JSM 2013: Call for Contributed Abstracts
Bhramar Mukherjee, JSM 2013 Program Chair
Mukherjee
The 2013 Joint Statistical Meetings will take place at the Palaise des congrès de Montréal in Québec, Canada, from August 3–8. The theme for JSM 2013 is “Celebrating the International Year of Statistics,” which emphasizes the unique opportunity presented by the JSM program to highlight the power and impact of statistics on all aspects of science and society globally.
Members of the program committee have put together an outstanding invited program consisting of 183 sessions. You will be sure to find many fun and interesting activities at JSM, no matter what your interests are or whether your home is in industry, government, or academia. If you are interested in Big Data, the JSM program will have many sessions around that theme, including an introductory overview lecture. I encourage the worldwide statistics community to participate fully in the meeting, not only by attending talks, visiting poster presentations, and joining Continuing Education courses and mixers, but also by presenting their own work.
Bhramar Mukherjee and Marie Davidian
A recurrent concern for many JSM attendees has been the seemingly unbounded size of the meeting. Having to choose among 46 parallel sessions and navigate the inevitable conflicts that arise has been a source of frustration for many. Therefore, a pilot study of contributed sessions with a different format will be conducted during JSM 2013.
In Montréal, we will test “SPEED sessions.” Five large ASA sections (Biometrics, Statistics in Epidemiology, Statistical Learning and Data Mining, Biopharmaceutical Statistics, and Survey Methodology) will collaborate on this pilot venture. A SPEED session will consist of 20 oral presentations of approximately five minutes, with a 10-minute break after the first set of 10 talks. These short oral presentations will be followed by a poster session later on the same day. The following incentives will be offered to the presenters who agree to participate in the pilot SPEED sessions:
Electronic poster boards will be provided to SPEED presenters, so there will be no additional costs or hassle associated with printing or transporting your poster
Refreshments will be provided at the poster sessions corresponding to the SPEED sessions
A certificate of appreciation and a special badge will be given to SPEED presenters
We also plan to recruit distinguished members to chair the SPEED sessions.
When you submit your contributed paper abstract to any of the five ASA sections above, you will see an option asking whether you are willing to participate in a SPEED session. Choose one of the five ASA sections (i.e., Biometrics, Statistics in Epidemiology, Statistical Learning and Data Mining, Biopharmaceutical Statistics, or Survey Methodology) and “SPEED” from the list of track options. You will have approximately five minutes of oral presentation time and time during the electronic poster session later the same day to discuss your ideas further.
We will conduct a detailed presenter and attendee survey to learn from this pilot study. Please consider this option when you submit your contributed abstract. Together, we can make the JSM program better!
The next stage of preparation for JSM involves building the contributed program. Online submission will continue until February 4, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. EST. One particularly delightful aspect of statistics is the egalitarian nature of the field, reflected at JSM in the right of every participant to present their work. There are many ways to convey your effort, ranging from the traditional talk to presenting a poster.
Poster Sessions
Presenting a poster is a terrific way to participate in the meeting, and I encourage you to consider this format. A poster affords you and your audience the chance to have a conversation about the work, making for a more personal experience. In Montréal, the posters will be located near the exhibits, so there should be a lot of walk-by traffic in addition to those stopping by just to see your poster.
Topic-Contributed Sessions
I encourage you to consider organizing or presenting in a topic-contributed paper session. Such a session is organized around a common theme and includes five participants. The session can include five papers, four papers with a discussant, or three papers with two discussants. Topic-contributed sessions have the following advantages over (regular) contributed sessions:
- They provide a more cohesive set of papers with a common theme
- They are limited to five participants, rather than seven
- They allow more time for each speaker to present, up to 20 minutes each
- They are labeled as topic-contributed in the program, providing more visibility and attracting larger audiences
Topic-contributed sessions require more work up front, because the organizer has to select a theme, invite speakers, and secure commitments prior to February 4, 2013. However, this up-front work is worth the effort, because it typically results in a high-quality session that is informative and enjoyable for presenters and attendees alike. If you have an idea for a topic-contributed session, contact a member of the program committee to discuss it.
Contributed Sessions
An alternative to topic-contributed sessions are contributed sessions. These do not involve the up-front planning that characterizes topic-contributed sessions. To present a contributed paper, you simply have to submit a title and abstract, along with an indication of which ASA section is most closely associated with the topic of your paper. These sessions consist of seven papers, each presented in 15 minutes.
Abstract Submission
The online abstract submission system will close on February 4, 2013. The closing deadline is firm, so please submit your abstract early. The system will reopen for abstract editing from April 1–18, 2013.
To provide the best and most cohesive program possible, speakers must register for JSM when they submit an abstract. This registration policy was reinstituted last year and remains in place for 2013.
Session Chairs
All JSM sessions need a chair to ensure speakers are well informed about the session ahead of time and to manage the session by introducing speakers, holding them to their time limits, and taking questions from the audience. Chairing a session is a great way to get involved with JSM, especially for those who are new to the profession and JSM. Please consider volunteering to chair a session by contacting a member of the program committee.
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