Abstracts MUST be submitted according to SBM's specific guidelines listed below, using SBM's official CadmiumCD submission website. Abstracts may be submitted as pre-conference courses, symposia, panel discussions, papers, live research spotlights, recorded research spotlights, or posters.

All abstract submissions will be peer reviewed. All accepted abstracts will be published in the Annual Meeting Supplement issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine, an official journal of SBM. The supplement will serve as the official abstract publication for SBM's 43rd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions.

Upon receipt of your submission, CadmiumCD will issue an email confirmation to the submitting author. Authors can expect to receive the email confirmation of their submission within 48 hours (or two business days) after submission. If you do not receive a confirmation email from the abstract system within 48 hours of submitting your abstract, contact the national office at (414) 918-3156 or at info@sbm.org.

Character Limit: There is a limit of 2,500 characters including spaces. The 2,500 character limit does not include title or author list.

Complete and Original Results: Each abstract should represent complete and original results. If you want to present a “Works in Progress” (e.g., design and methods of a large clinical trial) or a “Lessons Learned” (e.g., tips for other researchers) abstract, then this could be included in a panel discussion, symposium, or rapid communication poster, but not in a regular poster (until complete data is available). Note that rapid communication poster abstracts have a separate, later deadline than other abstracts. Submitting multiple abstracts in which the same data have been analyzed in different ways, or in which a study is subdivided into small sub-studies, is prohibited and will result in those abstracts being rejected. In addition, this action may result in the individual abstract authors being prohibited from submitting abstracts for future SBM annual meetings. Only if abstracts present unique information that could be published in separate journal articles will multiple submissions from a single project be considered (e.g., if they address theoretically unrelated/distinct hypotheses, if they utilize non-overlapping data/variables, etc.). If multiple presenters claim equal contribution to a project, then they can co-present the poster at the annual meeting.

Empirical/Non-Empirical Research: Poster abstracts submitted for presentation must be based on empirical research and report actual (not promised) results. Poster submissions, except for Works in Progress and Lessons Learned rapid communication posters, must also be based on empirical research and report actual (not promised) results. Abstracts for courses, panel discussions, and symposia may include empirical and/or non-empirical contributions. 

Empirical work includes primary quantitative research (e.g., observational studies, clinical trials) and primary qualitative research (e.g., interviews, focus groups), with both requiring appropriate methods for gleaning insights (e.g., the use of appropriate statistics for quantitative data and appropriate processing of qualitative data, such as thematic analysis). Empirical research can also be of a secondary nature and involve the use of prior empirical work, such as review articles. Note that for these types of empirical contributions, the work does need to use accepted procedures for organizing and processing that information including both quantitative (e.g., meta-analysis) or qualitative (e.g., meta-synthesis, scoping or narrative reviews) approaches. Literature reviews that do not use an accepted protocol for organizing the literature and gleaning insights will NOT be considered empirical but could be discussed within courses, panels, or symposia. 

Prior Publication Policy: Abstracts that have been published or presented elsewhere prior to the time of presentation at the 43rd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions may not be submitted for consideration by SBM. Abstracts that were accepted for SBM’s 42nd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions should not be re-submitted for the 2022 meeting. Work may be submitted for publication after the abstract submission deadline, prior to the annual meeting, and still be presented at the meeting (even if it is published prior to the meeting).

Abstract Presentation Limit: Authors are limited to participation as “presenter” in a maximum of three abstract submissions. Presenters of accepted abstracts must register for the annual meeting.

Presenter Registration: Each presenting author is responsible for his/her registration fee(s). Presenters who are unable to register for the annual meeting should arrange for another individual to present on their behalf. If changes to the listing of your presenting author are necessary, please notify the SBM national office (414) 918-3156 or info@sbm.org.

Submission Deadline Exceptions
Rapids must be competed and submitted by the noted abstract submission deadline: November 15, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The only exceptions to this policy are (1) delay due to weather-related issues that hinder a submitter's ability to complete their submission (ex: power outage due to severe weather), or (2) delay related to personal injury or family health emergency (ex: hospitalization). In these cases, a deadline extension request must be sent to rmizar@sbm.org before the abstract submission deadline, for review by the SBM Program Committee.

Withdrawn Abstracts: Abstract presenters who withdraw a presentation may be denied the right to submit an abstract for the 2023 SBM annual meeting. The only exceptions to this policy are (1) absence due to weather-related issues that hinder a presenter’s travel to the meeting, (2) absence due to a work-related emergency, or (3) absence related to personal injury or family health emergency. Miscalculation of travel costs by the presenter does not qualify as an acceptable reason to withdraw one’s abstract. In the event this occurs, no refunds will be given.

Abstract/Presentation Language: All abstract submissions must be in English. All presentations based on accepted abstract submissions must be made in English.

Thematic Submissions Encouraged: Submissions are especially encouraged that reflect the theme for the 43rd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions: “The Urgency of Adaptation”. We are living through three converging public health emergencies: the COVID-19 pandemic, systemic racism, and the climate crisis. Although outside the traditional scope of behavioral medicine, these crises present an incredible moment of vulnerability and opportunity for leveraging expertise in behavioral medicine to improve public health. The problems are too great and the stakes are too high for inaction.

Open Science Practices Encouraged: Submitters will have the opportunity to declare their open science practices for the submitted work, including preregistered design, preregistered analyses, shared materials, and posted data. SBM is committed to promoting more open science practices among members and at the annual meeting. For more information on these practices and their benefits, see the Center for Open Science (https://cos.io/) or other resources.

When submitting your abstract, you may check boxes to be considered for these special opportunities:

• Industry-Focused Posters: When submitting your abstract, look for the option to flag your submission as Industry-Focused.  Posters that highlight the translational research coming out of industry and industry-academia partnerships will receive an Industry-Focused designation. Recipients of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants are especially encouraged to participate.
• Poster Mentoring Program: Student SBM members can have their poster presentations evaluated by a senior SBM members. Because of the Poster Mentoring Program’s popularity, interested students are selected via a random drawing. Selected students are matched with senior members based on common behavioral medicine interests when possible. Those senior members then stop by the student’s poster presentation to offer feedback and advice in person.

Q: Can I submit a “meta-synthesis” for the Annual Meeting? (a meta-synthesis is similar to a meta-analysis but provides an evidence-based integration of qualitative studies).
A: Yes, you can submit a meta-synthesis as long as the synthesis includes sufficient published data (in this case qualitative data) to warrant a meta-synthesis and as long as the work utilizes strong methodology (as supported by existing literature).

Q: Can I submit an abstract that presents the aims, design, and methods for an ongoing trial? We are still collecting data, so this would be the equivalent to a design paper in a journal.
A: You may submit methods/design relevant abstracts as part of relevant panels or symposia and as rapid communication posters but not as regular poster presentations, which require complete data at the time of submission

Q: Can I submit an abstract that explains our experiences as researchers and “lessons learned” when conducting large clinical trials (e.g., partnering with clinics and engaging hard-to-reach patients for a community-level intervention)? Although this type of abstract would not involve sharing statistical results, would it still be considered empirical research?
A: This would fit into empirical work if you gathered qualitative data on this topic area and presented the qualitative data. If you do not have qualitative data, then this would fit better into a symposium whereby you could discuss these areas in the context of others who are working in a similar domain. Lessons learned can also be submitted as rapid communication posters —but not as regular poster presentations.

Q: After submission of an abstract for presentation at the Annual Meeting, is the author prohibited from submitting a manuscript for publication (based off the presentation submission) prior to the presentation date?
A: Authors may submit their work for publication in a journal after the SBM annual meeting submission deadline has passed but before the annual meeting occurs. If you follow these rules and the paper ends up being published prior to the conference, then you do NOT need to withdraw the SBM submission.

Q: Is it allowed for a larger study to be divided into several abstract submissions (e.g., so that several graduate students from the same lab can present)?
A: SBM recognizes the importance of having graduate students present their work at the annual meeting, even if their work is part of a team-based project. However, the individual abstracts should be distinct enough to warrant publication as separate papers—that is, address unique theoretical questions (distinct enough for separate publication), use non-overlapping data, etc. If the abstracts would be combined into one manuscript for publication in a journal, then they should not be separated for submissions to the SBM annual meeting. Instead, consider having two students co-present at the same session (papers or posters, for example).

Q: Can I submit a literature review for presentation?
A: A literature review can be submitted for presentation as a paper/poster only if it includes empirical data. However, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and meta-syntheses can be considered empirical if they use literature-supported empirical methods (for determining the included articles, for synthesizing quantitative or qualitative findings in the literature, etc.) and utilize the included literature as data/evidence. Otherwise, literature reviews may fit within a relevant panel discussion or symposium.

SBM's 43rd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions features a variety of presentation formats including pre-conference courses, symposia, panel discussions, papers, research spotlights, and posters.

Pre-Conference Courses are 2 hour sessions held on Wednesday. Course design should allow attendees to acquire skills and/or expand practice or research knowledge. Content can center on scientific or educational topics of interest to a specific portion of the meeting audience and/or of an SBM council/committee/SIG. If by the Early Bird Registration an attendance of 10 or more individuals has not received the session may be cancelled. This session type is eligible for continuing education credits.

Symposia are held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the meeting. They are scheduled for 50 minutes. Presenters will examine important issues from a variety of different perspectives. Presentations and debate among participants will address alternative solutions, interpretations, or points-of-view on an identified body of knowledge within the advertised topic area or theme. A discussant will summarize/draw conclusion at the end of the session. Several abstract submissions are required for this session type: One “Overview” abstract from the chair/organizer, which will summarize the session. There should be a separate abstract for each presentation. A discussant does not need to submit an abstract, but should be listed as a co-author in the Overview abstract. This session type is eligible for continuing education credits.

Panel Discussions are 50 minute sessions, presented on Thursday or Friday, focus on specific topics with various viewpoints expressed by a panel of experts. One abstract is submitted for the entire session, by the Panel Chair/Organizer. This session type is eligible for continuing education credits.

Paper presentations are offered on Thursday and Friday during the meeting. They are clustered with three other papers around common themes and presented via oral presentations that are approximately 10 minutes in length per paper presentation. One abstract is submitted per paper presentation.

Live Research Spotlight presentations are offered on Thursday and Friday during the meeting. They are clustered with nine other live research spotlights around common themes and presented via oral presentations that are approximately 5 minutes in length per spotlight presentation. One abstract is submitted per live research spotlight presentation.

Recorded Research Spotlight spotlight presentations allow presenters to share their science in a digital format. Recorded spotlights will be pre-recorded 2-minute video presentations that will be shared on-site at the Annual Meeting in addition to being available via the meeting’s mobile app. One abstract is submitted per recorded research spotlight presentation.

Poster presentations take place Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Presentations are grouped thematically within the poster/exhibit hall. Poster Sessions allow abstract authors to discuss their research with interested colleagues for 50 minutes in an informal setting. One abstract is submitted per poster presentation.

Rapid Communication Posters offer the opportunity for presentation of late-breaking findings in the field of behavioral medicine. Rapid communication posters are scheduled during the poster sessions on the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Only one abstract needs to be submitted per proposed rapid communication poster presentation. Rapid communication poster abstract submissions are done separate from other submission types, and the call for rapids will open in the fall.