Begin the submission process by creating a user profile or signing in to your existing account. 

You will be asked to indicate whether the proposal you are submitting is a General Submission or an Invited Submission. Most proposals submitted to the Call for Papers should use the General Submission Form. The Invited Submission Form is only for presenters who have been invited to present by the OBAP Program Committee. Do not select this option unless you have received special instructions from the committee.

As the person initiating and entering the proposal into the submission system, you are automatically assigned the role of the submitter. You will be required to answer these three questions about your role:

• Are you a session moderator?
• Are you an author who will be presenting at the session? (Presenting Author/Speaker)
• Are you an author, but will not be presenting at the session? (Author Only)

If you are only a submitter and not an author or presenter, you would answer no to all these questions. Presenting authors will be denoted as such in program materials.

All authors must be assigned a role:

• presenting author,
• non-presenting author, or
• moderator.

We recommend that presenting authors of seminars limit themselves to presenting a maximum of three sessions. If you are a presenting author listed on more than three proposals, this may limit your chances of being accepted for additional sessions.

Please ensure an accurate address is provided for each author; include the author's institution, mailing address, e-mail address, phone number, and OBAP affiliation or student status, if applicable. 

Session Format

You must request one of the following session formats:

• 60 min Oral Session (Simulated Live*/On-Demand Virtual Library)
• 45 min Oral Session (Simulated Live*/On-Demand Virtual Library)
• 30 min Oral Session (Simulated Live*/On-Demand Virtual Library)
• 15 min “Ted-Talk” Session (Simulated Live*/On-Demand Virtual Library)

*If you select a simulated live session, you will be required to be present to answer audience questions during your designated session time.

The Program Committee will review all submissions and consider all format requests. There is no guarantee, however, that your submission will be accepted in the format you request. If accepted, your presentation will be scheduled as best suits the needs of the Topic Area and overall Convention program.

Topic Area

You will need to select the topic area that best corresponds to your proposal. Read the descriptions carefully. Choice of the topic area determines which topic committee member will review the proposal and influences the intended audience. If your proposal falls under more than one Topic Area, select the topic that best represents the primary focus of your proposed session. The Program Committee has the authority to recategorize a proposal during the review process if the committee believes it better corresponds to another topic.

OBAP encourages submissions to any topic area by any industry professional, alumni, and/or student member of the organization. 

We recommend that you draft, edit, and save your proposal in a Word/text document, and then copy and paste the text into the submission system to ensure accuracy in word count, spelling, and grammar.

Title

Enter the title of your proposal, not to exceed 15 words, using title case. Do not use all caps or unnecessary punctuation.

Suggested Content Track
Indicate whether the instructional level of your proposed presentation is intended for a collegiate or professional audience.

Proposal Type and Learner Outcomes

You must select either Professional Education or Research as your proposal type. The type of selected proposal determines the evaluation criteria for the proposal and by whom it is reviewed.

Research

Research proposals should present new research findings or research in progress dealing with typical and/or atypical aspects of the profession. Presentations should be based on original research and provide new data/information pertaining to either technical bases of the profession or practice. Data/information regarding new interpretations of existing data may also be included in this category. The objective of a Research presentation is to share the process and products of inquiry.

Research proposals are evaluated using the following criteria:

• Strength of theoretical/scientific rationale for research question
• Originality of research question(s)
• Strength of research design
• Credibility of data (or data in progress) to be completed prior to presentation; proposals without data may be negatively rated, affecting the likelihood of acceptance
• Integration of findings
• Overall clarity of proposal

Professional Education

Professional Education proposals should present innovative approaches to the profession, new and emerging methodology or techniques, and/or programming or discussion and debate regarding professional issues related to a Topic Area. They may present data or provide new evidence relevant to topics/issues previously presented in textbooks, research literature, professional conferences, or other dissemination outlets. They are submitted for originality, relevant contemporary impact, or continued appeal to a significant number of attendees. The quantity of information presented is appropriate to the proposed length of the session.

Professional Education proposals are evaluated by the following criteria:

• Strength of theoretical or professional rationale supporting the proposal
• Originality of proposal
• Relevance to contemporary issues in the profession
• Suitability of the amount of information to be presented to the proposed session length
• Clarity of goals
• Overall clarity of the proposal

Learner Outcomes

Learner outcomes are mandatory for all proposals and are an important piece of the review process. If the proposal is accepted for presentation, they are published in the program. Learner outcomes describe what participants will be able to do after attending the session and must be stated as observable behaviors that complete the sentence "Participants will be able to...".

An example of a learner outcome might be, “Participants will be able to define the three key issues related to aviation compliance” or “Participants will be able to describe three evidenced-based benefits of mindfulness in the aerospace setting.”

Learner outcomes that indicate that an attendee will learn, understand, or know something are not measurable and cannot be accepted for presentation at the OBAP Virtual Conference.

Session Description

This brief description of your proposal, in 120 words or fewer, will be published (if accepted) in the program. Proposals are not edited and are published as submitted, so make sure you proofread your work carefully.

Proposals/Summary

Please provide an expanded summary of your proposal, not to exceed 1,000 words, that the Program Committee can use in its review of your proposal. The proposal should include the main argument, procedures, and results. 

References

Though not required, you are encouraged to provide references (not to exceed 500 words) that the Program Committee may consider as part of the proposal review. References are not published in the program.

Keywords

List some keywords related to your proposal that will help attendees locate your presentation when conducting searches in the online planner. You must list at least one keyword.

You will need to answer a series of multiple-choice questions related to your proposal.

• Will the presentation be of particular interest to any of the special audiences listed below?
  • Students
  • International Affiliates
  • Public/Consumers
  • Researchers
  • Related Professionals
  • Assistants
  • Early Career Professionals (under 5 years experience)
  • Those seeking to increase cultural competency

• Would you be willing to speak with the media about your presentation?
• How much of the content of this proposal has previously been presented at another conference/convention?
• Was this proposal developed by an OBAP committee or board members?
• Is this a panel presentation/discussion?
• Does any author listed in this proposal require reasonable accommodation (due to a disability) in order to present?

Review and proofread all aspects of your proposal for accuracy.

All authors must complete their applications by Tuesday, June 1, 2021 (11:59 p.m. Eastern Time). 

Upon selection, each author listed must complete a corresponding disclosure form and provide a biographical sketch. As the submitter, you agree to inform all authors listed in the proposal that they are required to complete the form and submit a bio. Authors who do not comply with this requirement will be removed from the proposal and will not be listed in any conference-related materials or allowed to present.