UPDATED 11/23/2020
2021 Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference
Revised and Final Presenter Guidelines and Instructions
(revised for final virtual conference format)
Thank you to all presenters, speakers, and discussants who will be presenting at the 2021 SSWR Annual Conference. The following provides guidelines and instructions for transitioning your session to a virtual format, including all session formats, presentations, and posters. Thank you for working with us on this adapted format to promote learning, connection, and discussion among SSWR members. If you are presenting in multiple formats, please read the instructions for each format.
Virtual Conference Format Overview
The SSWR 2021 Virtual Annual Conference (January 19-22, 2021) will consist of 271 concurrent 60-minute, abstract-based “lightning” presentation sessions as well as poster sessions, plenary sessions, invited symposia, and keynote speeches. These sessions are open to all virtual conference registrants. Presenters have the option to submit supplemental presentation materials in advance of the conference, but these are not required. These optional materials will be available to registrants in advance of the conference.
Post Conference Events
It has long been a goal of SSWR to offer meaningful programming to the membership throughout the year. Throughout 2021, a range of post-conference events will be organized by SSWR and available to all SSWR 2021 conference registrants. These sessions will be weekly through February to May and August to November. They will include workshop sessions, special interest group (SIG) meetings, and poster forums organized by cluster. Further communication is forthcoming regarding these engagement opportunities.
Grouped Paper Sessions, Symposium Sessions, and Roundtable Sessions:
Instructions for Presentations and Optional Submission of Advance Materials
Presentation Instructions for the Live Grouped Paper and Symposium Sessions
During the live conference session, grouped paper presentations and symposium papers should last no longer than 5 minutes and use no more than 3 slides. The session chair’s framing and/or discussant feedback would ideally be no more than 10 minutes, so that the remainder of the session will be reserved for audience interaction.
Each paper presenter will have five minutes to present their work during the live session. The following format is suggested as it has been found to work in other virtual conference formats.
- Organization: Begin with a one-minute overview summary of the paper that includes the central question addressed and the major conclusions.
- Explanation: Follow with the reasons listeners ought to accept the paper’s conclusions: the underlying theory, description of the evidence, methodological defense of the evidence, and when relevant, a connection to (and improvement upon) existing interventions, policies, and practices.
- Use of Slides: Each presenter will be allotted three slides during the session, and each should be displayed long enough for viewers to actually comprehend the message they are supposed to convey. For easiest viewing, slides should utilize charts/tables whenever possible and font sizes should be no smaller than 18 points. Slides should serve as an aid but should not be read from directly.
Optional Submission of Advance Materials for Grouped Paper Sessions and Symposium Sessions
While each presenter will only have five minutes to present during the conference, you will have the opportunity to upload supplemental materials in pdf format to the conference website in advance of the conference. Suggested supplemental materials include a full set of presentation slides, just the three slides that will be used during the presentation, or possibly a draft or published article on the research presented. Videos cannot be accommodated as supplemental materials.
Presentation Instructions for the Roundtable Sessions
During the live conference session, the presentations within a roundtable should be allocated a total of 30 minutes or less with the remainder of the time allocated to discussion and Q&A with the audience members. See presentation instructions above for tips on presenting quickly and effectively in a short time period.
Optional Submission of Advance Materials for Roundtable Sessions
Each presenter will have the opportunity to upload supplemental materials in pdf format to the conference website in advance of the conference. Suggested supplemental materials include slides, a summary of points which will be addressed in the presentation, or possibly a draft or published article on the research presented. Videos cannot be accommodated as supplemental materials.
Submission Site for Supplemental Materials: https://www.sswrvirtual.org/
Tech Support number is 478-245-4042Monday – Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST. You may leave a voicemail or text.
This table outlines the optional supplemental materials presenters may submit in preparation for the virtual conference (January 19-22, 2021). If you are presenting in multiple formats, please read this document carefully as each format may have slightly different expectations of you as a presenter.
| Presentation Format | Optional Submission of Advance Materials | Deadlines for Submission of Materials |
| Grouped paper sessions (3-4 papers each) |
Each presenter may submit one PDF. The PDF may include a full set of slides, just the three slides that will be used during the presentation, or possibly a draft or published article on the research presented.
Each presenter will receive an email from SSWR GNTV (sswr@gntv.info) with a link to submit the PDF.
|
Site opens: 12/01/2020
Site closes: 01/04/2021 |
| Symposia sessions |
The chair, the discussant, and each presenter have the option to each submit one PDF of their individual presentation in advance of the conference. The PDF may include a full set of slides or just the three that will be used during the presentation.
Each presenter will receive an email from SSWR GNTV (sswr@gntv.info) with a link to submit the PDF.
|
Site opens: 12/01/2020
Site closes: 01/04/2021 |
| Roundtable sessions |
The chair and each presenter may each submit one PDF. The PDF may include slides, an outline of the issues that will be discussed, or possibly a draft or published article on the topics to be addressed.
The chair, the discussant, and each presenter will receive an email from SSWR GNTV (sswr@gntv.info) with a link to submit the PDF.
|
Site opens: 12/01/2020
Site closes: 01/04/2021 |
Guidelines for Session Chairs
The chair can be critical to the success of a session. The principal challenge for a chair is to keep the pace brisk so as to allow all presenters to speak and still allow time for attendee participation and discussion. SSWR asks chairs to do the following:
- Before the conference: Connect with presenters and discussants to coordinate the timing and session organization
- During the session:
- Serve as Zoom Meeting host by monitoring the Chat feature for questions
- Introduce the session presenters
- Track time of each participant, ensuring the session runs smoothly
- Facilitate Q&A by tracking and posing the chat questions to the presenters from audience members
Guidelines for Discussants
- Before the Conference:
- Connect with the chair and panelists to receive their paper and/or supplemental materials.
- Read and prepare comments and questions on the papers
- During the Session:
- Deliver feedback on paper(s)
- Ask questions of the presenters based on their work
Guidelines for Moderators of Concurrent Grouped Oral Paper Sessions
The moderator can be critical to the success of a session. The principal challenge for the moderator is to keep the pace brisk so as to allow all presenters to speak and still allow time for attendee participation and discussion. SSWR asks moderators to do the following:
- Before the conference: Connect with presenters to coordinate the timing and session organization. To learn more about the session you are moderating, please go to the online program schedule (https://sswr.confex.com/sswr/2021/webprogram/meeting.html), look for your session, and view the papers within the session. To contact the individual presenters, click on the paper and retrieve their email by clicking on their name. If their name is not hyperlinked, you may either find their email from their university’s website or email info@sswr.org.
- During the session:
- Plan to arrive 10 minutes early to the Zoom meeting room before the session starts so that you have time to introduce yourself to the other presenters and remind them of the guidelines for presentation, especially time limits.
- Introduce the session presenters. The session title and each author’s name, paper title, and affiliation are listed in the program for your reference.
- Serve as Zoom Meeting host by monitoring the Chat feature for questions
- Track time of each participant, ensuring the session runs smoothly. Each presenter should be allowed roughly 5 minutes depending on the number of papers scheduled for your particular session. In most cases this should leave 20 minutes or so for questions and discussion at the end of the session. Explain to the presenters how you will indicate that they are approaching the end of their time, e.g., send a private chat reminder, find a pause in their presentation. It may be a bit uncomfortable, but please don’t be shy about helping your colleagues be aware of when they need to stop. Your audience (and other presenters) will be eternally grateful.
- After the last presentation, please moderate the questions from the audience that come in through the Chat feature and facilitate the discussion.
- Each Zoom meeting room will have a volunteer student monitor who will assist with audiovisual equipment issues by notifying the virtual conference vendor’s technical staff. The volunteer student monitor will be asked to identify themselves at the beginning of the session in the Chat feature.
- Request that all participants disable their video cameras and microphone during the session.
- Close by thanking participants for coming and encourage them to complete the online evaluation form which will be available on the SSWR webpage at the conclusion of the conference.
Poster Presentations: Instructions for Submission
Two Poster Submission Deadlines and Their Availability
- Available during the conference:
- Submit the poster by December 10, 2020, and the poster presentation will be available during the virtual conference, January 19 – 23, 2021, in the “Poster Gallery.”
- Available after the conference:
- Submit the poster between December 11, 2020 and January 11, 2021, and the poster presentation will be available starting February 5, 2021, in the “Poster Gallery.”
All poster presentations will be accessible to conference registrants on the virtual conference platform through December 30, 2021.
New for 2021: Post-Conference Poster Forums
All poster presenters and all conference registrants will be invited to participate in optional 60-minute poster forums. There will be 28 poster forums, one for each cluster. Each poster forum will have a designated, live Zoom meeting room. The Poster Forums will be scheduled at 11:00 am and 6:00 pm EST, two to three session per week, between February 5 and April 15. As a poster presenter, your participation in the forum is optional.
Poster Presentation Submissions
There are two format options for your poster presentation submission:
- OPTION 1:
- Submit your poster as a PowerPoint presentation only.
For detailed submission instructions visit: https://www.eposterboards.com/sswr-2021/#database
- OPTION 2:
- Submit your poster as a recorded PowerPoint, where you are also describing the research verbally as you advance through the PowerPoint.
- Submit to eposterboards as a .MOV, .MP4, or .PPTX
- Please keep your recording between 5-7 minutes. Recordings over 7 minutes will not be accepted.
- The recording must have your audio in the file. Do not submit the poster and audio recording as separate files.
For detailed submission instructions visit: https://www.eposterboards.com/sswr-2021/#database
Poster Presentation Submission Site:
Presenter Community Site: https://www.eposterboards.com/sswr-2021/
Password: SSWR2021 (case sensitive)
Tech Support Chat: Monday – Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST.
If you have any questions, please reach out via the chat box on the website (it will pop up on lower right-hand corner of your screen) or the technical support form link in the “Still have questions regarding the posters section.”
| Presentation Format (Select one per accepted poster) | Submission of Poster Presentation | Deadlines for Submission of Posters |
| Virtual Conference Poster Presentations |
Poster presentations available during the virtual conference, January 19-23, 2021.
All poster presentations available through December 30, 2021
|
Site opens: 11/23/2020
Site closes: 12/10/2020 |
|
Post-Conference Poster Presentations
|
Poster presentations available post virtual conference, February 5, 2021
All poster presentations available through December 30, 2021
|
Site opens: 11/23/2020
Site closes: 01/11/2021 |
Abstract Acceptance Rules
All accepted abstracts will be included in the online, searchable SSWR virtual conference program. If your abstract is included in the online SSWR program, you may site your abstract (see addendum A, page 5).
Please note that abstracts accepted for the 2021 SSWR virtual conference program may not be deferred for presentation during the 2022 SSWR Annual Conference. If you are not able to participate in the live conference session or submit your poster, you may withdraw your abstract and resubmit for the 2021 SSWR Annual Conference. If you withdraw your abstract from the program, you may not cite it.
Abstract Acceptance Citation Guidelines
Conference Presentation
Evans, A. D., Jr., Garbarino, J., Bocanegra, E., Kinscherff, R.T., & Marquez-Greene, N. (2019, August8-11). Gun violence: An event on the power of community [Conference presentation]. APA 2019 Convention, Chicago, IL, United States. https://convention.apa.org/2019-video
- Parenthetical citation: (Evans et al., 2019)
- Narrative citation: Evans et al. (2019)
- Provide the names of the presenters in the author element of the reference.
- Provide the full dates of the conference in the date element of the reference.
- Describe the presentation in square brackets after the title. The description is flexible (e.g., “[Conference session],” “[Paper presentation],” “[Poster session],” “[Keynote address]”).
- Provide the name of the conference or meeting and its location in the source element of the reference.
- If video of the conference presentation is available, include a link at the end of the reference.
Abstract of a conference presentation
Cacioppo, S. (2019, April 25-28). Evolutionary theory of social connections: Past, present, and future [Conference presentation abstract]. Ninety-ninth annual convention of the Western Psychological Association, Pasadena, CA, United States. https://westernpsych.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/WPA-Program-2019-Final-2.pdf
- Parenthetical citation: (Cacioppo, 2019)
- Narrative citation: Cacioppo (2019)
- To cite only the abstract of a conference presentation, include the word “abstract” as part of the bracketed description (e.g., “[Conference presentation abstract”])/