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I'm trying to submit an abstract, but I can't find the website.
Authors can submit their abstract by logging into MAPS with their ACS ID and password.
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Where can I find abstract submission deadlines?
Abstract submission deadlines are posted on ACS, regional, and specialty meetings’ Call for Papers.
To access the Call for Papers:
- Go to maps.acs.org
- Click on the specific meeting in which you want to submit an abstract.
- Click the Submit an Abstract button.
- Go to maps.acs.org
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How many words can the abstract contain?
- The word limit for ACS meetings is 300 words (2500 characters).
- Both tables and images subtract from the abstract word count.
- Each row in a table counts for a total of 7 words (56 characters).
- An image counts for a total of 70 words (560 characters).
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How do I make a change (add an author, change the title, etc.) to the abstract I submitted?
- Navigate to your Submission Center within MAPS.
- Scroll down to your Submissions and use the Action drop-down list of the abstract you wish to edit and select Edit.
- Click Yes, Move to Draft.
- Under Drafts, scroll to the abstract you wish to edit.
- Use the Action drop-down list to select Edit Draft.
- Make any necessary edits, navigate to the Review and Submit page and click Submit.
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I submitted an abstract, but cannot remember my ACS ID or password to view the abstract.
To retrieve your ACS ID and password,
- Go to MAPS and click Forgot User Name or Password?
- You will be prompted to enter the email address associated with your ACS ID.
- An email will be sent to you with your user name and a reset password.
For further assistance, please email maps@acs.org or call 1-800-333-9511 (US only) or 614-447-3776 (outside the US).
MAPS Support is available Monday through Friday (except holidays) from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. - Go to MAPS and click Forgot User Name or Password?
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I've missed the deadline for submission. Now what do I do?
If you have missed the submission deadline, please contact the symposium organizer or program chair. Contact information for program chairs and symposium organizers is listed in the Call for Papers.
To access the Call for Papers:
- Go to maps.acs.org
- Click on the specific meeting in which you want to submit an abstract.
- Click the Submit an Abstract button.
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I submitted an abstract to MAPS. Can you tell me when my paper is scheduled?
Once program chairs have finalized the programs, ACS staff will email official acceptance and scheduling notices. Presenters can expect to receive their acceptance notices approximately 3 months before the meeting. Scheduling notices are sent periodically starting approximately 2 months before the meeting.
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How do I get a letter stating I am presenting at the meeting so that I can apply for a Visa?
Once your abstract has been accepted, you can download and/or print a visa letter through the Message Center in MAPS. Click Messages and then Visa Letters. A visa letter will be available for each accepted abstract. For ACS meetings, please also visit the International Travel page for relevant resources.
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I am presenting a poster at the meeting. Can you give me information about the setup? Do I need to bring a poster board?
ACS provides each poster participant with a 4-foot-high by 8-foot-wide display board in the convention center, and a four-foot-high by six-foot-wide display board in hotels. These display boards resemble a freestanding black board with pushpins. You can set up your poster at least 30 minutes before the start of your poster session.
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How do I withdraw an abstract?
- Navigate to your Submission Center within MAPS.
- Scroll down to your Submissions and use the Action drop-down list of the abstract you wish to withdraw and select Withdraw Abstract.
- Provide a reason for withdrawing the abstract and click Yes to confirm withdrawal.
- On the submission page, the abstract now has a status of Author Withdrawn.
If the withdrawal option is not avaialble through the MAPS Submission Center, please send your withdrawal including the abstract control ID to maps@acs.org.
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I am presenting my abstract at an upcoming ACS meeting. Is it possible to record my presentation?
The use of any device to capture images (e.g., cameras and camera phones) or sound (e.g., tape and digital recorders) or stream, upload or rebroadcast speakers or presentations is strictly prohibited at all official ACS meetings and events without the express written consent from the ACS.
Did we miss your question? Please email maps@acs.org or call 1-800-333-9511 (US only) or 614-447-3776 (outside the US).
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What licensing agreement is required for accepted abstracts?
In consideration of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) acceptance of your abstract, you hereby grant the ACS a nonexclusive, perpetual, worldwide publishing and distribution rights license. This license includes the right for ACS to distribute and make available your abstract, create derivative works or use new distribution technologies, enforce such rights as against third parties, publish the abstract in ACS’s publication of meeting abstracts and/or other compilations or collective works to be assembled and owned by ACS (together, “Collective Works”) in any form or medium now existing or hereafter created throughout the world, and the right to grant or sublicense other entities for some or all of these rights.
You understand and agree that ACS shall own all rights, including copyright, in and to the Collective Works including the rights to: Distribute, reproduce, license, display, perform, lend, lease, or transfer rights to the Collective Works to third parties, prepare derivative works of the Collective Works and to register the Collective Works in ACS’s own name with the U.S. Copyright Office.
You and ACS agree that you and/or third parties with copyrights shall retain copyright in and to the abstract. By submitting the abstract, you affirm that you are the author and owner of the abstract and hold all copyrights in and to the abstract, or have secured any third party permissions necessary to grant the ACS the above rights.
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How does programming with MAPS work?
The Meeting Abstracts Programming System (MAPS) is the platform used to manage the processes for ACS Meeting programming. Program Chairs have limited access to MAPS to update/edit abstracts, edit session titles, move abstracts within a symposium, change duration and session dates/times, add expected attendance, add actual attendance, and add cosponsors. Symposium organizers complete workbooks with access to a read-only view of MAPS. Symposium organizers complete their programs using templates in Microsoft Office shared through Box.com and working closely with ACS Staff. Symposium organizers have access to submit late abstracts to MAPS (until the symposium organizer deadline) on behalf of authors who have missed the submission deadline. ACS Staff imports the completed workbooks into MAPS. Program Chairs are then able to view their finalized programs in MAPS. Program Chairs must schedule all sessions in MAPS by the announced preliminary program deadline. Program Chairs must submit late abstracts and assign remaining abstracts to sessions in MAPS by the announced final program deadline.
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How do I assign symposium organizers?
Enter the contact information (full name and email) of symposium organizers, along with all required symposium details in the Call for Symposia workbook. Contact ACS Staff to add Symposium Organizers after the Call for Symposia deadline.
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How do I add cosponsors to a symposia or session?
Program Chairs indicate cosponsor information in the Call for Symposia workbooks. For ACS Meetings, ACS divisions and committees may be listed in the “Co-sponsor – Cooperative” and “Co-sponsor – Nominal” fields. Other financial cosponsors are listed in the “Financial Co-sponsor” field. For Regional Meetings, ACS divisions and committees are listed in the “Cosponsor” field, and other financial cosponsors are listed in the “Financial Co-sponsor” field. Program Chairs are also able to add cosponsors in MAPS when Sessioning access opens.
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How do I designate a symposium as “Invited Only”?
Program Chairs should designate symposia as “Invited Only” in the Call for Symposia workbook. If it is after the Call for Symposia deadline, Program Chairs should contact ACS Staff to request this update.
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How will non-members who have been invited to contribute a paper for a particular symposium log into MAPS?
Invited speakers need to create an ACS ID to submit their abstract. Both members and non-members can create ACS IDs. As part of the abstract submission process in MAPS, invited speakers are prompted to indicate whether they are invited to submit an abstract and by whom. If the invited speaker prefers not to register for an ACS ID, you may submit the abstract for them.
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How do I edit an abstract?
Program Chairs can edit abstracts within MAPS by clicking on Abstracts and clicking on the “Edit” hyperlink for the abstract.
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How do I accept or reject an abstract?
In MAPS, Program chairs no longer need to accept or reject abstracts. Instead, abstract information added to the “Assign Abstracts” worksheet of the symposium workbook are considered accepted. After the symposium organizer deadline, ACS staff will provide lists of all unassigned abstracts to Program Chairs to decide if they should be included elsewhere in the division’s program.
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How do international presenters obtain their visa letters?
Abstracts must first be accepted in order for presenters to access and download their personalized visa letters. Please request ACS staff to accept the abstract in MAPS. This request should include the meeting name, Control ID, abstract title, and presenting author for the paper.
Once an international presenter's abstract is accepted, he or she must access their personalized visa letter in their MAPS account. Navigate to the “Visa Letters” tab for instructions on how to access visa letters.
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How do I create a new session?
Program Chairs must contact ACS Staff to request to add a new session in MAPS. It is not possible to create new sessions after the preliminary program deadline.
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How do I delete a session?
Contact ACS Staff to delete sessions within MAPS. Any abstracts within the session will need to be moved to active sessions or rejected.
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How do I submit abstracts after the deadline has passed?
Program Chairs have access to submit late abstracts until the final program deadline. Symposium Organizers have access to submit late abstracts until the symposium organizer deadline set by your division.
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I submitted a late abstract to my symposium in MAPS. How come my workbook in Box.com hasn’t updated with this new abstract?
Your Box.com workbook is not automatically updated when you submit a late abstract in MAPS. Instead, symposium organizers or program chairs are required to manually enter the late abstract’s control ID, title, and presenting author in the appropriate session area of your symposium workbook and submit the updated workbook in your Box.com folder by the symposium organizer deadline. If you include any TBD or placeholder abstracts lacking the Control ID, the abstract will not get assigned in MAPS.
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For ACS Meetings, how do I move one or more abstracts that were submitted to the incorrect division or committee?
In MAPS, it is not possible to move an abstract from one division or committee to a different one. Instead, the symposium organizer or program chair must resubmit the abstract to the correct division or committee, and then place a request to ACS Staff for the original abstract submission to be rejected in MAPS.
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What do I do with abstract withdrawal requests?
Abstract submitters should withdraw abstracts from their “Submission” tab in their MAPS account. If this option is no longer available, please send withdrawal requests to maps@acs.org.
For detailed instructions, please see the Program Chair User Guide
Did we miss your question? Contact ACS Staff at abstracts@acs.org.
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How does programming with MAPS work?
The Meeting Abstracts Programming System (MAPS) is the platform used to manage the processes for ACS Meeting programming. Symposium organizers complete workbooks with access to a read-only view of MAPS. Symposium organizers complete their programs using templates in Microsoft Office shared through Box.com and working closely with ACS Staff. Symposium organizers have access to submit late abstracts to MAPS (until the symposium organizer deadline) on behalf of authors who have missed the submission deadline. ACS Staff imports the completed workbooks into MAPS. Program Chairs are then able to view their finalized programs in MAPS. Program Chairs must schedule all sessions in MAPS by the announced preliminary program deadline. Program Chairs must submit late abstracts and assign remaining abstracts to sessions in MAPS by the announced final program deadline.
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How do I assign oral session presiders (moderators)?
Symposium organizers or program chairs indicates the presiders’ contact information (full name and email) in the appropriate symposium workbook. Contact your Program Chair to add or replace presiders if it is after the symposium organizer deadline. (Please do not assign presiders to poster sessions.)
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How do I add cosponsors to a symposia or session?
For ACS Meetings, symposium organizers or program chairs indicate ACS divisions and/or committees co-sponsors in the “Co-sponsor – Cooperative” or “Co-sponsor – Nominal” fields of the symposium workbook.
For Regional Meetings, symposium organizers or program chairs indicate ACS divisions and/or committees in the “Cosponsor” field of the symposium workbook.
For both ACS and regional/specialty meetings, symposium organizers indicate non-ACS co-sponsor in the “Financial Co-sponsor” field of the symposium workbook. Program Chairs are also able to add cosponsors in MAPS when Sessioning access opens.
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How do I add cosponsors to a symposia or session?
For ACS Meetings, symposium organizers or program chairs indicate ACS divisions and/or committees co-sponsors in the “Co-sponsor – Cooperative” or “Co-sponsor – Nominal” fields of the symposium workbook.
For Regional Meetings, symposium organizers or program chairs indicate ACS divisions and/or committees in the “Cosponsor” field of the symposium workbook.
For both ACS and regional/specialty meetings, symposium organizers indicate non-ACS co-sponsor in the “Financial Co-sponsor” field of the symposium workbook. Program Chairs are also able to add cosponsors in MAPS when Sessioning access opens.
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How will non-members who have been invited to contribute a paper for a particular symposium log into MAPS?
Invited speakers need to create an ACS ID to submit their abstract. Both members and non-members can create ACS IDs. As part of the abstract submission process in MAPS, invited speakers are prompted to indicate whether they are invited to submit an abstract and by whom. If the invited speaker prefers not to register for an ACS ID, you may submit the abstract for them.
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How do I edit an abstract?
Contact your Program Chair(s) to edit abstracts.
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How do I move an abstract?
Contact your Program Chair(s) to move abstracts between symposia.
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How do I accept or reject an abstract?
In MAPS, Program chairs no longer need to accept or reject abstracts. Instead, abstract information added to the “Assign Abstracts” worksheet of the symposium workbook are considered accepted. After the symposium organizer deadline, ACS staff will provide lists of all unassigned abstracts to Program Chairs to decide if they should be included elsewhere in the division’s program.
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How do international presenters obtain their visa letters?
Abstracts must first be accepted in order for presenters to access and download their personalized visa letters. Please request ACS staff to accept the abstract in MAPS. This request should include the meeting name, Control ID, abstract title, and presenting author for the abstract.
Once an international presenter's abstract is accepted, he or she must access their personalized visa letter in their MAPS account. Navigate to the “Visa Letters” tab for instructions on how to access visa letters.
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How do I delete a session?
Contact ACS Staff to delete sessions within MAPS. Any abstracts within the session will need to be moved to active sessions or rejected.
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How do I submit abstracts after the deadline has passed?
Symposium organizers have access to submit late abstracts until the announced symposium organizer deadline set by the program chair(s). Program chairs have access to submit late abstracts until the final program deadline.
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I submitted a late abstract to my symposium in MAPS. How come my workbook in Box.com hasn’t updated with this new abstract?
Your Box.com workbook is not automatically updated when you submit a late abstract in MAPS. Instead, symposium organizers are required to manually enter the late abstract’s control ID, title, and presenting author in the appropriate session area of your symposium workbook and submit the updated workbook in your Box.com folder by the symposium organizer deadline. If you include any TBD or placeholder abstracts lacking the Control ID, the abstract will not get assigned in MAPS.
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For ACS Meetings, how do I move one or more abstracts that were submitted to the incorrect division or committee?
In MAPS, it is not possible to move an abstract from one division or committee to a different one. Instead, the symposium organizer or program chair must resubmit the abstract to the correct division or committee, and then place a request to ACS Staff for the original abstract submission to be rejected in MAPS.
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What do I do with abstract withdrawal requests?
Abstract submitters should withdraw abstracts from their “Submission” tab in their MAPS account. If this option is no longer available, please send withdrawal requests to maps@acs.org.
For detailed instructions, please see the Symposium Organizer User Guide.
Did we miss your question? Contact ACS Staff at abstracts@acs.org.
