Call for abstracts for Kentucky Conference on Health Communication

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 6, 2023) — The 18^th biennial Kentucky Conference on Health Communication invites competitive paper and poster abstracts and panel proposals to be submitted for its 2024 conference in Lexington. The theme for the conference is “Innovations in Health Communication.” Although this call seeks original contributions in all areas related to health communication, special consideration will be given to those that address issues related to the conference theme.

Competitive Papers/Posters: Competitive papers or posters should be submitted in abstract form with up to 500 words of text.

Have the following information ready to submit through the online submission system:

1. author names, degrees, affiliations and email addresses;
2. whether the author is presenting, corresponding and/or a student or early career scholar;
3. author phone numbers and email addresses;
4. paper/poster title of no more than 130 characters, including spaces;
5. abstract of up to 500 words of text;
6. references (optional; not counted toward word limit; if you include references, cite only those that you cite in the abstract);
7. acknowledgements (optional; not counted toward word limit); and
8. whether you wish your abstract to be considered as a paper only, a poster only or either a paper or poster.

The submission system also will ask you to provide up to five keywords for research topic and up to two keywords for method(s); we provide a list from which you can select keywords, or you may provide your own. Abstracts will be submitted to blind peer review. Deadline for abstract submission is 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Friday, Dec. 1, 2023; programming decisions will be sent by Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024.

In fairness to the competitive submission process, submit your abstract for consideration only if you anticipate being able to register for and attend the conference to present your work (or arrange to have someone else present your work in the event that an emergency prevents your attendance).

Panels: Panel proposals should be submitted in abstract form with up to 250 words of text.

Have the following information ready to submit through the online submission system:

1. panel participant names, degrees, affiliations, email addresses and role (chair, participant, respondent);
2. if applicable, whether the panelist is a student or early career scholar;
3. panel chair phone and email;
4. panel title of no more than 130 characters, including spaces;
5. abstract of up to 250 words of text; and
6. additional descriptive information if absolutely necessary (optional; not counted toward word limit).

Deadline for panel submission is 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Friday, Dec. 1, 2023; programming decisions will be sent by Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024.

In fairness to the competitive submission process, submit your panel proposal for consideration only if you and your panelists anticipate being able to attend the conference and present your work.

Abstracts should be submitted online here. The submission system opened Oct. 1, 2023. Deadline for submission of paper/poster abstracts and panel proposals is 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. For tips on how to write abstracts, click here. Notification of acceptance will be sent electronically by Jan. 17, 2024.

Paper Awards:

• Top Conference Paper: All authors whose abstracts have been accepted for paper presentation may submit complete papers to be considered for the Top Conference Paper Award.

Students and early career scholars may identify their papers for category-specific awards:

• Top Student Paper: Students should be at the master’s or doctoral level. Student papers may have multiple authors, but all authors must be students (i.e., no faculty co-authors). Top Student Paper submissions automatically will be considered for the Top Conference Paper Award.
• Top Early Career Scholar/Scholar-led Paper: Early career scholars should be post-doctoral fellows/scholars or researchers who have received their Ph.D. within the last five years. Early career scholar papers may be single authored or have co-authors, as long as the first author is an early career scholar. Top Early Career Scholar/Scholar-led Paper submissions automatically will be considered for the Top Conference Paper Award.

Papers should follow APA seventh edition format and be between 10 and 20 pages of text (exclusive of title page, abstract, references and tables/figures). As applicable, indicate “Student Paper” or “Early Career Scholar Paper” clearly on the title page of the paper. Your title page should include complete author information, per APA; KCHC staff will remove the title page before sending papers for blind review. The authors of top papers will be recognized in the program and will receive a plaque. To be considered for an award, submit completed papers to kchc@lsv.uky.edu by 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Friday, Feb. 16, 2024.

Top Poster Awards: Abstracts that are accepted as poster presentations are eligible to receive top poster awards. Evaluation criteria include quality of scholarship, clarity of presentation and visual appeal. To be considered for an award, submit the poster in PDF form to kchc@lsv.uky.edu by 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Friday, March 22, 2024. Do not include author names or affiliations on your submission to allow for blind review. (Do include this information on the version you present at the conference, of course.)

For complete conference information, visit comm.uky.edu/kchc.