Abstract Guidelines and Submission

The deadline for abstract submission has been extended to September 19, 2014.
An abstract is required for everyone presenting a paper or poster at the conference and must be submitted using the online submission tool available at the conference website.
Abstracts can be submitted before the presenter has registered for the conference, but a student or non-student registration for at least one contributor to the presented work is required for the abstract to be accepted.
Abstracts must describe the presentation's purpose, methods, and conclusions.
By submitting an abstract, you are granting the conference organizers permission to publish it in the abstract compilation and to disseminate it electronically.
Keep in mind that your abstract will not be edited. You are responsible for any spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors.
All abstracts must be submitted in a file format compatible with Microsoft Word.
Use the initial of your first name, an underscore, then your last name as the name of your abstract file (e.g., d_jones.doc).

An abstract template in Microsoft Word 97-2003 format is available for download and should be used in the preparation of your own abstract.

The abstract header should include the word NON-STUDENT, GRADUATE, or UNDERGRADUATE in all caps to denote your status followed by the word PAPER or POSTER to indicate your preferred session type.
Provide a brief but descriptive presentation title in sentence case.
Include the names and affiliations of all authors following the title.
The main body of the abstract cannot exceed 250 words.
Use Times New Roman 12 point font with 1 inch margins on all sides.
Avoid use of abbreviations where possible.
Avoid use of underlining and boldface type, but italics, subscripts, and superscripts are permitted.
Do not use bulleted lists.
Be sure to include keywords (see Selecting Keywords below)

Keywords may be compound (such as "political geography").
Do not use abbreviations.
Under no circumstance can you use a comma within a keyword.
In creating your keywords, try to think of how someone might want to search for your topic in the abstract volume. If your presentation is about color cartography, an appropriate keyword might be "cartography-color."
Make certain your geography is not too specific. For example, suppose your paper is about southwestern Kentucky. A user of the abstract volume interested in Kentucky is going to search under the letter "K" instead of "S." Therefore, use either "Kentucky" or "Kentucky-southwest" as a keyword.
In referring to a systematic sub field, do use the word "geography." Use "economic geography" as the keyword and not "economic."
If you have a choice between the plural and the singular form, use the plural. If your keyword could be "race" or "races," use "races."
SAMPLE KEYWORDS: cartography, atlases, United States

From the conference website, click on the Abstract Guidelines and Submission link on the main menu.
Read and understand the abstract format requirements then click on the Submit Abstract link in the main menu.
Prepare your abstract using the abstract template. Use the initial of your first name, an underscore, then your last name as the name of your abstract file (e.g., d_jones.doc).
Drag your properly formatted and named file from your computer to the dbinbox/swgprm2014 window to upload your abstract. Note that you will not receive automatic confirmation that your abstract was received.
Check the Abstracts Received page one day after submission to confirm receipt of your abstract and its correct classification (e.g., student, non-student, paper, poster).

Kansas State University