Call For Abstracts

AMERSA seeks abstract submissions of recent substance abuse research and substance abuse education innovations. Abstracts addressing cross-cultural issues, diversity, hard-to-reach populations, or clinical practice differences, whether local or international, are welcome and encouraged.

Abstracts for the 2008 AMERSA National Conference will be accepted in three categories:

1. Research Presentation – These abstracts report the results of original scientific research and must contain data and analyses.
2. Program and Curricula Evaluation – These abstracts are evaluations of innovative substance abuse treatment programs and substance abuse education curricula.
3. Clinical Case Presentations – These abstracts describe an illustrative case that reinforces specific learning objectives in the fields of substance abuse and medical education.

Abstract presentation formats include:

• Oral presentations are clustered into concurrent theme-based 90-minute sessions with each abstract presentation ten minutes in length followed by an additional 5 minute comment/question period.
• Poster presentations are displayed during a 90-minute evening poster reception with the attendant author(s) available to discuss and present the poster

Note that some program or curriculum innovations may best be presented as a workshop, not abstract, in order to capitalize on time for detailed discussion or skills development. See the CALL FOR SKILL-BASED WORKSHOPS section.

ONLY COMPLETE ABSTRACTS WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR PRESENTATION. ABSTRACTS DESCRIBING PROJECTS WHICH ARE IN PROGRESS AND LACK DATA ANALYSIS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. To be considered complete, abstracts must describe a completed research project, including results and conclusions, a completed program and curricula evaluation abstract, including evaluation outcomes and conclusions, or a completed clinical case, with specific learning objectives that are generalizable and supported by the case. Abstracts which meet these criteria and are accepted for presentation will be published in AMERSA’s peer-reviewed journal, Substance Abuse. Abstract authors are also encouraged to submit a manuscript of their work for consideration for publication in Substance Abuse.

Review Process: The Abstract Review Committee is made up of volunteer AMERSA members and includes representation from many AMERSA professional disciplines – nurses, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. The Committee is blinded to authors and institutions. Each committee member will rank each abstract in the following four categories:

1. Importance to fields of substance abuse and medical education,
2. Focus and clarity of presentation
3. Quality of methods and
4. Innovation

Abstracts accepted for presentation will be determined based on Committee rankings and consideration of time and space for oral and presentation formats. Authors may indicate their own presentation format preference at the time of submission.

Awards: The Abstract Award Committee, consisting of the Abstract Chair and two AMERSA Board Members, will select three abstracts of the highest rated abstracts, one "best" abstract and two runner-ups, to receive special recognition and be presented orally at the Best Abstracts Plenary.

In order to encourage broad and timely dissemination of research results and innovative programs, abstracts presented elsewhere are acceptable for submission and presentation at the AMERSA Annual National Conference PROVIDED that:

1. a manuscript reporting the same or similar results has not been accepted for publication,
2. the previous presentation occurred within the last 12 months of the AMERSA Conference abstract submission deadline, May 15th, 2008.
3. the abstract was not previously presented at an AMERSA Conference. All applicants will be notified of review decisions by August 1st. Please direct further questions to the Abstract Chair, Alexander Walley, at awalley@bu.edu.

2008 Call for Abstracts Guidelines

1. Abstracts may be submitted in one of two ways: (a) electronic online submission through the website www.amersa.org, or (b)an emailed attachment, in Microsoft Word format, to admin@amersa.org. For Word documents, type must be 12-point and singlespaced.Word document submissions may include a small graph (no larger than 3 inches by 4 inches), or a table (no more than 3 data columns and/or 3 data rows). Do not indent or use abbreviations in the title. Do not start a new line for authors. State the authors' names (initials followed by last name), institutional affiliation, city and state (or country). Underline the name of the author who will present the study.
2. Begin the body of the abstract on a new line indented three spaces. Abbreviations within the body should be kept to a minimum and must be defined upon first use in the abstract by placing the abbreviation in parenthesis after the represented full word or phrase. Non-proprietary (generic) drug names are required at first mention of the drug.
3. The entire abstract, including title, authors, institutional affiliation, city, state, and text, including any tables or figures should be a maximum of 350 words and must fit within the space provided. It is your responsibility to verify compliance with the length requirement. Abstracts longer than the limit risk being disqualified from judging or publication in Substance Abuse and will be penalized during consideration for awards.
4. Research Presentation: These sessions provide an opportunity to present original scientific work in the substance abuse field. Research abstracts must describe a scientific endeavor with the following headings underlined in the text:
   • Background - describes the research context
   • Objective - describes the research objective
   • Methods - describes research methodology used
   • Results - summarizes findings in sufficient detail to support the conclusions
   • Conclusions - states the conclusions drawn from results, as well as implications. It is not acceptable to state "The results will be discussed" or "Other data will be presented"
5. Program and Curricula Evaluation: These sessions provide an opportunity to present the evaluation of innovative prevention, treatment or educational programs/ curricula. These abstracts must have the following headings underlined in the text:
   • Background - describes the educational or programmatic context
   • Objective - describes the program or curricular objective
   • Program Description - describes the target population and program content or method
   • Program Evaluation Outcome - summarizes evaluation and outcome data
   • Conclusions - describes the meaning and applicability of the program/curriculum
   Abstracts describing exceptionally innovative clinical or educational programs, but lacking a complete evaluation component may be considered for poster presentation.
6. Clinical Case Presentation: These sessions provide an opportunity to discuss interesting or challenging patients/clients in order to explore specific learning objectives and disseminate knowledge. Case examples must be informative and generalizable. The abstract must have the following headings underlined in the text:
   • Background - describes the case context
   • Learning Objectives - states learning expectations from the case presentation
   • Case Presentation - summarizes the case
   • Discussion - summarizes salient facts/teaching points from review of the case and the relevant literature