Abstract Submitter Toolkit: Submission Site Walk-Through

Thank you for your interest in sharing an abstract for the APNA Annual Conference! To help you get going, here is a walkthrough to using the APNA Submission Site to submit your abstract.

Start at www.apna.org/CallforAbstracts. Once you have reviewed the information there, click the Submit Abstract button. This will take you to the APNA Login Page.

Click on My Dashboard (in the top navigation) to get to where you will begin your abstract submission. To start your abstract for the APNA Annual Conference, click the drop down menu and select APNA Annual Conference Call for Abstracts. Then click the blue Create button.

The first page of your abstract submission will include basic information about the abstract, including links to resources, key dates, and more. If you scroll down to the abstract fields, you will see that your contact information has automatically filled in to reflect you as the primary presenter.

Please note: If you are not the primary presenter on this abstract, please do not submit it through your account. The primary presenter will need to log in and submit the abstract.

Scroll through your contact information to confirm that it is all correct.

Enter your qualifications for presenting on your proposed topic in the box, complete the disclosure information, and type your full name. If you have off-label use or financial relationships to disclose, a box will appear where you can provide more information. Please complete it before typing your full name and clicking SAVE AS DRAFT.

Next, click the Additional Authors tab, where you will list the information for any other authors and presenters for your abstract. For example, if you have one additional author who is not coming to the conference and one copresenter, you would select 2 from the drop down. The author not coming to the conference is an Author, Not Presenting. The co-presenter is a Presenting Author. If you are presenting alone and are the only author, you would select zero.

Enter the information for your additional authors, including their disclosure, then click SAVE AS DRAFT at the bottom of the screen and progress to the next tab.

Here you will enter the information about your presentation, including title, topic, category, and target audience.

The Category selection will determine which type of abstract you are submitting. The appropriate fields for your type of abstract will appear below the presentation format section when you make your category selection. The categories are Administration, Education, Practice, and Research.

The Presentation Format section refers to how you want to present your information: as a 2 hour pre-conference session, 45 minute concurrent session, 20-minute concurrent session, or poster presentation. You will need to choose which of these formats best suits your information and give it a ranking as your First, Second, Third, or Fourth Choice. If you only want to be considered for one format (for example, poster), give that format First Choice and select N/A for the rest.

Depending on your choices, you may be asked to provide additional information. For example, if your first choice is 2-hour pre-conference, you will be asked to provide justification for the longer time slot. If you are presenting a poster, you will need to indicate if your poster is medical education/commercially supported*.

*Submission for medical education / commercially supported posters are through APNA’s exhibit and sponsorship program. Commercially supported posters will not be accepted via the abstract submission platform. Please contact ECannon@apna.org for more information on participation.

Scroll further and add information about your abstract. Enter information for each of the 6 categories for your abstract.

If you are submitting an Administration, Education, or Practice abstract, you will provide information about your abstract’s:

• Purpose
• Summary of science-based evidence / Summary of evidence guiding the practice change
• Description of practice or protocol
• Validation of Evidence / Method of Evaluation
• Relevance to PMH Nursing / Results
• Future implications

For a Research abstract, you will provide information about your abstract’s:

• Problem Statement
• Theoretical framework
• Methods and Design
• Results
• Implications for psychiatric-mental health nursing practice
• Implications for future research

You have 250 words total to address each of these areas for any type of abstract. You’ll notice as you type that the word count beneath each box will update.

Once you hit the 250 word limit for your abstract, a window will pop up letting you know that you cannot add anything else until you edit your previously written text. Remember, this word limit reflects the cumulative number of words in each section of your abstract.

Enter your presentation summary, learning outcome, and educational outline. The presentation summary is what will be listed for your session description in the printed brochure and on the website, and will be used by conference registrants in determining what sessions they will attend. Note that there are also word limits for each of these sections.

Click SAVE AS DRAFT and then Next Tab to be taken to the release section.

In the Release tab, click an option in each section, then click SAVE AS DRAFT and Next Tab.

This is the final tab before your abstract is ready to submit. Read the confirmation, click the check box, then click Submit FINAL Proposal. If you aren’t ready to submit yet, you can click save as draft.

Once you click Submit FINAL Proposal, you may be taken to any pages where you have not completed all the required information. Update the required information, then click Submit FINAL Proposal again.

If you have completed all the necessary information, you will return to the My Programs screen where a message confirming your submission will display. You will also get a confirmation email that has information about your submission in it.

Need to make a change after submitting it? Not to worry. Simply go to My Programs and click edit next to your abstract. You will be able to make any necessary changes before the deadline.

Need help or have questions? Contact us at 855-863-2762 or inform@apna.org.