Call for Proposals

HFES 51st Annual Meeting
October 1-5, 2007
Baltimore Waterfront Marriott Hotel
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Contents
Key Dates
Submission Requirements and HFES Policies
New for 2007
Information for Student Submitters
Elements of the Annual Meeting Proposal
Online Submission and Review
Choosing Your Presentation Type
Choosing the Appropriate Technical Area
Publication of Accepted Work
Program Chair Information

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting is the primary gathering of researchers and practitioners in the field of human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) and related areas. The 51st Annual Meeting will be a special celebration of our historical foundations and views of the future of our profession. As such, we encourage creative proposals for program materials of all kinds. The meeting will take place at the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.

New and alternative formats for presenting HF/E efforts are strongly encouraged. Participants are invited to submit proposals including case studies, debates, demonstrations, competitive product designs, new methodologies, on-site experiments, and posters involving both fixed and dynamic information presentation. The Technical Program Committee encourages participants to suggest new ideas in advance, so that we can be as adaptive and flexible as possible in responding to creative proposals.

HFES particularly welcomes submissions from professionals in related fields. View the descriptions of HFES Technical Groups to determine if there is a match between your work and the interest areas of HF/E researchers and practitioners. The Society may waive the one-day nonmember registration fee for allied professionals who attend the meeting just to present their work.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND HFES POLICIES

The following HFES policies apply to all submissions for the 51st Annual Meeting:

• All proposals must conform to the requirements in this Call for Proposals. Please read it carefully prior to submitting your work, as requirements have changed since the 2006 meeting.
• All proposals must be submitted via the online system no later than midnight Pacific time on Monday, February 12, 2007.
• All proposals must describe completed work (except Student Forum submissions; see below).
• Papers that have been published previously or presented at another professional meeting may not be submitted.
• Authors, program chairs, and reviewers are encouraged to refer to the HFES Code of Ethics throughout the submission and review process.
• If your institution requires approval of your work, this must be completed BEFORE you submit a proposal to HFES.
• Submission of your proposal is your representation to HFES that all coauthors have given their consent to submit and, if accepted, publish the paper in the annual meeting proceedings.
• If a proposal is accepted, at least one of the authors must attend the meeting and present the work. All meeting attendees, including presenters, are required to pay the registration fee.
• You must choose one HFES Technical Group to which to submit your proposal, or you may choose General Sessions (see below). Submitting the same proposal to more than one TG will result in immediate rejection.
• The number of sessions and distribution of sessions among Technical Groups are fully determined by the number of submissions. Since 2004, acceptance rates have averaged 60-70% across Technical Groups for both poster and oral presentation formats. Thus, your proposal should be submitted to the Technical Group most appropriate to review it, and in the format best suited for a quality presentation.

NEW FOR 2007

In response to requests from past presenters, the Technical Program Committee has implemented a change in the proposal submission process. Proposers are required to format the title, abstract, summary, and any tables and figures in the same TWO-COLUMN LAYOUT that applies to proceedings papers. There is an absolute five-page limit; proposals that exceed five pages will not be considered. Detailed layout instructions and an easy-to-use layout template are included for each presentation type.

INFORMATION FOR STUDENT SUBMITTERS

Student Forum Sessions

HFES encourages proposals geared toward students. The Student Forum was created to encourage student development and support in a more effective environment. Past sessions include presentations on skills for transitioning from school to work or to an HF/E career from another field, employment trends in the HF/E field, and improving interviewing and résumé-writing techniques. When submitting your proposal, select "Student Forum" in the Technical Area pulldown menu (see Online Submission and Review).

Proposals of student work for a "Student Work Only" lecture session are also welcome. Submission of completed work is desirable; however, work in progress will also be accepted. The format of the session will be such that feedback on work in progress can be freely given. There will be at least one student reviewer for each submission. Students may select the option "Student Work" (vs. "Nonstudent Work") during online submission, and this information is taken into considering by the program chairs and reviewers.

When submitting your proposal, first select a Presentation Type (e.g., lecture, discussion panel), select the Technical Area that best represents your topic (e.g., Computer Systems), and then indicate if the proposal is research oriented, practice oriented, or theoretically oriented. Finally, select "Student Work." In the Technical Area pulldown menu, select "Student Forum."

HFES Alphonse Chapanis Best Student Paper Award

This award provides a certificate and $1000 cash gift to the student or students who conduct outstanding human factors research that is accepted for the annual meeting, presented before the Chapanis Award Committee, and judged to be the best student paper presented at the meeting.

If your student proposal is accepted, you may apply for the Chapanis Award when you submit your final proceedings paper. Details will be provided in the Author's Kit.

Technical Group Student Paper Awards

Some HFES Technical Groups also offer best annual meeting paper awards. If you are interested in having your accepted paper considered for one of these awards, be sure to select "Student Work" in the online submission system when uploading your proposal.

ELEMENTS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING PROPOSAL

This section describes the basic elements of the proposal. HFES invites submissions that address research, practice, and/or theory that advance the human factors/ergonomics field.

Contents of Abstracts and Summaries

HFES Annual Meeting proposals consist of three elements: the proposers' contact information, a 150-word abstract, and a (maximum) 2000-word summary.

Abstract. In 150 words, address all the important points succinctly. If your proposal is accepted, the abstract will be available for viewing in the online preliminary program. In addition, Technical Group newsletter editors and others use these abstracts in their publications and on their Web sites.

Summary. The 2000-word summary is the key item that reviewers use in their evaluations. It is a brief statement of all the major points you wish to make. The summary must be complete and sufficiently well explained to enable reviewers to adequately evaluate the proposal (perhaps in a blind-review process).

Tables and figures. You may submit a small number (i.e., 1-4) of tables, illustrations, and/or figures if they substantially clarify the method or results. Combined, your proposal title, abstract, summary, tables, and figures must not exceed five pages when formatted according to the requirements specified for your preferred presentation type.

Research Papers

Summaries of research papers should contain the following, as appropriate:

• Introduction: General statement to orient the reader to the specific problem, research strategy, and relevant literature. Providing lengthy introductions and excluding other items can lead to rejection of the proposal.
• Method: How the study was conducted, including participants, apparatus, and procedure. State exactly what independent and dependent variables are included in your research.
• Results: Summarize the data collected and the statistical treatments and effects.
• Discussion: Describe your inferences from the results and their implications.
• References, tables, figures: Provide full references for all citations used in this proposal. References are included in the total word count and should be styled according to the latest edition of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual (5th ed.).

Practice-Oriented Papers

Although many papers accepted for the Annual Meeting describe results of empirical research, papers that focus on the practice of human factors in education, industry, government, and other environments are welcome. Examples might include:

• Critical analyses of problem or technology-application areas
• Summaries of advances in human factors processes, procedures, and tools and methods of using them
• Field studies
• Critiques of existing research
• "Lessons learned" discussions of human factors successes or failures

Practitioner papers should emphasize information that could be used readily by other practitioners (e.g., new approaches, methods, strategies, or techniques), not merely report on a project one has completed. The practice-oriented paper requirements are slightly different from those for research proposals:

• Introduction: General statement to orient the reader to the area of your study. Avoid overly long introductions to the exclusion of other information.
• Practice innovation: Exactly what your paper will demonstrate or explain. Sources of information: How and where you have gathered relevant information, or a detailed description of your idea, product, system, or concept.
• Findings: A summary of the information you have gathered.
• Discussion: Practical applications and implications drawn from the findings.
• References, tables, figures: Provide full references for all citations used in this proposal. References are included in the total word count and should be styled according to the American Psychological Association Publication Manual (5th ed.).

Theoretical Papers

The Technical Program Committee encourages submissions that make important theoretical contributions to the areas of human factors/ergonomics. We encourage both papers that advance a particular theoretical perspective and those that report on systematic evaluations of alternative theories in a given domain. Simple literature reviews and surveys that do not make additional theoretical contributions are not considered appropriate for submissions to the Annual Meeting. (Note: adapted from APA guidelines for Psychological Review)

Format theoretical papers according to the following sections/headings:

• Introduction/thesis: Introduce topic area, background information, and goal of paper. Describe theoretical proposition(s) and/or
  argument(s) of the paper. Avoid overly long introductions to the exclusion of other information.
• Review: Sources of information: Describe literature and other resources used to support thesis.
• New contribution: A summary of the theoretical contribution made by your thesis.
• Discussion: Conclusions and practical applications of theoretical contribution to the field of human factors/ergonomics.
• References, tables, figures: Provide full references for all citations used in this proposal. References are included in the total word count and should be styled according to the American Psychological Association Publication Manual (5th ed.).

Review Process

Most submissions to the HFES 51st Annual Meeting will undergo double-blind review. In other words, the authors and reviewers are not known to one another, and only the program chair can view their identity. (In some cases, such as invited symposia, when the names and experiences of the participants are crucial to evaluating the submission, blind review of authors and participants is not feasible. Nevertheless, reviewers' identifies are not revealed to the authors.)

As stated in the instructions for certain types of presentation types, when formatting your proposal for uploading, remove all authors' names and affiliations. (The database captures this information for tracking purposes, but it should not appear in your submission.) HFES will screen all uploaded files before review begins and, if necessary, delete author/affiliation details.

Note that program chairs may choose to reveal the author's identity to the reviewers when this is judged to be an important consideration in the review process. In addition, a reviewer may choose to identify him/herself to the author in the reviewer comments.

ONLINE SUBMISSION AND REVIEW

Proposals must be submitted to the online system before midnight Pacific time on February 12. Don't wait until the last minute to submit. If you encounter problems, you may not have time to meet the deadline.

E-mail Communication Regarding Your Proposal

All communication with you about your proposal (e.g., confirmation of receipt, acceptance/rejection notices) will be sent by the online submission system via e-mail. The sender is "HFES2007@mirasmart.com." If you have spam-blocking software or other filters running, please adjust your settings to prevent interference with e-mail messages from HFES2007@mirasmart.com. In addition, if your e-mail address changes during the review period, be sure to log in and update it or notify HFES.

Whenever messages are sent to you from HFES2007@mirasmart.com, you will be directed to click a Web page link to view the detailed message text. This enables HFES to confirm that you received and read the message, and it creates a history of e-mail communication sent to you. When you log in, you will be able to view this history.

About Login IDs

HFES is working to streamline the login ID process so that authors can maintain a single login for multiple submissions (even over multiple years). If you submitted a proposal for the 2006 meeting, your username, password, and e-mail address can still be found in the online submission system database. Log in as a returning user. If you no longer recall your 2006 password, click "Forget your password?" and the information will be sent to the e-mail address that you used for the 2006 submission process. If you are no longer using that e-mail address, create a new login.

If you are creating a new login, please use only one e-mail address to identify yourself, no matter how many proposals you wish to upload. Choose a password and record it somewhere for future use. If you forget your password, you can request a reminder by clicking "Forget your password?" on the main log-in page.

If you have multiple proposals, you will be able to manage each submission separately. If you log out and reenter the site at a later time to submit additional proposals, DO NOT create a new login ID and password or enter the system using another e-mail address. Contact HFES if you have problems.

Requirements for Your Online Submission

Before logging in to the site,

1. read all the information in this Call for Proposals,
2. choose a presentation type,
3. choose a Technical Group (or General Sessions) to which to submit the proposal,
4. format your submission according to the guidelines,
5. have your formatted proposal ready on your desktop for uploading,
6. be ready to input the full names and affiliations of all your coauthors, and
7. if you are the organizer of an Invited Symposium session, for each individual presentation in the session, obtain the correctly formatted proposal and full contact information for all authors and coauthors.

Simple instructions for entering information and uploading your proposal appear on each screen as you step through the submission process. Depending on the presentation type, each submission takes 10 minutes or less.

NOTE: At the end of the submission process, you must click the "Submit for Review" button, which is available after you finish proofreading the file you uploaded. If you do not get to the page with the "Submit for Review" button, log back in with the same ID and password and complete the process. Contact HFES if you have questions or problems.

When your submission has been successfully uploaded, you will receive an automated e-mail confirming that you completed the process. If you do not get this confirmation message but think you completed the submission, first check your e-mail history on the My Submissions page, and then your spam folder. The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society is not responsible for incomplete submissions.

CHOOSING YOUR PRESENTATION TYPE

The submission process requires that you select a presentation type. Carefully review the short descriptions below and follow the links to the details you will need to prepare your proposal. Select the presentation type that best matches the nature of the material you are submitting as well as the objective(s) of your presentation. All annual meeting sessions are 90 minutes in duration except Workshops, which may be 3 or 6 hours.

All submissions must meet the requirements specified for each presentation type and be formatted according to the guidelines.

HFES Annual Meeting presentation types are as follows:

Lecture: Oral presentation of about 15 minutes with question-answer period following either each paper in the session or after the final paper. Five lecture papers are gathered in one session. Click here for detailed instructions about submitting a lecture proposal.

Discussion Panel: Brief statement (5-10 minutes) by each panelist followed by extended discussion involving the audience and panel members. Maximum of six panelists; minimum of 30 minutes discussion time. Click here for detailed instructions for submitting a discussion panel proposal.

Poster: Materials are displayed on a board for 90 minutes, viewable by meeting attendees; emphasis is on graphical display format and one-on-one interaction with audience. Click here for detailed instructions for submitting a poster proposal.

Invited Symposium: An organizer or chair decides on a theme and invites up to five presenters to give individual oral presentations (15 minutes). Concludes with question-answer segment and/or discussant presentation. Submission instructions have changed since 2006: The organizer submits all papers for the session. Click here for detailed instructions for submitting an invited symposium proposal.

Demonstration: Brief oral presentation (5 minutes) followed by a live demonstration of a tool or product. A session may include up to five demonstrations; audience members circulate throughout the room, and a demo presenter may repeat the presentation numerous times. No commercialism permitted. Click here for detailed instructions for submitting a demonstration proposal.

Workshop: Combination of educational lecture and active hands-on exercises involving workshop participants to promote skill-building of a tool, technique, or method. The primary emphasis of each workshop should be on specific, practical skills associated with the exercises. May be 3 or 6 hours; one or more presenters as needed to address audience needs. An honorarium is paid to the presenter(s). Click here for detailed instructions for submitting a workshop proposal.

Alternative Format: Creative and unique approaches to presenting information, such as group activities. For presentations that cannot be accommodated by the foregoing formats. Click here for detailed instructions for submitting an alternative format proposal.

CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE TECHNICAL AREA

Under the auspices of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society are 22 Technical Groups (TGs) that are concerned with the human factors/ergonomics aspects of specific application areas. Descriptions of these groups may be found at the HFES Web site. When uploading your proposal, you will need to select one of these TGs, or General Sessions (see below) as your preferred Technical Area.

Submit your proposal to the TG deemed most appropriate for your proposed topic (see the Technical Group descriptions), OR to General Sessions if the proposal has clear applicability to multiple TGs or falls outside the existing TG structure. If you have questions about the suitability of your proposal for a technical group, contact the appropriate program chair.

Submitting the same proposal to more than one TG will result in immediate rejection.

Technical Groups versus General Sessions

Proposals submitted to General Sessions should encompass broad areas of interest and integrate multiple perspectives. Past General Sessions topics have included HF/E problem solving, field studies, systems analysis, and other multidisciplinary topics.

New research areas emerge that do not currently fit within the traditional TG makeup and best find homes in General Sessions. For example, the Human Performance Modeling, Internet, and Health Care TGs began life with General Sessions papers in recent annual meetings.

Special interest groups within HFES (that is, groups with a topical area of interest that have not yet qualified as an HFES technical group) may wish to submit a session or group of sessions to General Sessions. These sessions should be identified as coming from an organized special interest group, and the name of the organizer of that group must be included in the submission. Such sessions will be accorded slots in the program under the same criteria as those applied to other General Sessions submissions.

To help you decide (a) whether to submit to a technical group or General Sessions and (b) the most appropriate presentation type for your submission, refer to the following charts.

PUBLICATION OF ACCEPTED WORK

If your proposal is accepted, you will receive an e-mail message instructing you how to submit your final paper for the annual meeting proceedings. HFES strongly encourages all accepted authors (except workshop presenters) to submit a proceedings paper. There is an absolute five-page limit for proceedings papers; the page limit is strictly enforced. Completed papers are due June 11, so, again, be sure to obtain employer approval promptly. HFES reserves the right to cancel publication if papers are received after June 11.

HFES requires that authors of proceedings papers transfer copyright to the Society, unless the senior author is a U.S. government employee. All coauthors' signatures must appear on the Copyright Transfer Form. A sample form may be viewed during the proposal submission process, but you need not sign and submit it when you upload your initial proposal.

If your employer uses an alternative copyright transfer form, you must submit it to HFES by the proposal due date of February 12. HFES will consider such forms insofar as they are compatible with the Society's terms and policies. Send alternative forms to Lois Smith at HFES, P.O. Box 1369, Santa Monica, CA 90406-1369 USA; fax 310/394-2410.

Publication of an accepted paper in the annual meeting proceedings does not necessarily preclude consideration of a fuller version of the same work for an HFES journal such as Human Factors. The proceedings paper must be suitably revised for journal publication (e.g., more detailed).

PROGRAM CHAIR INFORMATION

Do not send proposals directly to the Program Chairs listed below. All submissions must be uploaded to the HFES 2007 Submission site. If you are not sure which category fits the subject matter in your proposal, contact the program chair(s) in the categories that best represent your topic. If none is suitable, submit the proposal to General Sessions.

Technical Program Committee
Barrett Caldwell, Chair
Purdue University
765/494-5412
bscaldwell@purdue.edu

General Sessions
Haydee Cuevas
SA Technologies
407/737-8909
haydee.cuevas@satechnologies.com

Special Sessions
Julie Marble
Sentient Corporation
802/876-3100 x102
jmarble@sentientscience.com

Student Forum
Woodrow Winchester III
Virginia Tech
wwwinche@vt.edu

Sandra Garrett
Purdue University
garretsk@purdue.edu

Workshops
Michelle L. Rogers
VA GAPS Center
513/861-3100 x5543
michelle.rogers@med.va.gov

2007 TECHNICAL GROUP PROGRAM CHAIRS

Aerospace Systems
Amy L. Alexander
Aptima, Inc.
781/496-2471
aalexander@aptima.com

Aging
Steven Wiker
West Virginia University
304/293-4607
steven.wiker@mail.wvu.edu

Cognitive Engineering & Decision Making
Catherine Burns
University of Waterloo
519/888-4567 x3903
c4burns@engmail.uwaterloo.ca

Communications
Aaron Bangor
AT&T Laboratories
512/372-5732
aaron_bangor@labs.att.com

Computer Systems
Joel Greenstein
Clemson University
864/656-5649
iejsg@clemson.edu

Education
Karen Young
North Carolina State University
919/513-4855
kryoung@choroid.com

Environmental Design
Nancy Stone
Creighton University
402/280-2146
nstone@creighton.edu

Forensics Professional
Marc L. Resnick
Florida International University
305/348-3537
resnickm@fiu.edu

Health Care
F. Jacob (Jake) Seagull
University of Maryland
410/706-1859
jseagull@smail.umaryland.edu

Human Performance Modeling
Dario Salvucci
Drexel University
215/895-2674
salvucci@cs.drexel.edu

Individual Differences in Performance
James Szalma
University of Central Florida
407/823-0383
jszalma@mail.ucf.edu

Industrial Ergonomics
Kermit Davis
Low Back Biomechanics & Workplace Stress Lab
513/558-2809
kermit.davis@uc.edu

Internet
Marc L. Resnick
Florida International University
305/348-3537
resnickm@fiu.edu

Macroergonomics
Delia Grenville
Intel Corporation
503/613-9483
degrenvi@msn.com

Perception & Performance
Paul Havig
Air Force Research Laboratory
937/255-3951
Paul.Havig@wpafb.af.mil

Product Design
Steven Belz
Eastman Kodak Company
585/588-8831
stevenbelz@gmail.com

Safety
William Vigilante
Robson Forensic, Inc.
5800/813-6737 x249
wvigilante@robsonforensic.com

Surface Transportation
Srinivas Raghavan
Qualcomm, Inc.
858/845-3232
sraghava@qualcomm.com

System Development
Jay Shively
U.S. Army/NASA Ames Research Center
jshively@mail.arc.nasa.gov

Test and Evaluation
Lawrence Hettinger
Northrop Grumman Information Technology
978/772-1017
lhettinger@yahoo.com

Training
Michelle Harper-Sciarini
University of Central Florida
407/921-3554
mharper@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu

Virtual Environments
Ronald Mourant
Northeastern University
617/373-3931
mourant@gmail.com

Technical Program Committee

Chair
Barrett Caldwell

Workshops
Michelle L. Rogers

COTG Liaison
Ben-Tzion Karsh

Special Sessions
Julie Marble

Student Forum
Woodrow Winchester III
Sandra Garrett

General Sessions
Haydee Cuevas

Posters
Raegan Hoeft

Quality
Marc L. Resnick

Education & Training Committee Liaison
Mark D. Lee

Council of Technical Groups Liaison
TBA

At Large
Cheryl Bolstad