53rd Annual Meeting of the
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
October 19-23, 2009
Grand Hyatt San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas, USA

Call for Proposals: Read Me First!

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. For the 53rd Annual Meeting, we encourage creative proposals for program materials of all kinds.

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.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND HFES POLICIES

The following HFES policies apply to all submissions for the 53rd Annual Meeting:

• All proposals must conform to the requirements in this Call for Proposals. Please read it carefully prior to submitting your work.
• The deadline for uploading your proposal has been extended to 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, February 25, 2009.
• 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. Your proposal should be submitted to the Technical Group most appropriate to review it, and in the format best suited for a quality presentation. Please note that your proposal may be transferred to a different Technical Group for review if it is determined that your proposal better fits that group's area of interest.

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.

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.

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.

HFES recently revised the eligibility requirements for the Chapanis Award, as follows:

Eligibility for the Alphonse Chapanis Best Student Paper Award is contingent on the first author being a student, and the work presented must be primarily that of the first-author student. Coauthors may include faculty or other collaborators, as long as the work being submitted and presented is primarily that of the first-author student. The paper must be the result of work accomplished by the student(s) while enrolled in an appropriate academic curriculum. The student (or, in the case of multiple authors, at least one of the students) must make the oral presentation at the annual meeting, and must file a form with the HFES Central office by the designated deadline for submitting applications for the award. The submission needs to include a letter from the adviser or project leader that documents the role of the student(s) with respect to independent contribution, innovation, and magnitude of effort.

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, an abstract, and a summary.

Abstract. Address all the important points succinctly in about 150 words. 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 summary is the key item that reviewers use in their evaluations. It must include sufficient detail about the work to permit a meaningful review. In the summary, clearly indicate (a) the purpose of your work or proposal, (b) what you did (experiment, literature analysis, or information synthesis), and (c) results or key findings from your work. Failure to provide an adequate summary could lead to rejection of your proposal.

References. Add key references and citations where necessary. The omission of references may cause your submission to be rejected.

Tables and figures. You may submit 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.
• 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 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 encouraged. 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

Practice-oriented papers should emphasize information that could be used readily by 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 should be styled according to the American Psychological Association Publication Manual (5th ed.).

ABOUT BLIND REVIEW

Most submissions to the HFES 53rd 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 discussion panels, 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' identities 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.

CHOOSING YOUR PRESENTATION TYPE

IMPORTANT: After reading this section, go to the Online Submission Guidelines page to view details about materials to submit, how to format your proposal in the correct manner, and other information.

Select the presentation type (lecture, poster, etc.) that best matches the nature of the material you are submitting as well as the objective(s) of your presentation. The table below summarizes key information about each type. Submissions in all presentation formats are reviewed and subjected to the same acceptance criteria, although the review criteria vary in accordance with each type. 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 formatting guidelines.

CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE TECHNICAL AREA

Under the auspices of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society are 23 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. (You may also indicate a secondary technical area when you submit your proposal.)

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 of your proposal.

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 find a home 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 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.

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 22, so, again, be sure to obtain employer approval promptly. HFES reserves the right to cancel publication if papers are received after June 22.

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 23. 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).

UPLOADING YOUR SUBMISSION TO THE ONLINE SYSTEM

Proposals must be submitted to the online system by 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific time on February 23. Don't wait until the last minute to submit. If you encounter problems, you may not have time to meet the deadline.

View the complete details about preparing your submission for uploading.

PROGRAM CHAIR INFORMATION

Do not send proposals directly to the Program Chairs listed below. All submissions must be uploaded to the HFES 2009 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. (E-mail addresses shown below have been altered to prevent exposure to spam. Insert "@" in place of the word "at.")

Technical Program Committee
Cheryl A. Bolstad, Chair
SA Technologies
(410) 838-3748
cheryl at satechnologies.com

General Sessions
Sheryl L. Chappell, Cochair
SA Technologies
(770) 565-9859
sherry.chappell at satechnologies.com

Cleotilde Gonzalez, Cochair
Carnegie Mellon University
(412) 268-6242
coty at cmu.edu

Special Sessions
Ronald L. Boring
Sandia National Labs
(505) 844-8159
rlborin at sandia.gov

Student Forum
Sandra K. Garrett
Clemson University
(864) 656-3114
garrett at exchange.clemson.edu

Workshops
Michelle L. Rogers
Drexel University
(215) 895-2922
michelle.rogers at ischool.drexel.edu

2009 TECHNICAL GROUP PROGRAM CHAIRS

Aerospace Systems
Daniel G. Morrow
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
(217) 244-8757
dgm at uiuc.edu

Aging
Anne C. McLaughlin
North Carolina State University
(919) 521-6802
anne_mclaughlin at ncsu.edu

Augmented Cognition
Cali Fidopiastis
UCF Institute for Simulation and Training
(407) 882-1451
cfidopia at ist.ucf.edu

Cognitive Engineering & Decision Making
Ann Bisantz
University at Buffalo, SUNY
(716) 645-2357 x 2474
bisantz at eng.buffalo.edu

Communications
Aaron W. Bangor
AT&T Laboratories
(512) 372-5732
aaron_bangor at labs.att.com

Computer Systems
Douglas L. Gardner
LexisNexis
(937) 865-6800 x56200
douglas.gardner at lexisnexis.com

Education
Terence Andre
Tier 1 Performance Solutions
(719) 213-4205
t.andre at tier1performance.com

Environmental Design
Karen Jacobs
Boston University
(617) 353-7516
kjacobs at bu.edu

Forensics Professional
Tonya L. Smith-Jackson
Virginia Tech
(540) 231-4119
smithjack at vt.edu

Health Care
Ayse P. Gurses
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine agurses1 at jhmi.edu

Human Performance Modeling
Tiffany Jastrzembski
Air Force Research Lab
(480) 988-6561 x688
tiffany.jastrzembski at mesa.afmc.af.mil

Individual Differences in Performance
James L. Szalma (Interim)
University of Central Florida
(407) 823-0383
jszalma at mail.ucf.edu

Industrial Ergonomics
Kermit G. Davis (Interim)
Low Back Biomechanics & Workplace Stress Lab
(513) 558-2809
kermit.davis at uc.edu

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

Macroergonomics
Nancy L. J. Larson (Interim)
3M Company
(651) 737-3523
nllarson2 at mmm.com

Perception & Performance
Keith S. Jones
Texas Tech University
(806) 742-3711 x239
keith.s.jones at ttu.edu

Product Design
Farheen Khan
Exponent
(630) 274-3219
fkhan at exponent.com

Safety
Mary F. Lesch
Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety
(508) 497-0255
mary.lesch at libertymutual.com

Surface Transportation
Louis Tijerina
Ford Motor Company
(313) 317-9231
ltijeri1 at ford.com

System Development
Dennis White
NAVSEA Dahlgren Division
(540) 653-2133
dennis.white3 at navy.mil

Test and Evaluation
Rebecca A. Grier
U.S. Navy - NAVSEA
(202) 781-1442
rebecca.grier@navy.mil

Training
Camilla Knott (Interim)
Aptima, Inc.
(937) 306-7760
ccknott at aptima.com

Virtual Environments
Jason S. Augustyn
U.S. Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center
(508) 233-6324
jason.augustyn1 at us.army.mil

Technical Program Committee

Chair
Cheryl A. Bolstad

Workshops
Michelle L. Rogers

Special Sessions
Ronald L. Boring

Student Forum
Sandra K. Garrett

General Sessions
Sheryl L. Chappell
Cleotilde Gonzalez

Posters
Raegan M. Hoeft

Quality
Marc L. Resnick