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Convener resources

Session conveners: What to know during and after abstract submissions

Session, town hall, and workshop proposals are no longer being accepted, however, we encourage you to check out the session viewer to discover the science that will comprise Fall Meeting 2019. Below we’ve compiled resources for session conveners to know during and after abstract submissions.

Conveners, please take a moment to read this important message about promoting diversity and strengthening the next generation of scientists through your sessions from Denis-Didier Rousseau, AGU Fall Meeting Program Committee Chair, and Robin Bell, AGU President.

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Invited author policies

Keep in mind the first author policy as you consider invited authors for your session.

  1. First authors can have a maximum of one contributed and one invited abstract or two invited abstracts. The only exemption to this policy is submitting one additional contributed abstract to a session for: GeoHealth (GH), Education (ED), Public Affairs (PA), or, for 2019, a Centennial SWIRL session.
  2. There are no exceptions to the first author policy, regardless of the number of invitations an author receives.

Once sessions are approved and abstract submissions open, each non-Union session is able to invite up to two authors to submit abstracts to your session. If approved in August, official panel sessions will have the ability to retroactively mark all panelists as invited for a maximum of eight invited authors. 

AGU’s main objectives for allowing invited authors include:

  1. Raising the profile of a session; and
  2. Enticing authors who would not otherwise submit an abstract to a session in an effort to, for example, enhance diversity or interdisciplinary perspectives or feature early-career scientists.
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Important note

Being an invited author DOES NOT guarantee that the person will receive an oral presentation unless it is a Union session. All invited authors may be subject to being scheduled either in an oral OR a poster session. If a session is given an oral allocation, which is also NOT guaranteed, the authors in that session and the length of presentations will be decided by the convener during the scheduling process.

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Things to know

Invited authors must be AGU members and up to date with 2019 membership dues; however, special exemptions may be requested. Please contact AGU by email or call 800.966.2481 (toll-free in North America) or +1 202.462.6900 as soon as possible for requesting an exemption. Depending on timing and volume, we cannot guarantee that all requests will be approved.

  • 1
    Do not make any promises to your invited authors that they are guaranteed an oral presentation. Invited authors are not guaranteed an oral presentation and may be assigned a poster presentation.
  • 2
    Please give your invited authors at least two weeks to accept the invitation and submit their abstracts. Conveners of approved sessions may invite authors via the online tool beginning in June. 
  • 3
    An individual may not accept invitations to submit an abstract to more than two sessions.
  • 4
    All abstract submission fees are nonrefundable. Refunds will not be issued if policies are violated or an abstract is rejected.
  • 5
    Invited authors do not receive waived or discounted abstract submission fees and registration fees; no travel reimbursements are provided to invited authors.
  • 6
    Session conveners may not be the first author or presenter on an invited abstract in the session they are convening.
  • 7
    If a session receives multiple oral or poster session allocations, session conveners can retroactively mark up to two abstracts as “Highlighted” per each additional session during the scheduling period if needed.
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Invited author instructions

Conveners who are AGU members will receive access to the online invitation management system when abstract submission opens. After logging into the invitation management session, conveners can click on "My Account," then on the name of their session to access the Session Proposal Control Panel. Within the panel, conveners should click the Invited Author Management button to access the invitation tool. 

Conveners can enter the names of up to two individuals they wish to invite to submit an abstract to their session. There is no limit on the number of invited authors for Union sessions, but we recommend a maximum of eight authors.

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Conveners are asked to manage and send formal invitations to invited authors via the online program management system as soon as possible. Conveners will have access to the system to send formal invitations up until the abstract deadline if needed. Please send invitations as soon as possible to ensure that your invited authors will have enough time to accept and submit their abstract before the abstract deadline. There will be no exceptions to the submission deadline.

Invited authors must not submit their abstract until they receive an email from the online invitation system with detailed instructions. Invited authors must accept their invitation via the online abstract submission system in order to submit their abstract directly to your session by the deadline. This is a firm deadline and late submissions will not be accepted.
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Monitoring abstracts

If accepted, your session is available for abstract submissions. You are expected to monitor your session during the submission period for abstracts that clearly do not belong in your session. You can track and review abstracts submitted by logging into the User Portal and clicking on your session name. Abstract details will appear on the “View Submission” page above the list of conveners. Abstract titles and author names are also displayed in the public session viewer, although abstract text is not viewable to the public during this period.

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Session conveners should monitor the following

  • Abstracts that are not topically relevant to your session or if you think an abstract was submitted to your session by mistake. Please notify the program committee or the scientific program team by the deadline and we will contact the author with the concern and move the abstract to a more appropriate session. This may happen due to author oversight or a misunderstanding of the session’s intent.
  • Note: An abstract cannot be transferred after the program is finalized. Each author is counting on you as a convener to ensure that all abstracts submitted and accepted to your session are topically appropriate.
  • Invited authors who have not accepted the invitation to submit or have not submitted their abstract. Please follow up to ensure invited authors have received the invitation and intend to submit the abstract. Late submissions will not be accepted. If the author has declined the invitation, you can invite another author in their place. You can do this up until the abstract submission deadline.
  • Other sessions with which your session can be merged based on abstract submissions. Please notify your program committee representative if you have any suggestions on potential merges.

Notes on timing

At least one of the conveners must be available in late August for the scheduling of your session. Please note that, at the discretion of your program committee representative, you may be asked to merge with another session in early to mid-August. More information on scheduling will be available soon in the “After Submissions” tab above.

Abstract submissions are open from 12 June to 31 July 2019. Abstract notifications and notification of your sessions’ official scheduled day and time will be sent out on 1 October 2019. After this date, please monitor your session to note withdrawals.

Please contact the scientific program team or your program committee representative if you have any concerns while monitoring your session during the abstract submission period.

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Final scientific program

In early October 2019, abstract acceptance notices will be distributed by email and the final scientific program will be available online.

After the program is published, authors are required to accept or decline their presentation. If the author declines, their abstract will be withdrawn from your session.

Please note, due to the size of the program, if you are chairing multiple sessions and submitted abstracts to the scientific program, the program committee CANNOT guarantee that you will be free of scheduling conflicts at the meeting. Ensure your co-conveners are available to step in to chair a session, if the need arises.
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Convener availability

At least one of the conveners (the primary liaison) must be available after the abstract submission deadline and during the scheduling period to respond to any program committee requests.

Because of content overlap and number of abstracts submitted, some sessions may be merged at this time at the discretion of the Fall Meeting Program Committee.
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Session allocation and scheduling

Session allocation

After abstract submission, the designated section program committee representative will determine the session type (poster session, or a combination of oral and poster session) and number of sessions allocated to each submitted session.

Abstract submitters select their presentation type preference as either a poster only or to be designated by the Program Committee/session conveners (poster or oral) during the abstract submission process. The only exception to this policy is if the session is an alternate format (e.g. eLightning).

If you have any questions regarding your allocated sessions, please contact the appropriate program committee representative.

Session scheduling

Conveners will have from Tuesday, 20 August to noon Eastern Time, Friday, 30 August 2019 to review and organize the abstracts submitted to their sessions by assigning the presentation order with poster sessions and, if an oral session is allotted, the duration of presentations. View session scheduling instructions for conveners. 

Conveners must be an AGU member in order to log into the online abstract scheduling system. During this time, conveners must designate two session chairs (do not have to be existing conveners) and one Outstanding Student Presentation Award (OSPA) liaison for each allocated session.

Session conveners may not be the first author or presenter on an invited abstract in the session they are convening. Conveners may submit a contributed abstract to any session or a session they are convening; however, they must be scheduled as a poster presentation.

Once the Program Committee scheduling meeting begins, conveners will no longer have access to their sessions online. During the scheduling meeting, the Program Committee will schedule any sessions not already scheduled by the conveners as they see fit. They will assign days, times, and meeting rooms for each approved session.

 

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Replacing an empty oral presentation

If an author withdrawals from an oral session, the session conveners can request that a poster presentation from the accompanying poster session be moved to replace the withdrawn oral presentation. This can be done only with accompanying sessions and with the authors’ explicit consent. To replace a withdrawn oral presentation, email the Scientific Program Team with the details of the withdrawn abstract, details of the abstract proposed to replace that oral presentation, and a message in which the author consents to being moved.

Note: New abstracts CANNOT be added to fill empty slots in either oral or poster sessions. After the program has been finalized, poster presentations CANNOT be moved to different poster sessions or boards, due to the logistical layout of the poster hall.

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Resources to promote your session

As a convener, please promote your session to your colleagues. We created some social graphics below for you to use to promote abstract submissions. Please use the title of your session in the body of your post with the hashtag #AGU19. To  download the full-size version, click each graphic and then right click to save the image. 

 

Twitter shareable:

 

Image with AGU Fall Meeting logo that reads "Submit your abstract"

 

Instagram shareable:

 

Square image with AGU Fall Meeting logo that reads "Submit your abstract"