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The Ohio State University

Abstract Guidelines and Specifications

https://lsadc.org/info/meet-index.cfm

Deadlines for receipt of abstracts: Monday, 18 March 2008, 5:00 PM (EST).

All abstracts and completed Abstract Submission Forms (available on-line after March 1^st) must be submitted to the LSA Web site by the deadline. See the LSA Web site (http://www.lsadc.org) for details. Late abstracts will not be considered, whatever the reason for the delay.

The Program Committee requires that the subject matter be linguistic, that the papers not be submitted with malicious or scurrilous intent, and that the abstract be coherent and in accord with published specifications.

Each abstract will be reviewed by members of the LSA Program Committee, the Summer Meeting Planning Committee and by a panel of local organizers. Decisions will be sent out at the beginning of April.

General Requirements

1. All abstracts must be accompanied by a completed Abstract Submittal Form (available on-line after March 1^st).
2. The submitting author must be a member of the LSA and a graduate or undergraduate student. Payment for 2008 may accompany the abstract.
3. Individuals may submit at most one singly authored abstract and one co-authored abstract.
4. After an abstract has been submitted, no changes of author, affiliation, title, or wording of the abstract, other than those due to typographical errors, are permitted.
5. Handouts, if any, are not to be submitted with abstracts but should be available at the meeting for those listening to the paper.
6. Abstracts for 20-minute papers and for posters must be submitted electronically and must be accompanied by a completed Abstract Submittal Form to be eligible for review.

Abstract Format Guidelines

1. Abstracts must be submitted in PDF format. For information about PDFs, click here.
2. An abstract, including a bibliography, if needed, and examples, must be no more than 500 words. All words in examples including glosses and numbers in tables, references, and so on are counted in the 500-word limit.
3. Authors' names should only appear on the Abstract Submittal Form. Authors should not be identified in any way on the abstract.
4. A short abstract, intended for publication in the Meeting Program, will be requested from all authors of accepted papers. Specific instructions for the transmittal of this abstract will be included in the acceptance letters.

Abstract Contents
Many abstracts are rejected because they omit crucial information rather than because of errors in what they include. Authors may wish to consult the abstract models prepared by the LSA Program Committee. We strongly encourage all students to have their advisor or other faculty member read and comment on their abstract before it is submitted, especially if this is the student's first time submitting an abstract. A suggested outline for abstracts is as follows:

1. Choose a title that clearly indicates the topic of the paper and is not more than one 7-inch typed line.
2. State the problem or research question raised by prior work, with specific reference to relevant prior research.
3. State the main point or argument of the proposed presentation.
4. Regardless of the subfield, cite sufficient data, and explain why and how they support the main point or argument. When examples are in languages other than English, provide word-by-word glosses and underline the portions of the examples which are critical to the argument. Explain abbreviations at their first occurrence.
5. If your paper presents the results of experiments, but collection of results is not yet complete, then report what results you've already obtained in sufficient detail that your abstract may be evaluated. Also indicate explicitly the nature of the experimental design and the specific hypothesis tested.
6. State the relevance of your ideas to past work or to the future development of the field. Describe analyses in as much detail as possible. Avoid saying in effect "a solution to this problem will be presented". If you are taking a stand on a controversial issue, summarize the arguments that led you to your position.
7. State the contribution to linguistic research made by the analysis.
8. While citation in the text of the relevant literature is essential, a separate list of references at the end of the abstract is generally unnecessary.

Categories of Presentations
Members may submit an abstract as (1) a paper ("20-min"), (2) a poster ("poster"), or (3) a paper or a poster ("20-min OR poster"). Abstracts submitted under the third category will be considered for presentation as papers first, and if not accepted, they will be considered for presentation as posters. All submissions will be reviewed anonymously. Members are advised to follow the instructions for abstract format and content carefully.

Poster Sessions
Depending on subject and/or content, it may be more appropriate to submit an abstract to the poster session for visual presentation rather than to a 20-minute paper session. In general, the sorts of papers which are most effective as posters are those in which the major conclusions become evident from the thoughtful examination of charts and graphs, rather than those which require the audience to follow a sustained chain of verbal argumentation. Therefore, authors will want to make points in narrative form as brief as possible. The poster paper is able to "stand alone", that is, be understandable even if the author is not present, and does not require audiovisual support.

20-Minute Papers
20-minute papers will be presented in 30-minute blocks, allowing for 10 minutes of discussion.