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Meetings submission standards

AGU meetings standards

These guidelines apply to session proposals and abstract submissions for all AGU meetings. Session conveners should consider these standards when reviewing abstract submissions. Researchers should review these standards when preparing their abstract submissions. Specific guidelines for each meeting are posted on their respective sites.

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Standards for session proposals

Session proposals should be focused on science and/or science policy related to AGU’s mission of advancing Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity; celebratory or memorial sessions, or those deemed to be advertisements will not be accepted. In addition:



  • 1
    Session proposals and abstracts should include a concise description of the scientific topic and why it is relevant and timely.
  • 2
    Session proposals must include a description of why the topic is relevant and timely, and sufficient detail and references to public information.
  • 3
    Session proposals and abstracts can focus on scientific results and/or their applications, and the impact of Earth and space science on society.
  • 4
    All conveners and authors listed on session proposals or abstracts must consent to being named on the proposal or abstract when submitted.
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Fall Meeting Program Committee charge

The Fall Meeting Program Committee is responsible for developing and organizing the entire scientific program. The committee members, under the direction of the Fall Meeting Program Committee chair, are essential to implementing strategies that achieve the AGU Board’s objectives to create innovative and impactful scientific meetings and to develop a dynamic program for the AGU Fall Meeting.
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Obligations of the Program Committee

The program committee members agree to uphold the following obligations:
  • 1
    They will give unbiased consideration to all session proposals and abstracts submitted to AGU meetings.
  • 2
    They will judge each session proposal and abstract on merit without regard to race, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the convener(s) and/or author(s).
  • 3
    The committee has the authority to accept or reject a session proposal or abstract on the basis of scientific merit or suggest modifications for consideration. 
  • 4
    An individual committee member will confer with other committee members, including the chair, to evaluate decisions to reject a session or abstract. The program committee is obligated to provide a reason to support modifications or suggestions.
  • 5
    The program committee and meetings staff will not disclose any information about a session proposal or abstract under consideration to anyone other than session conveners or abstract submitters.
  • 6
    The committee will respect the intellectual independence of session conveners and abstract submitters.
  • 7
    The program committee will avoid situations of conflicts of interest. Conflicts include: handling submissions from current and former students, colleagues with whom the committee member has recently collaborated, and those at the same institution.
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Responsibilities of session conveners

Conveners are to present a concise and accurate account of the research involved as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Conveners are responsible for adhering to specific guidelines and policies related to the meeting and must assist in promoting their session once it is approved by the program committee. Depending on the AGU meeting, Conveners may be responsible for developing session proposals, identifying co-conveners or session moderators, inviting authors, and reviewing abstracts submitted to their session. Conveners are allowed to submit abstracts to their own sessions, however for the AGU Annual Meeting, Conveners are NOT allowed to be invited authors and cannot be scheduled as an oral presentation in their own session.

Conveners have the following additional responsibilities:

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  • 1
    Conveners are responsible for extending invitations to invited speakers for their session, including ensuring that invited abstracts are submitted by the abstract deadline.
  • 2
    Conveners should be available during peak time to work with respective Program Committee representatives on session development or session merges. Conveners should be available to answer questions pertaining to the scientific scope of their session from abstract submitters.
  • 3
    Conveners do not have the authority to reject an abstract. If an abstract is not appropriate for the session, the convener’s options are to return the abstract to the appropriate program committee member, transfer it to another session, or recommend its rejection to the program committee.
  • 4
    The Program Committee allocates the session types, however the Conveners designate the type of session an abstract is assigned and propose the order of the session. The program committee is the final authority on session outline, speakers, day, time, duration, and type of session.
  • 5
    Conveners should thoroughly review and judge objectively the quality of an abstract and respect the intellectual independence of the authors. In no case is personal criticism appropriate.
  • 6
    Conveners should be sensitive to the appearance of a conflict of interest if an abstract in the session is closely related to preliminary or published work by a convener.
  • 7
    Conveners should treat abstracts as confidential documents until they are published by AGU. Abstracts should not be shown to or discussed with others except in special cases (i.e., persons from whom specific advice may be sought such as co-conveners or the program committee).
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Responsibilities of authors

Authors must present a concise and accurate account of the research performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. The abstracts should contain sufficient detail and references to public sources of information. Only individuals who have significantly contributed to the research and preparation of the abstract can be listed as authors. The corresponding and/or submitting author is responsible for including all individuals who meet the criteria for authorship.
All co-authors have the following responsibilities:
  • 1
    The presenter must be listed as an author of the abstract at the time of electronic publication.
  • 2
    They may submit abstracts for work that has been published in journals or presented at other scientific meetings. The work should be current and provide new data and results since any previous presentations.
  • 3
    They can make no changes to a paper after the abstract deadline and once it is accepted for presentation.
  • 4
    Presenters may critique another accepted presentation, but personal criticism is never acceptable.
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