Submission

Workshop Submissions

Abstract submission guidelines

Abstracts must be submitted to one out of a range of tracks that are offered. Submitting authors are requested to check the full list of tracks carefully so as to ensure they submit to the most appropriate track.

Authors who have previously sent in a contribution to the EHPS 2020 conference will have the option to confirm (or discard) their submissions to be considered for 2021. This option is offered for Oral presentations, Posters, State of the Art presentations and Lab Series presentations, but excludes Symposia, Roundtables and Workshops.  To do this, the author who submitted the abstract in 2020 needs to login to the submission system and select the Confirm or Discard options for their current abstract(s). If no action is taken until the submission deadline, the abstract(s) will be excluded from the review process.

As EHPS 2021 will be an online conference, all sessions will be recorded and made available to conference attendees. It is assumed that presenters and authors give consent and authorize the recording of their presentation.

The EHPS has a formal affiliation with the United Nations and works to support sustainable development, as well as implement health psychology to improve health around the globe. We ask you to select the UN Sustainable Goals (SDGs) your work is related to or could contribute. Please select two SDGs that best connect to the topic of the abstract you are submitting.

Each track will be chaired by two-track chairs appointed by the Scientific Committee. The track chairs will assess the submissions within their tracks and will compose the sessions in their tracks. The Scientific Committee has the final decision on the inclusion of abstracts and on the final presentation format.

How are abstracts assessed for inclusion in the scientific programme?

• The abstract content should be explicitly linked to at least one aspect of health psychology.
• The abstract content must be received on time and presented in the appropriate format, e.g., it must not exceed the word limit (details below).
• The research must have followed the standards of ethics in research with human beings and/or animals that apply and have obtained the appropriate ethical approvals (if an empirical study).
• Submissions of primary and secondary empirical research must include analyses and a summary of findings. It is not sufficient to state “the data will be analysed” or “findings will be presented/discussed”, unless it is an abstract for a “work in progress” presentation.
• English language and grammar should be satisfactory, spelling should be consistent.

Submissions of good quality meeting the above criteria will be accepted for inclusion in the scientific programme.

The most common reasons for rejecting abstracts are:

• Incomplete or insufficient empirical evidence reported in the abstract.
• The research is not directly relevant to the discipline of health psychology.
• The guidelines on abstract submission were not adhered to.
• The abstract arrived after the deadline for submission.
• The number of presentations allowed for the presenting author was exceeded.

The maximum number of presentations for presenting authors is ONE, either oral presentation or one poster presentation. For this purpose, ‘oral presentations’ include both formats of ‘oral presentations’ (see below), or presentations as part of a symposium, but exclude presentations as part of the EHPS conference lab series, roundtables or keynote addresses. In addition, a participant may be involved as a chair and/or discussant in one symposium. There is no limit on the number of non-presenting co-author presentations.

All accepted abstracts will be published as an online abstract book and as a supplementary online issue of the European Health Psychologist (EHP). It is assumed that authors give consent and authorize the Scientific Committee to publish their abstract.

Please note that presenting authors of all accepted abstracts must register and pay the conference registration fee by the deadline for pre-conference online registration. The abstracts of authors who fail to do so will be removed from the programme and will not be published in the final abstract book or in the EHP.

Submission options and abstract formats

When submitting an abstract, the preferred type of presentation should be chosen from the options below, and the appropriate abstract format guidelines followed:

• Oral presentations
  – Regular Oral Presentations
  – Give Me Five Minutes
• State of the art presentations
• Poster presentations
  – Standard poster
  – Lessons learned
  – Work in progress
• Symposia
• Roundtables and Debates
• The EHPS conference lab series
• Workshops

We know that most submissions are for oral and poster presentations. Oral and poster submissions are subjected to the same criteria. However, many more abstracts are submitted for oral presentations than there are slots available within the programme and so the Scientific Committee will decide which submissions to include as oral presentations and which as poster presentations. These decisions are made in order to try and achieve the ideal programme, which includes high-quality research and reflects contributions from a range of topics, theoretical perspectives, and methodologies.

1. ORAL PRESENTATIONS

All oral presentations will be pre-recorded and uploaded to the conference platform by the presenting author. Detailed instructions will be provided to all authors, after the acceptance notifications. These presentations will be made available on the platform during the EHPS 2021 conference so that attendees can view it at any time, and there will be a designated Q&A live online session where authors will have the opportunity to share the highlights of their presentations and interact with the audience. There are two different formats.

Regular Oral Presentations – See below for abstract submission guidelines

Oral presentations will last for a total of 10 minutes. These typically describe original empirical primary or secondary research. They can also include “important replications” (please state in the abstract what this study is replicating and why this is important) or describe “lessons learned” from problems and pitfalls in specific research projects (for the abstract format guidelines, please see the “lessons learned” section for poster presentations, below).

Give Me Five Minutes (Rapid Communication) – See below for abstract submission guidelines

Give Me Five Minutes is a new format of oral presentation that will ideally have 1 to 3 slides (e.g. title, problem/aim, approach, finding). The total time allocated is 5 mins. These presentations would typically describe original empirical primary or secondary research. The abstract format is the same as for oral presentations, see below.

Guidelines Abstract submission

When uploading your abstract, you should indicate the type of oral presentation you want to give.  Abstracts not accepted for oral presentation of either format will automatically be considered for a poster presentation.  Please do not submit the same abstract twice.

All oral presentations will be allocated by the track chairs to individual paper sessions of either format following your own choice (Regular or Give Me Five Minutes)

Abstracts for both formats (Regular Oral and Give Me Five Minutes) should include:

Title: 15 words or fewer (use upper-case letters only for the first word and names).

Author(s) details (name and affiliation): First name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail; Institution of affiliation, Country. Authors should be no more than 10. The first author is the presenting author.

The body of the text should be no longer than 250 words and include:

Background: State the primary objectives of the study, including the main research questions, aims or theory being tested.

Methods: Quantitative studies should include design, participants (including number of participants), measures and analysis; qualitative studies should include design, participants, methods of data collection and analysis, e.g. thematic analysis, discourse analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Findings: Quantitative studies should include a summary of the results (accompanied by important statistical information); qualitative studies should include a description of the main findings such as the themes or categories generated. Note: it is not acceptable to state “findings will be presented” for regular oral – you may choose this however for the Give me 5 minutes format (hence you can share very recent findings you do not have available to analyse when you write your abstract, but will have done so before the conference).

Discussion: Conclusions and/or some discussion of the possible contribution to, or implications for, health psychology and other relevant contexts.

Please do not include (a list of) references in the body or at the end of your abstract.

Important to consider when choosing the type of oral format: an abstract for Regular Oral that does not include findings will be automatically reassigned as a poster presentation and considered as such.

2. STATE OF THE ART PRESENTATIONS

This type of presentations should reflect a substantive programme of work, providing novel empirical or theoretical insights for health psychology. The state of the art presentations will be live (online) during a 45 mins designated slot. Only two state of the art presentations will be included in the conference programme. If you wish to give a state of the art presentation, please submit a 300-word abstract and a short statement (max 150 words; prepare as a separate file, to be uploaded in the submission process) justifying why your presentation should be selected for inclusion in the programme. Therefore, authors who receive a negative decision will be able to re-submit their abstract with slight revisions under a different presentation format (e.g., oral presentation), after the regular submission deadline.

3. POSTERS

All accepted posters will be uploaded to the conference platform by the presenting author. Detailed instructions will be provided to all authors, after the acceptance notifications. These posters will be available on the platform during the EHPS 2021 conference so attendees will be able to view and comment on the posters at any time. In addition, there will be designated poster sessions where authors will have the opportunity to share the highlights of their posters and interact with the audience.

Poster presentations can be of the following types:

• Standard poster

Such posters present original empirical research or reviews. The abstract format is the same as for oral presentations, see above.

• Lessons learned

Since, very often, problems in research tend to be very informative, a presentation can be devoted to discussing lessons learned from problems and pitfalls in specific research projects.

Abstracts for “Lessons learned” posters (and oral presentations) should include:

Title: 15 words or fewer (use upper-case letters only for the first word and names).

Author(s) details (name and affiliation): Name: first name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail, Institution of affiliation, Country. Authors should be no more than 10. The first author is the presenting author.

The body of the text should be no longer than 250 words and include:

Background: State the primary objectives of the study, including the main research questions, aims or theory being tested.

Methods: Quantitative studies should include design, participants (including number of participants), measures and analysis; qualitative studies should include design, participants, methods of data collection and analysis, e.g. thematic analysis, discourse analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis.

What went wrong: Describe the limitations/obstacles faced in conducting the research and how this impacted upon, for example, the study findings or objectives.

Possible solutions: Describe possible solutions (if any).

Conclusions: What have we learned from this?

Please do not include (a list of) references in the body or at the end of your abstract.

• Work in progress

This type of presentation allows researchers to provide information about and share their reflections on work in progress. Although these presentations do not require data collection to be completed, the work still has to be of a demonstrably good scientific quality to be accepted. Consequently, the abstract should have clear and explicit aims and objectives, hypotheses or research questions; methods should be clearly described, with an explicit statement of intended sample characteristics and justification for this; a clear plan of analysis should be outlined, which should make clear how the intended analyses will address the research aims or research question; and the discussion section should clarify the expected or potential implications of the research.

Abstracts for “Work in progress” posters should include:

Title: 15 words or fewer (use upper-case letters only for the first word and names).

Author(s) details (name and affiliation). Name: first name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail, Institution of affiliation, Country. Authors should be no more than 10. The first author is the presenting author.

The body of the text should be no longer than 250 words and include:

Background: State the primary objectives of the study, including the main research questions, aims or theory being tested.

Methods: Quantitative studies should include design, participants (including number of participants), measures and analyses; qualitative studies should include design, participants, methods of data collection and analysis, e.g. thematic analysis, discourse analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Expected results: Describe the preliminary or expected results.

Current stage of work: Describe the stage you are at with regard to the planned work.

Discussion: Some discussion of the possible contribution to, or implications for, health psychology.

Please do not include (a list of) references in the body or at the end of your abstract

4. SYMPOSIA

Symposia provide an opportunity for a series of presentations focused on a particular topic. Symposia sessions will be live (online) and last 60 minutes. Symposia  need to include a minimum of three oral presentations from different authors on a related topic. Symposia authors can decide on the time allocated to each presentation and on any additional activities to include in the symposia (e.g. discussion, an audience engagement activity). The authors should be from at least two different countries, preferably more (the United Kingdom is considered as one country in this regard). Presenters in a symposium cannot also be the presenting author of an oral presentation elsewhere in the programme  (symposium discussants are not considered presenters in this respect).

We welcome symposium submissions on any topic of relevance to health psychology, including those focussing specifically on the conference theme.

The symposium convenor must submit the symposium details, a symposium overview abstract and the timetable indicating the running order of the presentations/activities that comprise the symposium. Following this submission, the abstract submission system will automatically email the authors named in the symposium details as responsible for each oral presentation in the symposium a code for the symposium. These authors should then submit their respective abstracts as per the instructions for oral presentations (see above), but they must use the code which they have received from the system to link their submission to the symposium. Further details are provided below.

Symposium details and overview abstract format:

Title: 15 words or fewer (use upper-case letters only for the first word and names).

Convenor details (name and affiliation): First name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail, Institution of affiliation, Country. There can be up to two convenors, but it is a requirement that one of the convenors is designated as responsible for the symposium.

Chair details (name and affiliation): First name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail, Institution of affiliation; Country. There can be up to two chairs. The chair may be the same person as the convenor or an author of one of the symposium presentations.

Oral presenters (name, affiliation and email): First name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail, Institution of affiliation; Country; and email address. Please provide one name per presentation only; this should be the person responsible for each oral presentation in the symposium.

Activity co-ordinator details (if applicable) First name followed by surname; E-mail, Institution of affiliation; Country. The activity co-ordinator will present, lead or chair the activity session if one is featured in the symposium.

Discussant details (if applicable): First name followed by surname; E-mail, Institution of affiliation; Country. After the presentations/activities, the discussant (if applicable) provides an overview of the main issues raised in the symposium and facilitates a general discussion of the topic by the audience and the authors.

Symposium overview abstract (maximum 300 words) including:

Aims: four or five points that summarise what you expect the symposium to achieve.

Rationale: explaining why it is important to discuss this issue at this year’s conference.

Summary: outlining the symposium as a whole and integrating the individual contributions.

Please do not include (a list of) references in the body or at the end of your abstract.

Timetable indicating the running order of presentations (prepare as a separate file, to be uploaded in the submission process).

Abstracts for individual symposium oral presentations: Please follow the submission guidelines for an oral presentation with regard to the appropriate format of the abstract.

Please note that the symposium overview abstract and all individual oral presentation abstracts in the symposium must be submitted to the same track.

5. ROUNDTABLES AND DISCUSSIONS

These types of sessions provide an opportunity to take forward an issue of relevance to health psychology by critiquing current evidence and suggesting future directions for research and applications. These will be live (online) sessions lasting 60 minutes. Authors should select a specific topic or issue which is to be the focus of discussion from different perspectives. The contributors to the session should provide concise and coherent summaries of their respective perspectives on the topic/issue sufficient to enable delegates to participate in the session.

Roundtables and discussions need to include a minimum of three presentations from different presenters (from a minimum of two countries; the United Kingdom is considered as one country in this regard) and are aimed at developing ideas on a topic. For both types of session, an interactive and structured discussion period is required.

We welcome roundtable or discussion submissions on any topic/issue of relevance to health psychology. Submissions could, for instance, focus on: how to strengthen the contribution of health psychology to improving population health, possibly with contributors outside health psychology; involving representatives of the patients and the public in all research stages to increase the impact of health psychology research; and incorporating health psychology expertise in the teaching and training of health practitioners to facilitate the translation of research evidence into clinical practice.

A presenting contribution in a roundtable or discussion can be in addition to an oral presentation.

The convenor of the roundtable or discussion should make the submission, which should include the following details:

Title: 15 words or fewer.

Convenor(s) details (name and affiliation): First name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail, Institution of affiliation, Country.

There can be up to two convenors, but it is a requirement that one of the convenors is designated as responsible for the submission. The convenor(s) also serves as the chairperson who takes responsibility for leading the discussion and asking questions.

Contributors’ details (name and affiliation): First name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail, Institution of affiliation, Country.

There should be no more than five contributors.

Roundtable/discussion overview abstract (maximum 400 words) including:

Purpose: a statement of focus to be addressed by this discussion.

Objectives: up to four objectives, summarising what you expect the discussion to achieve.

Rationale: a rationale for addressing this issue at this conference.

Summary: outlining the context or focus of each contributor’s research / approach.

Please do not include (a list of) references in the body of your abstract or at the end of your abstract.

Timetable indicating the running order of the sections (prepare as a separate file, to be uploaded in the submission process).

6. The EHPS Conference Lab Series NEW this year

During this virtual conference we want to give space for experimeting with new formats of presenting and the exchange of ideas. We will reserve a small number of slots for 60 min meetings and will give hardly any guidelines. Please see the submission details below.

The idea is that we have people, ideas, space, and time together at a conference. However, a lot of time is used for the traditional formats of knowledge exchange and discussion. The idea is that by giving slots to new initiatives we might discover new ways to capitalize on bringing people together at the conference. We hope to learn from the Conference Lab Series and take that on to the following years.

Please note that only open (accessible to all delegates) sessions are allowed under this umbrella. Meetings of closed groups are not covered by this format.

Here are some examples of what might be submitted:

• You want to show eHealth/mHealth programmes and really work with them with the audience to exchange ideas (you might ask those who attend to take their laptop/tablet/smartphone with them);
• You want to meet up and involve others in a special interest group (existing or new);
• You want to start an initiative to write a White Paper and to involve colleagues;
• You deliver a brief face to face intervention (e.g. on health behaviour change) and want to train others in the basics so that they can consider using it in their own research;
• You want to start an initiative to write an international grant (e.g. ITN or other EU-grants): to find out who would be interested and shape the plan;
• You want to have a discussion panel that doesn’t fit into existing formats: not rehearsed and pre-planned but more of freestyle to discuss controversial issues and try to solve them.

The organizer of this type of meeting should make the submission, which should include the following details:

Title: 15 words or fewer.

Organizer(s) details (name and affiliation): First name(s) followed by surname(s); E-mail, Institution of affiliation, Country.

There can be up to ten organizers, but it is a requirement that one of the organizer  is designated as responsible for the submission. The organizer(s) also serves as the Activity Coordinator who takes responsibility for the meeting. The rest of the organizers can be marked as corresponding in the system.

Coordinator who takes responsibility for the meeting. The rest of the organizers can be marked as corresponding in the system.

EHPS Conference Lab Series abstract  (maximum 400 words) including:

Purpose: a statement of focus to be addressed by the meeting

Objectives: up to four objectives, summarising what you expect the meeting to achieve.

Rationale: a rationale for addressing this issue at this conference.

Timetable indicating the running order of the activities planned during the meeting (prepare as a separate file, to be uploaded in the submission process).