author 2 as for Author1;  etc..
   
2. Title. Author2 last name, first name spelled out (Affiliation); etc..

      …##. Discussant. last name, first name spelled out (Affiliation)

Do not submit abstracts, registration materials, or fees at the time the symposium proposal is submitted. Note that symposium participants who are not AAPA members pay the same pre registration fee as members.

Please note: The online system will send you a link via e-mail to authenticate your registration–in some cases, especially gmail addresses and university e-mail run by Google—this e-mail may be filtered as spam. If you do not receive your link within 15 minutes of registering, try a different e-mail account. If the problem persists please e-mail Josh Snodgrass at: [email protected].  

The Review Process: 

The entire AAPA Executive Committee and the Program Committee review and rank symposium proposals. The symposium organizer will be notified as to our decision to accept or reject the proposal, and the format (Poster or Podium) of accepted symposia no later than September 1, 2016.

Poorly focused proposals lacking sufficient planning and organization will be rejected. Proposals for podium symposia that do not follow the usual AAPA format of 15 minutes per presentation may also be rejected; any proposed deviations should be discussed in advance with the Program Chair. Half-day symposia proposals for podium presentation that contain fewer than 11 presentations and one discussant will generally be ranked as less desirable than full symposia.

The number of sessions available for symposia is limited. Although every attempt will be made to accommodate the organizer’s preferred mode of presentation, this may not be possible owing to the limited number of oral sessions available during the three days of meetings. Tribute and memorial symposia should be submitted as poster symposia.

Acceptance of the symposium proposal does not guarantee acceptance of the individual abstracts; individual abstracts are subject to the same review and submission deadlines as are all other abstracts.

Once the symposium is accepted: 

If the symposium proposal is accepted, symposia participants should submit their individual abstracts and register online at meeting.physanth.org. This should be done only after their symposium proposal has been formally accepted, but no later than September 15th. If the proposal is accepted, the symposium abstracts and other materials are due at the same time as all other abstracts (September 15, 2016) and the submitting author should choose the appropriate named symposium from the drop-down menu.  Please let your participants know about this as we receive over 1000 abstracts.

Acceptance of a symposium proposal does not ensure acceptance of individual abstracts.  

We encourage symposia organizers to stay in close contact with their contributors and to review the abstracts prior to submission to ensure they comply with the requirements of regular abstracts. Poor abstracts will be rejected, even if they are part of a symposium that has been accepted. It is the responsibility of the organizer to ensure that all authors submit abstracts by the deadline. It is also the organizer’s responsibility to insist that abstracts follow AAPA specifications All registration fees are due at the time of abstract submission. Abstracts for which payment is not completed by October 15 will be rejected. The date for abstract submissions is a hard deadline.

QUESTIONS? e-mail Josh Snodgrass at: [email protected]