#2025APPAM Submissions

• Short summary of your research paper that is between 100 and 500 words long
• Title of 15 words or less
• Make sure to highlight why your research is important. Keeping your abstract clear and concise will really help it stand out.
• ​If you are submitting a panel, make sure that there are no more than 2 people from the same institution.

​The abstract should be structured as follows:

• Introduction/Background: Give a quick overview of the topic and why it’s important
• Purpose/Research Question: What question are you trying to answer? /What problem are you trying to address?
• Methods: Explain how you did your research noting the data collection and analysis that was involved
• Results/Findings: Share your results, even if they were unexpected. If you only have preliminary results you can share that as well.
• ​Conclusion/Implications: Explain the importance and potential impact of the findings or the next steps if your findings were unexpected.

Roundtable Submissions Review Criteria

​All roundtable submissions will be scored on a scale of 1 to 10, with one being unacceptable and ten being outstanding based on the following criteria:

• Overall quality
• Diversity of speakers and perspectives
• Potential for attendee engagement and excitement
• Clarity of the “issue statement”
• ​Policy relevance of the issue addressed

• Webinar: How to Get Accepted to the APPAM Conference

In order to submit you will need the names, email addresses and affiliations of presenting authors. You will also be asked to submit the following:

1. Panel Title
2. Overall Panel Abstract (no more than 500 words)
3. Paper Titles (3-4)
4. Paper Abstracts (no more than 500 words each)
5. Presenting Author Contact Information
6. One chair and one or two discussants
7. One session organizer

A strong panel contains three or four papers, a chair and at least one, but no more than two, discussant(s). A panel with four papers is encouraged to have two discussants but again, only one is required. The panel abstract ties the papers together and clearly indicates how the panel relates to the conference theme and the selected policy area. Strong panels include a diverse range of participants, crossing lines of gender, race, affiliation and research methods and perspectiv

One of the most challenging aspects of putting together the fall conference is identifying knowledgeable attendees who are willing and able to serve as chairs and/or discussants. By requiring you to identify a chair and discussant at the time of submission you are assisting committee members and staff in creating complete and focused panels early on. When including a chair and discussant on your panel, make sure the people identified know you have listed them. We contact all listed chairs and discussants when we sent out acceptance notices and it is very difficult to explain to listed participants that they were listed as a chair or discussant by the submitter when they were unaware and are unwilling to participate. When selecting chairs and discussants, please make sure they know they will be required to pay a registration fee to participate in the conference.

Roundtable submissions are discussion-based sessions that require the following:

• Roundtable Title
• Abstract of the Session (no more than 500 words)
• 2-4 Speakers with contact information
• One Moderator with contact information (who is not a speaker in the session)
• One organizer with contact information

You can also view the steps here.

Acceptances/rejections be sent out in July.

Sometimes, upon careful review, the Program Committee decides that a panel would be stronger if certain papers or participants were removed or replaced. This occurs for diversity, to increase panel cohesion, or to vary perspectives on a topic. When this happens, they assemble an alternative panel using available papers to create the strongest possible program for attendees. When altering a panel, program committee members may also change the panel title, replace the chair and/ or discussant(s), and reclassify the panel as belonging to a different policy area.

You will be asked to select a primary policy area, based on the policy areas identified for the Fall Research Conference. You will have the opportunity to identify a second area where your submission may fit. Please note that your submission will only be reviewed and accepted under one policy area. However, conference attendees will be able to search for your session using both policy areas in the online program.

No, you do not. During the submission process, you can “suppress and continue” your submission until you get to the last page of the submission page, where you can select “Save and Finish Later”. Please note that if you do not follow these steps, your submission will not save, and you will have to restart the process.

You can check if you have an APPAM MemberClicks profile here. You can also email APPAM directly.

Chairs introduce the session topic & speakers, outline the panel format, help keep speakers on schedule, and ensure there’s at least 20 minutes of audience Q&A at the end.

Discussants read the assigned panel papers and prepare thoughtful questions and feedback for their designated ~20-minute period. Discussants should encourage active audience participation and ensure there’s at least 20 minutes for Q&A at the end.

Look for more information on signing up in July.

Fully submitted panel submissions have an average acceptance rate of 66% compared to 47% for single paper submissions. Check out the Single Paper Listing under the Submitter Menu in the All Academic submissions system to find other similar papers and re-submit your work as a panel. This listing includes the policy area, abstracts, and contact information for each single paper submitted for inclusion in the Fall Research Conference.

The Single Paper Listing will be opened in mid-February, and will be updated weekly through the submission deadline.

If you submitted a single paper that you now want to use as part of a panel, you need to withdraw the paper and resubmit it as part of the panel. Papers cannot be submitted twice.

All active conference participants must register, pay the full conference registration fee, and attend your scheduled session.

• Active session roles include:
  • Panels – Chairs, discussants, presenting authors
  • Roundtables & Workshops – Moderators and speakers
  • Posters & Papers – Presenting authors
• Inactive session roles do not need to register or attend the conference. These roles include:
  • Panels – Submitters, organizers & co-authors
  • Roundtables & Workshops – Submitters & organizers
  • Posters & Papers – Submitters & co-authors

Full papers do not need to be shared until one-month before the conference. Most authors choose to upload their papers into the Online Program so they’re available for download. If you do not want your paper to be made public, you will be required to share it directly with your discussant so they can prepared feedback.

The 2025 APPAM Fall Research Conference is scheduled to be fully in-person at this time.

APPAM is seeking workshop proposals that will take place during regular conference programming over a 90-minute timeslot. Workshops should be interdisciplinary, hands-on and interactive or focused on a special interest or skill training topic. Workshop proposals must include one moderator/facilitator and up to four speakers.

The APPAM Conference Submission Portal will be your access point for all your submissions and sessions you are part of. Please make sure that you use the same email address for all associated a role, such as presenting author, session chair, or moderator.  With this portal, you can view and modify all your abstract submissions and associated roles in one place.

No, a paper can only be submitted once. All paper submissions are automatically considered for all submission types. Any duplicate submissions will be removed.

New in 2025, co-authors can only be added after the paper is accepted to the conference.

APPAM will post a call for Late-Breaking Roundtables, timely policy-related research topics that have arisen since submissions closed in April, from late August through late September. Notices will be sent in mid-October.