Call for abstract submissions – 2024

Don’t miss your opportunity to showcase your work to psychiatrists, trainees and other mental health professionals from across Canada!

Submit your abstract by Feb. 29, 2024 for a course, general session, research paper, or a poster presentation at the Canadian Psychiatric Association’s 74th Annual Conference that will take place in Montreal from Nov. 6 – 9, 2024.

We want to hear about the cutting-edge science, as well as the latest advances in clinical psychiatry, patient experience and policy that are making a difference. While submissions relating to all areas of psychiatry are welcomed, this year, we are encouraging abstracts focused on the following topics:

  • Physician health and burnout
  • Emerging therapies
  • Innovation and artificial intelligence in mental health
  • Indigenous mental health

Abstracts are accepted in English or in French, and submissions by and for trainees are strongly encouraged. CPA also encourages abstracts that present a diverse faculty including but not limited to, representation and balance for gender, race, ethnicity, Indigeneity, cultural background, language, sexual orientation, age, disability and geography, as well as relevant lived experience.

Abstracts will be accepted via our online submission form until midnight Pacific Time on Feb. 29, 2024. Please review the submission guidelines and selection process and criteria below.

For questions, please contact the conference team and select annual conference.


Submission Guidelines
  • The 2024 conference will be an in-person event and CPA therefore expects all speakers to present in-person.
  • Each submission should contain a title, two literature references, three learning objectives, and an abstract of up to 250 words. Learning objectives should clearly articulate what participants will be able to do differently after attending the session in terms of knowledge, skills, or attitudes. For guidance, consult the article on writing learning objectives.
  • Course and general session submissions will also require three multiple-choice questions, each with four possible responses and two references and a rationale justifying the correct response. Please consult the resources and tips for constructing multiple-choice questions.
  • All speakers, moderators and (co)authors are required to disclose any off-label medication uses as well as any commercial or financial conflicts of interest within the last 24 months. If your abstract is accepted, your disclosure information will be made available to the program subcommittee and conference participants.
  • Financial support received for a submission must be disclosed and such submissions may be subject to additional levels of review.
  • Abstracts are submitted via the online submission form at https://ww1.cpa-apc.org/abstracts/abstractlogin.asp. CPA is unable to accept submission by any other method.
  • It is assumed that the presentation will be conducted in the language used for the abstract submission (abstracts will not be translated).
  • CPA endeavours to accommodate reasonable requests for audiovisual equipment. Equipment not specified at the time of submission cannot be guaranteed. Laptop computers are not provided for use with an LCD projector.
  • If your abstract is accepted, all presenters must agree to register for the conference and pay the appropriate registration fee. The CPA does not provide speaking fees or honoraria to Annual Conference presenters.
How to Submit an Abstract
  • Visit https://ww1.cpa-apc.org/abstracts to access the online submission procedure. We recommend that you have all the required elements of your abstract ready for entry (e.g., in a single Word document). The online system includes required fields and will not allow you to continue unless the information has been entered.
  • After submission, a confirmation email with a password will be sent to the senior author. This password is required for online edits until Feb. 29, 2024.
  • The online system ensures all required fields are completed before submission.
Abstract Review Process

All abstracts submitted to the conference undergo blind peer review. The program subcommittee comprises over 30 dedicated peer reviewers who generously volunteer their time and specialized expertise within the psychiatric field, as well as in general psychiatry. Reviewers have access to presentation type, title, abstract text, learning objectives and literature references. To maintain fairness and impartiality, any author-related information or sponsorship details are removed during the review process.

Reviewers read and evaluate each submission, provide grades, suggest presentation types, and offer comments as necessary. Abstracts accepted for the conference must achieve a minimum grade of 80 per cent, calculated as the average of reviewers’ grades.

Factors Influencing Ratings:
Higher ratings are attributed to abstracts featuring novel data, innovative theoretical or treatment approaches, comprehensive descriptions of data or programs, diverse perspectives, as well as clear, coherent and specific content.

Conversely, lower ratings may be associated with submissions containing dated information, data that is not yet available, reports limited to a single centre or study, or an unclear discussion of the topic’s significance.

Ensuring Quality and Innovation:
Our aim is to curate a conference program that showcases cutting-edge research, innovative approaches, and a diverse range of insights within the psychiatric domain.

Decision Timeline

You’ll receive notification of acceptance or rejection by spring 2024. Upon acceptance, it is the senior author’s responsibility to inform co-authors about the status of the submission. If you choose to withdraw your submission at any stage, please promptly notify the program chairs .

If your abstract is not accepted in the format of the original submission, we may offer an alternative presentation type that aligns with the content.

Presentation Types

Course
Courses are accepted for a two-hour period and review concepts in a special subject area or present advanced material on a circumscribed topic. They emphasize learning experiences that actively involve participants and include the opportunity for formal exchange with faculty and other participants. Audience size will be limited as determined by the course director in conjunction with the CPA.

Courses are highly competitive and strongly attended. A maximum of 10 courses will be accepted, which allows for an approximate 35 per cent acceptance rate.

General Session
General sessions are accepted for a one-hour period and focus on specific scientific or clinically relevant topics or themes in psychiatry and present several points of view. They may consist of multiple presenters, ideally from more than one location. Sessions must be interactive, lively and informative with a significant opportunity (at least 25 per cent of the total time) for audience participation.

Paper
Abstracts involving research must include the following: a concise introduction providing background information and a clear statement of the rationale and purpose of the study; a methodological description; and a summary of the results, conclusions and a brief discussion.

Abstracts for other types of presentations including multimedia, reviews, program descriptions, new theoretical constructs, or treatment approaches must provide a brief background of the topic and a clear statement of purpose followed by a synopsis of the main text and relevant concluding remarks.

Each paper within a paper session will be allotted 15 minutes; 10 minutes for presentation and five minutes for question and answer. Paper sessions will run 60 minutes and will consist of a maximum of four individual papers. A moderator will be named for each session who will be responsible for time tracking.

Poster
Posters are accepted in two categories: 1) research poster and 2) early investigator poster. A research poster can be submitted by anyone. The early investigator poster category is geared towards medical students, students in other health care programs, psychiatry residents and early career psychiatrists (i.e., first five years of practice following certification in psychiatry), one of whom must be the presenter.

Posters will be displayed in-person only on poster boards. A facilitator/judge will take a group of attendees through all the posters on display. Each poster presenter will have approximately two minutes to present, followed by one minute of questions from the group.

Abstracts involving research must include the following: a concise introduction providing background information and a clear statement of the rationale and purpose of the study; a methodological description; and a summary of the results, conclusions and a brief discussion.

Abstracts for other types of presentations including multimedia, reviews, program descriptions, new theoretical constructs, or treatment approaches must provide a brief background of the topic and a clear statement of purpose followed by a synopsis of the main text and relevant concluding remarks.