Scientific Selection for World Sleep Congress

Scientific Selection for World Sleep Congress

Program Committee is a committee of World Sleep Society following the bylaws of committee formation. Each congress is made of 6 members from World Sleep Society and 3 members from the local host organization. The 6 members from World Sleep Society are selected based on recommendations from the president and approved by the Governing Council. The 3 members from the host organization are selected from the host organization’s leadership council. Each World Sleep congress has independent program committee with individuals able to serve consecutive terms as appointed.

1) Keynote:
Needs Analysis Survey: Professional staff will distribute a keynote recommendation survey to members of the following committees: Executive Committee, Governing Council, Scientific Advisory Committee, International Scientific Committee, and Local Organizing Committee. Survey content to be provided by the Program Committee with the purpose of gaining feedback and keynote speaker recommendations. The survey will be distributed at least 18 months ahead of the congress. Committee members will be given 30 days to complete the survey. Professional staff will summarize the survey results and distribute them to the Program Committee for review.

Topics and Theme: Based on survey results, the Program Committee will develop keynote topics and theme of the congress. This information will be shared with the scientific committees and Governing Council for comment and recommendations back to the Program Committee.

Speakers: Program Committee will select quality speakers that represent major advances in sleep medicine and sleep research. Geographic and gender representation will be considered; however, the primary objective is not to be geographically balanced, rather to be balanced on themes and current research breakthroughs or clinical developments. The Program Committee is responsible for making the final decision with input from the Scientific Committee and advice from the Governing Council.

2) A: Submitted Symposium: Symposium proposals will be reviewed and individually scored 1 to 10 (10 = best) by each member of the Program Committee. Proposals will be scored according to the relevance of the topic, the timeliness of the research, and the broadness of the topic’s appeal. Higher weight should be given to symposia with multi-national participation. Professional staff will calculate the weighted average score of each proposal. Program Committee will hold an in-person meeting to review rankings and develop a balanced symposium program to include each major category of sleep medicine. Submitted symposia should follow a geographic and gender balance.

B: Invited Symposium: After submitted symposiums have been scored, evaluated and determined, the Program Committee may decide to add additional symposium content based on missing content areas. The Program Committee will review the rejected symposiums looking for content topics and speakers that can be combined or send invitations for certain topics that are not already covered within the program. In this case, the original proposals will be rejected and the selected participants will be invited to present their topic as part of a newly developed symposium. The original symposium chairs will be notified of the Program Committee’s decision.

3) Abstracts: Abstracts are scored based on 1 (high) to 5 (low) scoring by the International Committee. Members of the International Committee will be assigned into review groups, of which at least 2 individuals will score each abstract. The Program Committee will review the scores and determine cutoff score of accepting abstracts for the congress.

A) Oral Presentation: The Program Committee will determine an abstract score estimated at the 50th percentile of all abstracts scored to be considered “the line” for abstracts to be considered for oral presentation. Program Committee will review above the line abstracts to fill oral sessions. Chairs of the oral presentation sessions will be selected by the Program Committee providing balance geographically and identifying key individuals to become involved in the congress.
B) Poster Presentation: Abstracts not selected for oral presentation are presented via poster. Poster presentations will be randomly assigned a day of the congress to be presented. The presenting author must be registered for the congress by the late registration deadline for the poster to be accepted. Otherwise the abstract will be withdrawn from the abstract supplement and not scheduled for poster presentation.
C) Young investigator Presentations: Young investigator applications will be reviewed by the Young Investigator committee members. Young investigators selected for oral presentation will also present the poster via poster. Application, award amounts, and review criteria are determined by the Young Investigator Committee with input from the Program Committee. Young Investigator deadline is the regular abstract deadline similarly used for oral presentation selection.

4) Courses: Course Committee, selected by the Program Committee, will develop a 2-day program comprised of full-day and half-day courses. Course Committee identifies preliminary course topics, descriptions, and learning objectives for each course to present to the Program Committee for review and approval. The Course Committee finalizes each course by selecting course co-chairs. The course co-chairs are responsible for organizing the course and finalizing the title, description, and learning objectives. Course co-chairs develop individual sessions within the course and invite speakers to participate. Course Committee will oversee and approve the academic relevance of each course with input from the Program Committee and Governing Council.

5) Industry Symposium: A 90-minute time slot is reserved on Monday to Wednesday specifically for industry symposium. No competing scientific content will be held on Monday or Tuesday. Days are allotted based on sponsorship level with priority given to Gold, Silver, and Bronze level sponsors (in that order) until the first payment due date. After this date symposia space and time will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The industry sponsor will provide the symposium agenda, speakers, description, learning objectives, and session titles to the Program Committee for approval. Priority deadline is given to industry symposium that have been submitted by the regular symposium deadline. Industry symposium are not eligible for CME through the congress CME provider.