Submission Review Procedure

Session proposals are reviewed and selected by SSP’s Annual Meeting Program Committee.  This committee comprises around 40 members of the society who are chosen annually to represent a diverse selection of individuals and organizations from across the membership. Committee members are asked to disclose any conflicts of interest and to recuse themselves if a conflict exists with a proposal assigned to them for review. The committee is led by the current Co-Chairs (Erin Foley, Jessica Slater, and Greg Fagan) with support from society staff.

Educational Sessions

In 2024, we received 130 Educational session proposals, of which c. 25% were accepted.

Educational session proposals are individually reviewed by 6–8 committee members, who rate them on the following criteria:

  • Topic is timely and relevant 
  • Original concept and/or fresh analysis 
  • Includes diverse representation of speakers and ideas
  • Focus and learning outcomes are well defined
  • Appropriate interactivity with the audience is planned

Once the individual proposals have been reviewed, the Co-Chairs select sessions for the final program based on a number of factors including:

  • Individual proposal ratings
  • Balanced programming. Good session proposals may not be accepted if there are better quality proposals covering similar ground.
  • Diversity. Good session proposals may not be accepted if a particular presenter or organization is already well represented in the program.

Posters

Poster submissions are individually reviewed by the Poster Subcommittee, who rate them on the following criteria:

  • Topic is timely and relevant 
  • Original concept and/or fresh analysis 
  • Information is well presented and accessible
  • Poster is not a marketing vehicle for a commercial product or service

Once the individual proposals have been reviewed, the Poster Subcommittee will select posters for the Poster presentations based on a number of factors including:

  • Individual proposal ratings
  • Available space and budget. The number of submissions accepted may be limited by space available at the venue or the meeting budget.

5-minute Previews

We receive an average of 25 5-minute Previews proposals annually and usually accept 50%. Due to time constraints, the number of accepted proposals is limited to 12. 

Previews submissions are reviewed by the Co-Chairs, who rate them on the following criteria:

  • Topic is timely and relevant
  • Original concept and/or fresh analysis
  • Information is well presented and accessible

Once the individual proposals have been reviewed, the Co-Chairs select presentations for the Previews session based on a number of factors including:

  • Individual proposal ratings
  • Balanced programming. Good session proposals may not be accepted if there are several similar products/services featured in the pool of submissions.