In this section you will find detailed instructions on preparing and formatting your written proposal. Please review the contents of this section carefully. Submissions that do not follow the rules for submission, including word count, will be rejected and cannot be resubmitted after the deadline. Proposal documents should be prepared according to instructions provided in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition, with the exception of the title page and abstract formatting, which should follow SIOP’s rules detailed below.
Summary of Proposal Document Elements for Each Submission Type
POSTER
SYMPOSIUM
DEBATE
PANEL
ALTERNATIVE SESSION
MASTER TUTORIAL
IGNITE!
Title
85 Characters
Shortened Title
N/A
50 Characters
Abstract
600 Characters
Social Media Statement
200 Characters
(Optional)
APA Formatted Citation
Yes, formatted to these guidelines.
Links to Social Media Accounts
Yes, requested for all contributors (both speakers and non-speaking contributors), especially for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram
Word Limits
3,000*
750 for summary; 1,000 for each component paper*
Minimum of 900; Maximum of 3,000*
Time Requested
50 Minutes
50 or 80 Minutes
50 Minutes
Prepared for Blind Review
Yes
No
*Titles, abstracts, references, tables, and figures do not count toward word limits, but appendices do count.
Basic Formatting Guidelines
All submissions, regardless of type or content, should have the same formatting:
- 1-inch margins, 12-point Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman. Symbols are permitted for special characters.
- Submitted as a single Word document (.doc or .docx) even if multiple papers are included.
- Does not use special fonts even within tables or diagrams, which may not appear the same on peer reviewers’ computers as they do on submitter’s.
- Proposals should be formatted in APA Style, with the exception of the title page and abstract.
What to Include on the Title Page
All submission documents should begin with a title page that includes the submission type, title, shortened title, abstract, and word count. All submission documents other than posters will also include an APA-style citation. Please review the title page template for your session type (see links below) for information and recommendations for each required element. Some of the information overlaps with requirements in the online submission process; however, please also include this information on the title page of the submission document.
What to Include in the Body of the Proposal Document
To start your submission, first select a content area. Choose a content area for your proposal using the new list of 14 content areas shown below. Example subtopics are listed under each content area for your reference.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
(e.g., disabilities, gender, international/cross-cultural, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, Intersectionality)
Global/International/
Cross-Cultural Issues
Groups/Teams
I-O Psychologist Career Development/Teaching
(e.g., professional development, student affiliate topics, teaching I-O psychology)
Job Performance/Withdrawal/Misbehavior
(e.g., task engagement and performance, organizational citizenship behavior, counterproductive work behavior, employee withdrawal [e.g., absence, turnover], feedback, performance appraisal, performance management, retention, workplace deviance)
Leadership/Leader Development
Legal/Ethical/Current Events/Humanitarian/Pro-social
Motivation, Attitudes, and Emotions
(e.g., compensation, emotions [e.g., emotional labor, emotion regulation], engagement, job attitudes, organizational justice, rewards)
Occupational Health/Work and Family
(e.g., aging, leisure, non-work life, safety, stress & strain and well-being)
Organizational Processes/Development/Culture
(e.g., organizational performance, corporate social responsibility, downsizing, expansion, succession planning, workforce planning, innovation, job design, organizational change, organizational climate, organizational culture, organizational design, strategic human resources, changing role of human resources)
Research Methods/Measurement/Statistics
(e.g., psychometrics, advanced statistical models and methods [e.g., growth curve modeling], surveys, talent analytics)
Selection/Assessment/Individual Differences
(e.g., applicant reactions, assessment, competency modeling, creativity, job analysis, personality, recruitment, selection methods, selection system design, staffing, testing, validation, judgment/decision making)
Technology/Artificial Intelligence
(e.g., gamification, generative artificial intelligence, human factors, large language models, machine learning, simulation, social media)
Training/Coaching/Mentoring
(e.g., careers, onboarding, retirement, socialization, coaching, training design and evaluation, mentoring)
The full text of proposals varies based on submission type. Please be sure that your submission follows the guidelines based on its submission type described below.
Please provide a description of the topic to be debated, the participant composition and format of the debate, the major points likely to be argued by each side or the questions that will be posed to them, and the debaters’ expertise related to the focal topic.
Please provide a brief overview of the focal topic and a short summary of each presentation, including biographical information for each presenter. If there are fewer presenters to allow for a facilitated audience discussion, submissions should include guiding questions for the discussion portion.
Please describe the specific content to be taught in the tutorial and indicate whether the coverage of the material will be basic or advanced. Note that unlike posters or symposiums, master tutorials should be instructive in their approach. The tutorial should seek to leave attendees with a new skill or knowledge set and should directly engage the audience through instruction, activities, or other forms of participation.
Please describe the structure or format of the session, the underlying issues or themes to be discussed, and some key questions that will either be addressed primarily by the panel or will be supplemented with additional questions generated by the audience.
Proposals should consist of a complete paper prepared for blind review. Omit names that could identify the author(s), and please remove author(s) from the file properties (e.g., in Word files, go to Info in the File menu, click on the Check for Issues button, select Inspect Document, and delete any personal identifiers). Papers submitted for poster presentation must represent completed work.
A symposium is a multipresenter session including a well-integrated set of research, practice, theory, or teaching-oriented papers. In addition to the multiple presentations, a discussant who has expertise in the topic area often offers reflections on the presentations. Participants in a symposium include a chair, discussant, and three to five presenters (five only if no discussant is included). Please note that discussants cannot be an author on any of the papers in the symposium.
ALTERNATIVE SESSION
Please include a general introduction of the purpose/theme of the symposium, followed by summaries of each component paper detailing the presentation’s contribution, including a description of the data and analyses where appropriate (with accompanying references, tables, and figures, as needed). If a discussant is included, a summary of the discussant’s comments is not needed at the time of submission.
Please describe the focal topic or theme, the distinguishing and novel attributes of the new format and how they will benefit the audience, and provide a specific rationale for why and how the topic/theme is well aligned with this session type. Please clearly indicate in your description specifically what qualifies your submission as an alternative session.
In preparing your alternative session submission, you can either submit a session in which authors are not placed into groups (e.g., groups of authors working on separate papers) (example alternative session type without multiple papers) or one in which multiple papers are presented and authors are placed into groups —similar to a symposium (example alternative session type with multiple papers). For the latter, you must list each paper’s title and authors (in correct order of authorship) in the submission system. The papers should be listed in the order that the papers will be presented. (Find detailed guidance on when this is needed and the required format for providing the information.)
