General Information

The Program Committee invites you to submit abstracts of original investigations for consideration in the 57^th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), October 26-31, 2010 at the Hilton New York, in New York, New York. All submissions (Clinical Perspectives, Institutes, Media Theatre, Posters, Symposia, Workshops, etc.) must be peer-reviewed by the Program Committee. Before beginning a submission, please thoroughly review the Instructions and Rules and Regulations for the Annual Meeting.

Topics may include any aspect of child and adolescent psychiatry: clinical treatment, research, training, development, service delivery, administration, etc. The AACAP encourages submissions on neurodevelopmental interventions (helping children grow healthy brains), translational research, maximizing the effectiveness of community and educational child and adolescent psychiatry consultation, services research, and violence prevention.

Professional practice gaps describe problems in contemporary practice, and include lack of knowledge, lack of understanding and implementation, or lack of a strategy or algorithm to approach a problem. Practice gaps are not limited to clinical practice, and also include research, education, and administrative practice gaps. These gaps identify the difference between current practices and desirable or achievable practices.

All submissions are accepted as is and we expect presenters to present what was originally submitted. Please check air fares and hotel costs before you submit to ensure that you and your co-presenters will be able to attend the Annual Meeting.

For a description of teaching or treatment problems, a submission is most likely to be accepted if it: is scholarly and includes references; is innovative; draws attention to pitfalls and/or remedies in standard or conventional treatment; and measures the efficacy of a teaching or treatment program, using controls. Indicate which, if any, of these will be addressed. Indicate comparisons or control groups and standardized measures. If standardized measures or procedures have not been used, indicate how the lack of standardization was addressed. Retrospective studies are unlikely to be accepted. Include clinical implications, when appropriate. Describe the design and measures. Single case treatment studies, or studies reporting on a small series of cases, may only be approved if they employ a specific design, e.g., ABA, ABBA, or multiple baselines. Treatment studies require data from outcome measures. Include clinical examples whenever possible. Incomplete studies or submissions that promise later results are not favorably reviewed.

Presenters are encouraged to identify any relevant ethical issues related to their submission topics and to discuss (or review) them as appropriate.

All presentations and materials should be in English however we expect that 20-25% of the attendees will be from outside of the United States; please take this into consideration when preparing your submission. To facilitate effective communication, the Program Committee strongly suggests that participants who do not use English as their primary language have their submission materials, posters, and/or slides reviewed in advance by colleagues with an excellent command of the English language. If you would like assistance with your submission, please email meetings@aacap.org.

AACAP Rules

AACAP Annual Meeting Rules and Regulations

Prior to submitting a proposal, all submitters must agree to these rules and regulations.

Operating Principles For Extramural Support of AACAP Meetings and Related Activities:

Click here for the most recent version of AACAP’s Operating Principles for Extramural Support of AACAP Meetings and Related Activities. These are the guidelines that govern all AACAP meetings.

Satellite Symposia:

Satellite Symposia are not allowed at the AACAP Annual Meeting. Please contact AACAP's Development Department at 202.966.7300 for a copy of corporate sponsorship guidelines and/or sponsorship opportunities.

Ethics:

Authors are expected to conform to accepted ethical standards of not submitting original research findings in multiple conferences or journals. Information that has already been presented or accepted for publication should not be submitted. Authors uncertain about their compliance with this rule should contact meetings@aacap.org.

IRB:

All research projects must list the status of their IRB review on the Submission form. Note to international presenters: IRB stands for Institutional Review Board. It is the group at a research institution that oversees the ethics, legality, and safety of research. If your country does not use the IRB system, please explain how ethical, legal, and safety oversight was accomplished for your research.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Affiliation:

After the deadlines close, all potential presenters and authors will receive an email asking for contact information and to complete a conflict of affiliations form. This is a REQUIREMENT for all authors of all Submissions. The Submission will be rejected if these disclosures are not received. These disclosures will be listed online and in the Program Book. In addition, a disclosure slide must be prepared and shown as the second slide of any presentation and disclosures must be given verbally. The Program Committee monitors disclosure at every session. A template in Microsoft PowerPoint is available on the AACAP website under Annual Meeting at www.aacap.org.

Limit on Number of Submissions:

The "two-fer" rule applies to Clinical Perspectives and Symposia: no one may make more than a total of two formal presentations in Clinical Perspectives and/or Symposia. Acting as a discussant or chair without a formal presentation is not limited by this rule.

Scheduling and Preliminary Program:

AACAP does not generally honor requests to schedule presentations on specific days. In submitting, authors assert availability to present on any day of the Annual Meeting, October 23-November 01 (Saturday to Monday). Individuals who are accepted for multiple presentations may be required to find substitutes for themselves due to scheduling conflicts. Upon acceptance of the presentation, information will be sent only to the first author/chair to indicate acceptance, provide registration materials, and provide any additional information on the presentation. It is the first author/chair's responsibility to communicate this information to all co-presenters.

The preliminary program, containing the meeting schedule, will be available on the AACAP website at www.aacap.org by June 2010 and in the Registration Magazine in August 2010. The magazine will also contain the form/fee information for registration and accommodations.

Program Committee Travel Scholarships:

The Program Committee offers a limited number of scholarships to Annual Meeting presenters each year. There are two categories of scholarships as follows: Junior Scholars: Defined as AACAP Members who are within 7 years of completing their child psychiatry clinical training. This includes residents, but cannot be combined with other AACAP awards. Senior Researchers: Defined as non-child psychiatrists doing seminal scientific research in areas related to AACAP's mission. If you are eligible for either of these awards, please enter your interest in the "People" step of the Submission. Requests for scholarships will be evaluated in June based on the quality of the Submission. If a scholarship is awarded, the awardee will receive a complimentary registration and a $500 travel stipend for Junior Scholars or $1,000 travel stipend for Senior Researchers. AACAP holds the rights to waive informalities in the application process. This program was made possible by a grant from AACAP's Campaign for America's Kids.

Travel Reimbursement:

AACAP does not pay for travel or hotel expenses for Annual Meeting presenters. The only exception is for two domestic non-member presenters in an Institute.

Review Decisions:

All review decisions of the Program Committee are final. All acceptance and rejection letters will be sent via email in May, 2010. Suggestions for improvement are only provided to primary authors of rejected poster Submissions from the February deadline that are being encouraged to revise and resubmit for the June New Research Poster deadline.

Registration Fees:

All presenters (member or nonmember) are required to register for the meeting and pay registration fees. AACAP members and all child and adolescent psychiatrists, whether presenting or not, are required to pay full registration fees. Non-child and adolescent psychiatrist presenters must register, but for a reduced fee. Submitters should inform co-presenters of these policies.

Audio-Visual Equipment Policies:

Audio-visual equipment is free-of charge for all sessions. Upon acceptance, the Chairs of the programs will be asked to submit a request for equipment, including an LCD projector, overhead projector, VCR, DVD player, microphones, and standard sound equipment. Presenters are urged to carefully consider AACAP costs and not request unnecessary equipment. The chair/presenters must provide their own laptops. AACAP encourages the chair to coordinate with co-presenters to put all PowerPoint presentations on a single laptop. NOTE: Internet connections are not considered standard AV equipment. If you require equipment other than the items listed above, you must include a description of these needs in your review abstract and your proposal to cover the costs for this equipment.

Audio Taping Information:

Clinical Perspectives, Institutes, and Symposia are audiotaped, and compact disks, or MP3s of the presentation are sold. Speakers on these types of programs will be asked for permission to be recorded during the submission process.

Medical Student and Resident Submissions:

As part of AACAP's priority to recruit new physicians into the field of child and adolescent psychiatry, medical students and residents are encouraged to submit original research. Visit AACAP's website for Medical Students and residents at http://www.aacap.org/cs/students.residents.ecp for complete details about all of the Annual Meeting awards and programs for this group.

Instructions

Instructions for Preparing the Submission

All information must be submitted online. Applicants are encouraged to compose their Review and Proceedings Abstracts in their own word-processor where they can more conveniently check spelling and grammar. The completed abstract can be copied-and-pasted into the online forms.

Deadlines:

Submissions must be submitted online by the following dates. There can be no exceptions.

February 16, 2010 (Tuesday):

Deadline for Submissions for Clinical Case Conferences, Clinical Consultation Breakfasts, Clinical Perspectives, Institutes, Media Theatre, Posters, Special Interest Study Groups, Symposia, Workshops, and Other. Notification of acceptance is given in May via email to the chair of the Submission.

June 15, 2010 (Friday):

Deadline for Submissions for late New Research Posters. Notification of acceptance is made in August via email to the primary author of the poster. If data are available, please submit Poster Submissions for the February 16 deadline.

Deadlines will be enforced. The Submission page will close at 12:00 midnight Pacific Time on the designated dates; therefore late Submissions cannot be accepted. Incomplete Submissions will be automatically rejected.

Presentation Formats:

The program is organized into the following types of presentation formats. Please choose the preferred format carefully to be sure it best fits the criteria. Click on any format to see the detailed Submission requirements and to access the appropriate Submission form.

• Clinical Case Conference
• Clinical Consultation Breakfast
• Clinical Perspectives
• Institute
• Media Theatre
• Posters
• Other Programs
• Special Interest Study Group
• Symposium
• Workshop

All Submissions require:

• The title of the Submission
• The chair's contact information
• Professional Practice Gap Identification
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee review status
• Educational learning objectives
• Review Abstract (detailed description of the Submission, used for Program Committee review and limited to approximately 8,000 characters)
• Proceedings Abstract (abstract used for publication for all accepted Clinical Perspectives, Institutes, Posters, Symposia, and Workshops, and limited to 1,400 characters)
• Names, affiliations, contact information, email addresses, and disclosures for all authors

Professional Practice Gap Identification:

Professional practice gaps describe problems in contemporary practice, and include lack of knowledge, lack of understanding and implementation, or lack of a strategy or algorithm to approach a problem. Practice gaps are not limited to clinical practice, and also include research, education, and administrative practice gaps. These gaps identify the difference between current practices and desirable or achievable practices.

Click here for further explanation and a sample professional practice gap statement. Your professional practice gap statement should be no longer than 2,000 characters (approximately 350 words).

Review Abstract:

"Review Abstract" is the term used by the Program Committee for the 8,000 character document (approximately 1,000 words) each presenter must include with his or her Submission. It is your chance as a presenter to explain your ideas in detail to the Program Committee. The Review Abstract is not published. For Institute, Symposium, and Clinical Perspectives Submissions, a Review Abstract is required for the overall Submission as well as each individual abstract for each presenter.

To prepare the Review Abstract, follow these instructions:

• Limit each Review Abstract to 8,000 characters (approximately 1,000 words).
• The Review Abstract must include a bibliography of at least 1 and no more than 4 references.
• Organize the Review Abstract around objective, methods, results, and conclusions, and use those headings.
• Give the background of the specific hypothesis (or hypotheses).
• State methods, data, and data analyses used. Data collection and preliminary analysis should be complete.
• Include clinical implications, when appropriate.
• State measures used and provide information regarding reliability and validity.
• Tables, diagrams, and images are permitted.
• Incomplete studies or submissions that promise results by the time of presentation are unlikely to be judged favorably.
• If the proposed instrument reported in the submission has not been published and if the author is not part of the submission, indicate the author’s agreement for the use of the instrument in this research.
• If the work reports on an unpublished instrument, the Review Abstract should address issues of reliability and validity.
• Indicate whether there will be handouts of all or part of the instrument. Include clinical implications, when appropriate.

Proceedings Abstract:

A "Proceedings Abstract" not exceeding 1,400 characters in length(not including spaces), is required for all Clinical Perspectives, Institute, Poster, Symposium, and Workshop proposals. It must be organized around four headings:

1. Objective
2. Methods
3. Results
4. Conclusions

The Proceedings Abstracts should not also be used for the Review Abstract. The Program Committee expects to see more detail in the Review Abstract so that they can more fully evaluate the Submission.

Begin a Submission

Click on the appropriate presentation format below to begin your submission. Be sure to read the Instructions and AACAP Rules before you begin.

• Clinical Case Conference
• Clinical Consultation Breakfast
• Clinical Perspectives
• Institute
• Media Theatre
• Posters
• Other Programs
• Special Interest Study Group
• Symposium
• Workshop

Resume a Submission

Resuming or Revising a Submission

Once you have submitted step 1 of your submission, you will automatically receive an email that includes a password-protected hyperlink. You can resume or modify your submission up until the submission deadline by clicking on the hyperlink in that email. For help in submitting an abstract online, e-mail technical support.

Abstract submissions and revisions are no longer being accepted.

But you can still view your abstract. If you can find the confirming email mentioned above (from aacap@confex.com) then you will have found a direct link to your submission. If you remember the abstract ID# and password, enter those codes below.

For Posters Poster ID# Password	For ALL Other Submissions Session ID# Password

AACAP Annual Meeting Call for Papers Frequently Asked Questions

What is the absolute latest that I can complete my submission on the online submission site?
The site will be shut down at 11:59 pm PST on February 15, 2012. For late New Research Poster submissions, the site will be shut down at 11:59 pm, PDT on June 15, 2012.

What do I need to include in my submission?
The items that need to be included in your submission vary based on the type of presentation you would like to present. There is a description of the requirements for each type of submission in the Call for Papers. To find this, go to "Begin a Submission" and click on the type of program you’re submitting.

How do I know if my submission is complete?
The last step for all of the submissions is to confirm that all of the information is entered correctly and check the box indicating your agreement with the Rules and Regulations. Once your submission is complete, the chair will receive a confirmation email as well.

I completed my submission, but now want to make a change. Can I?
Changes can be made to submissions until the February 15 deadline. Use the log in information from your confirmation email to return to the submission and make changes.

What is the difference between the Review Abstract and the Proceedings Abstract?
The Review Abstract can be up to 8,000 characters (approximately 1,000 words) and is the document that the Program Committee will use to evaluate your submission. See the explanation of the Review Abstract on the Instructions tab. The Proceedings Abstract will only be used if your submission is accepted. This is the abstract that will be printed in the 2012 AACAP Annual Meeting Scientific Proceedings that is distributed to all Annual Meeting Attendees. See the Proceedings Abstract Submission instructions on the Instructions tab. NOTE: You cannot use the same abstract for the Review Abstract and the Proceedings Abstract; they should be two separate documents and the Review Abstract should be significantly more detailed than the Proceedings Abstract.

How many characters are allowed in the Review Abstract?
The Review Abstract is limited to 8,000 characters (approximately 1,000 words), not including spaces and headings. The title of the abstract and names of the authors are not included in this character count. Text that is incorporated into a chart or graph is calculated in this character count. Review Abstracts should be organized around the following headings: Objective, Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions, and Bibliography. Bibliographies should include at least 1 and no more than 4 references.

How many characters are allowed in the Proceedings Abstract?
The Proceedings Abstract is limited to 1,400 characters not including spaces and headings. The title of the abstract and names of the authors are not included in this character count. Proceedings Abstracts should be organized around the following headings: Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusions.

How will speakers enter their disclosures?
All speaker disclosures must be submitted by the February 15 or June 15 deadlines, respectively. If the chair or primary author submit the abstracts, he/she must also submit the disclosures for each speaker and author before the submission will be considered complete. Speakers and authors will have the opportunity to review their disclosures and contact information immediately after the submission deadline to confirm the accuracy.

When will I hear whether my submission was accepted?
If the submission was completed for the February deadline, the Program Committee meets in April and sends acceptance and rejection emails in early-mid May. For submissions completed for the June deadline, acceptance and rejection emails are sent in early August.

Are satellite symposia allowed?
Absolutely not. Participation in a satellite symposia or other unapproved scientific events will result in disqualification from the meeting. All events MUST use the Call for Papers submission process to be included in the Annual Meeting.

Did I hear right that there is a limit to the number of presentations I’m allowed to make?
The Program Committee has adopted a rule that presenters may make no more than a total of two (2) scientific oral presentations at symposia and/or clinical perspectives. Please note: THIS LIMIT APPLIES ONLY TO SYMPOSIA and or CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES. You may submit as many Call for Papers as you wish, but the maximum number of oral presentations at Symposia and/or Clinical Perspectives that can be accepted from each person is two (2). Acting as a discussant at a Symposia and/or Clinical Perspectives or a chair who is not presenting does not count towards your two-presentation limit, but AACAP will not schedule around more than two Symposia and/or Clinical Perspectives commitments - you may still have to excuse yourself from the third Symposia and/or Clinical Perspectives due to scheduling conflicts. The Program Committee Chair is encouraging submitters to focus their efforts on a few extremely high-quality submissions, rather than signing onto a large number of submissions. If you are recruiting co-presenters for a submission, it would be advisable to ask each person how many submissions they have already committed to, as this could affect your submission's chance of acceptance. There is no limit for the number of Posters, Clinical Case Conferences, Workshops, Institutes, Media Theatre, Clinical Consultation Breakfasts, Special Interest Study Groups, Town Meetings, Member Fora, Member Service Fora, Plenaries, Clinical Practica, Research Forum, Honors Presentations, Component Meetings, Receptions, and Governance Events a person may present.

Can I make scheduling requests?
Please email your request to meetings@aacap.org with specific dates and reason for your request by March 30, 2012. AACAP cannot guarantee that they can accommodate your request but will make its best effort to do so.

Will AACAP pay for the hotel or travel expenses of my VIP non-member speaker?
No. AACAP does not pay travel or hotel expenses to anyone except for 2 non-member presenters at each Institute, chosen by the Institute chair. We also do not offer honoraria for anything but Institutes. No exceptions are ever made to this policy. However, non-child psychiatrist presenters can apply for a Program Committee Travel Scholarship in the "People" step of the submission process. If the presenter receives this scholarship, he/she will be given $1,000 towards travel expenses. Only a limited number of travel scholarships are available.

I have a non-member presenter who has NOTHING to do with child and adolescent psychiatry. Does s/he really have to pay a registration fee?
After your submission is accepted, please email meetings@aacap.org with details of your request. In some cases, the Program Chair can waive non-member presenter registration fees - but only if the presenter is not associated with our field.

What does "committee sponsorship" mean?
AACAP has over 50 committees, who work on various projects throughout the year. Many of these committees sponsor Annual Meeting programs as part of their functions. If a committee sponsors an Annual Meeting program, its members need to be actively involved in the program proposal and speaker selection. Please coordinate with the chair of the committee if you would like to seek committee sponsorship for a program. The Program Committee does not give preference to program proposals that are sponsored by an AACAP committee.

Do I have to be a member of AACAP or a child and adolescent psychiatrists to submit?
No, anyone can submit a program proposal for AACAP’s Annual Meeting.

Who can I call with other questions?
For technical support with the online submission site, call customer service at The Conference Exchange at 401.334.0220. For questions about the content of your submission or the review process, contact a member of the AACAP Meetings Department at 202.966.7300, ext. 2006 or email meetings@aacap.org.