Call for Proposals
Event Information
ACRM 102nd Annual Fall Conference #ACRM2025
Progress in Rehabilitation Research: Translation to Clinical Practice
Location: Hilton Chicago
CORE CONFERENCE: 27 – 30 OCT 2025
Plenaries, hundreds of educational symposia, papers, posters, ACRM community group meetings, receptions & ACRM EXPO
PRE-CON: 25 – 27 OCT 2025
Dozens of Instructional Courses (ICs), ACRM Development Courses (Leadership and Career) and Brain Injury rehabilitation courses
Submission Types
Scientific Posters
Posters are graphic presentations of a scientific paper. Poster submissions are welcome in ALL topic areas. All posters will be scheduled during the CORE event: 27 – 30 OCT. Learn more about posters (coming soon). There are tremendous benefits to presenting a poster at ACRM. Only posters submitted during or before WAVE 4 (31 May 2025) will be considered for awards.
Instructional Courses
Instructional courses may be proposed for a four-hour or eight-hour time block, allowing presenters the opportunity to discuss and present a topic in depth. Courses should be either instructional in nature, offering in-depth training or knowledge translation on a particular topic; or informative, providing detailed coverage of an area of research, methodology, or clinical practice. ICs are schedule during the pre-conference 25 – 27 OCT.
Symposia
Symposia sessions are 60 minutes in length and are presented by professionals with expertise in the topic. Accepted symposia will be scheduled during the CORE conference: 27 – 30 OCT.
Scientific Papers
A scientific paper is a moderated oral presentation of approximately 17 minutes including questions and discussion. Scientific papers will be scheduled to present during the CORE event: 27 – 30 OCT.
LaunchPad
NOTE: Due 19 April 2025
WAVES do not apply to LaunchPad. This deadline is final.
LaunchPad is an annual competition created to highlight innovative rehabilitation technologies developed by non-profit research and engineering labs and startup companies. The competition is held on day #1 of the CORE event; this year will be 27 OCT 2025. Pitch your company or idea to a panel of rehab industry experts and an audience of clinicians, researchers, engineers, and decision-makers to receive market feedback and win prizes. Each accepted entry gets massive exposure. To learn more, please see ACRM.org/launchpad
More details about submitting proposal
If you have questions about submitting content to ACRM please email Speakers@ACRM.org
* * * ACRM Call for Proposals * * *
DEADLINES
ACRM will accept submissions in waves for 2024 to provide clarity and visibility to the deadlines. Authors will have three WAVES or deadlines in which to submit their abstract. At the conclusion of each WAVE, all complete abstract submissions will be evaluated, and authors will be notified whether their submission has been accepted.
WAVE 1
30 January 2025
Accepting all submission types
EARLY SUBMISSIONS are highly encouraged
BENEFITS of submitting early in WAVES 1 and 2:
- INCREASED ODDS of BEING ACCEPTED in your TOPIC — Submissions in WAVES 1 and 2 have a higher chance of having slots available in your chosen primary content area should your submission be accepted.
- GET FEEDBACK — Should your abstract not be accepted, you will receive valuable constructive feedback from reviewers; and then you will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit before the next WAVE deadline.
- MORE EXPOSURE — Earlier acceptance allows more time for you and ACRM to promote your session, build your audience and even to partner together and elevate your professional brand in the process.
- SAVE MONEY — Early acceptance allows you to register at the best discounted conference registration rates and there’s also better chances of hotel rooms available at the lowest possible hotel prices — the ACRM-negotiated headquarters hotel the beautiful: Hilton Chicago
Don't forget to submit
Presentation Types
Scientific Papers & Posters
WAVE 1 DEADLINE: 30 January 2025
Scientific Posters are graphic presentations of a scientific paper. Submissions must include objectives, hypotheses, methodology, and results in the abstract (see Submission Guidelines below). Submissions with pending results are not accepted.
A scientific paper is a moderated oral presentation of approximately 17 minutes including questions and discussion. Outstanding submissions may be chosen for a longer presentation. AV equipment may be used to supplement the presentation.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
A 400-word abstract must follow one of the two structured abstract formats required for submission of general articles to the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. See the Instructions for Structured Abstracts.
Structured abstracts for Scientific Poster and Papers must have these sections:
- Research Objective(s)
- Design
- Setting
- Participants (animals or cadavers or specimens, for orthotics only)
- Interventions
- Main Outcome Measure(s)
- Results
- Conclusions
- Author(s) Disclosures
Systematic/Meta-analytic Reviews must have these sections:
- Research Objective(s)
- Data Sources
- Study Selection
- Data Extraction
- Data Synthesis
- Conclusions
- Author(s) Disclosures
The total length of all sections in the submission must not exceed 400 words. Tables or other graphics are not permitted. Submission must include three to five continuing education learning objectives. This is required whether the abstract is eventually selected for CE/CME or not.
Submission must indicate all participants in the abstract, listing the lead investigator first, followed by all other participants in the order in which they should appear in print. The submitter has the ability to complete all information for each participant, though we recommend that participants log in to the system to complete the information themselves.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Each complete submission received by the published due date will be independently peer-reviewed. There should be no more than ONE presenter identified for Scientific Poster and Papers. Poster and paper presenters must register for the conference by the date stated in their acceptance letter.
Each abstract will be reviewed for the following elements:
1. Scientific and clinical quality
2. Broad appeal to the interests of the ACRM membership
3. Interdisciplinary nature
4. Timeliness of the topic
5. Contribution to the state-of-the-art of rehabilitation science.
ABSTRACT PUBLICATION & POSTER AWARDS
All abstracts of accepted papers and posters will be published in the online pages of the ACRM journal, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, (the “ARCHIVES”) following the conference, where they will be fully searchable and citable. The ARCHIVES is the most-cited journal in rehabilitation.
Accepted posters will have the opportunity to be considered for the ACRM Poster Awards. Further, a subset of the poster award winners will have the opportunity to present their poster in a Poster Spotlight session. *Late-Breaking posters are not eligible for ACRM poster awards.*
See list of poster awards and 2024 award recipients for more details >> (Coming soon)
Pre-Conference Instructional Courses (IC)
WAVE 1 DEADLINE: 30 January 2025
Instructional courses may be proposed for a four-hour or eight-hour time block, allowing presenters the opportunity to discuss and present a topic in depth. Courses should be either instructional in nature, offering in-depth training or knowledge translation on a particular topic; or informative, providing detailed coverage of an area of research, methodology, or clinical practice. Courses will be scheduled as pre-conference sessions on 25 – 27 October 2025 depending upon the length and level of interest in the topic. Instructional courses typically average about 18 attendees each, providing the opportunity for small-group interaction and hands-on activities.
The proposal should include a course title, course director/lead presenter, all presenters with credentials and affiliations, detailed course outline, and duration. The submission must describe the instructional method to be used, and the content and format of presentations. It should also identify the intended audience (i.e., researchers, clinicians, administrators). A concise and descriptive summary of the course is also required for marketing purposes.
There must be multiple presenters identified. All presenters must furnish necessary disclosure information concerning potential conflicts of interest and must agree to have the course audio or video-recorded for future re-broadcast. Presenters will not be paid a stipend or honorarium. All presentations must be submitted for review prior to the conference.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Each complete submission received by the published due date will be independently peer-reviewed. Each proposal is peer-reviewed for the following elements: (1) scientific, clinical, or didactic quality; (2) interdisciplinary nature; (3) broad appeal to the ACRM membership; (4) timeliness of the topic; (5) and contribution to the state-of-the-art of rehabilitation science. The conference Program Committee reserves the right to offer alternative or reduced time slots for presentations based on submissions. Acceptance/decline notifications are due to Instructional Course submitters by the end of April.
Symposia
WAVE 1 DEADLINE: 30 January 2025
Symposia Sessions are 60 minutes in length, and are presented by professionals with expertise in the topic
There is a mandatory period of 10 minutes for questions and discussion, and more time may be allotted. Symposia will be scheduled for presentation 27 – 30 October. Desired symposia submissions:
- All symposia should have a minimum of two presenters.
- Show how current research can effectively guide clinical practice.
- Identify clinical questions where additional research data are needed.
- State a direct relationship between the subject matter and evidence-based practice.
- The following components are encouraged: interdisciplinary content, presenters from multiple institutions, international presenters, and a point/counterpoint format, as appropriate, for the discussion period.
There must be more than one presenter identified. All presenters must furnish necessary disclosure information concerning potential conflicts of interest and must agree to have the course audio or video-recorded for future re-broadcast. Presenters will not be paid a stipend or honorarium. All presentations must be submitted for review prior to the conference.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Each complete submission received by the published due date will be independently peer-reviewed. Each proposal is peer-reviewed for the following elements:
1. Scientific, clinical, or didactic quality
2. Interdisciplinary nature
3. Broad appeal to the ACRM membership
4. Timeliness of the topic
5. Contribution to the state-of-the-art of rehabilitation science
The conference Program Committee reserves the right to offer an alternative or reduced time slot for presentations based on submissions.
All this is done in the ACRM Searchable Online Program & the ACRM App
- Attendees can dive into your poster from ANYWHERE in the world with an internet connection (even the International Space Station)
- Attendees can find YOUR poster more easily — searchable by keywords, focus area/track
- Attendees can dive into your poster details with zoom in/out feature
- Your poster can be Bookmarked as a FAVORITE — that loads into a “My Gallery” section
- Attendees can Take Notes on your poster
- Bring your digital poster to LIFE with your voice
- Poster presenters are strongly encouraged to easily record up to a 30-minute narration to accompany your poster
- Receive a unique QR code for your poster. Include this QR code on your in-person poster so attendees can zip directly to your e-poster
- Include handouts with your e-poster — so attendees can deep-dive into your support documents
- Attendees can easily message you and connect — find future collaborators, get noticed
All this is done in the ACRM Searchable Online Program & the ACRM App
- You can access the latest greatest rehabilitation scientific posters from ANYWHERE in the world with an internet connection (even the International Space Station)
- Search through and discover hundreds of posters by author, keywords, focus area/track, title
- Scroll through e-posters using handy arrow features
- Easily zoom in/out on posters
- Bookmark faves (bookmarked posters that go into a “My Gallery”)
- Take notes on posters
- Hear audio — the presenter’s narration (when they decide to do so)
- See handouts — when presenters may include along with their poster
LaunchPad
DEADLINE: NOTE: Due 19 April 2025. WAVES do not apply for LaunchPad. This deadline is final.
LaunchPad is an annual competition created to highlight innovative rehabilitation technologies developed by non-profit research and engineering labs and startup companies. The competition is held on the first day of the ACRM Annual Fall Conference. Pitch your company or idea to a panel of rehab industry experts and an audience of clinicians, researchers, engineers, and decision-makers to receive market feedback and win prizes. Learn more >> (Coming soon)
- Submissions include an Executive Summary.
- The template for the Executive Summary can be found here or on the ACRM LaunchPad webpage ACRM.org/launchpad.