Wondering what information you should include in your call? Here’s our checklist of the key pieces of information every call should have. Continue reading What to Include in Every Call
Category: Pro Tips
Word’s Hidden Costs
You should never distribute your call as a Word file for people to fill out and send back to you. It might seem like a fast, easy solution—especially for smaller calls—but it will end up costing you more than you think.
Here are just some of the challenges you face using Word:
Continue reading Word’s Hidden Costs
First Impressions
How many times have you heard someone say (or have said yourself): “This food is terrible. Try it.”?
Well, that’s the impression we got when we came across a recent call for abstracts that included 25 pages of instructions explaining how to use their online submission system.
4 Tips for Getting Announcement Emails Noticed
The most important part of any email is the subject line. Think of it as the “packaging” for your message. Not only should it summarize the contents, it must also pique the recipient’s interest enough to make him want to open the message to find out more.
So why do so many conferences send out call notices with uninteresting subject lines like “Annual Meeting Call for Speakers Now Open” or “Call for Speakers – Annual Meeting”? Are call announcements an exception to the rule? Of course not. Continue reading 4 Tips for Getting Announcement Emails Noticed
How Not to Write a Call for Papers
Dr. Jody Byrne has received quite a few calls for papers over the years. One he received recently, however, really caught his attention… for all the wrong reasons.
Tweet Archive
Note: As of 7/26/15, it appears TweetNotes is no longer online. If you wish to share other applications to assist with organizing, engaging, or managing Twitter, feel free to comment below!
For anyone who wants to capture and archive tweets from a conference, you might want to check out TweetNotes.
Standardized Guidelines
We recently came across an article by Dr. Stuart J. Salasche in the June, 1997 issue of Dermatologic Surgery in which he suggested eight steps reviewers should take when reviewing journal manuscripts. We’ve modified them slightly to come up with what we think are valuable guidelines that should be at the core of any review process:
Continue reading Standardized Guidelines
The Reviewer’s Golden Rule
Here at ProposalSpace we not only want to make peer review easier, we also want to provide a venue where best practices for peer review can be developed and promoted. As a first step, we want to pass along Dr. Stanley S. Siegelman’s “Golden Rule” for reviewers from the February 1988 issue of Radiology:
Most reviewers are also active authors. Referee the manuscript as you would like to have your own papers treated. Be thoughtful and helpful. Offer fair, thorough, and constructive criticism. The reviewer’s tone should be friendly and supportive, never harsh or adversarial. Avoid derogatory, potentially offensive, or demeaning comments. We don’t want to dampen the enthusiasm of budding young academicians. Test your critique for fairness and objectivity by asking yourself if you would be willing to sign it and send it to the author.
Reviewers in ProposalSpace are not only able to score proposals, they can also attach comments to them. The call administrator determines whether those comments are restricted (made available only to review chairs and administrators) or revealed to the proposal’s authors. Regardless of how comments are handled, Dr. Siegelman’s advice provides valuable guidance for making the most of every reviewer’s effort.
Virtual Conference Tug-of-War
For years now we’ve been told that virtual conferences are destined to replace traditional, face-to-face meetings. “Experts” (who usually work for companies that produce virtual conferences) keep insisting that people are clamoring for the chance to “attend” conferences without all the hassles of travel, pandemics, bedbugs, whatever. But despite the inconveniences, people have continued to flock to conferences, giving organizers little reason to make the switch. Until now.