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ORGANIZATION OF ESCoP CONFERENCES

DIRECTIVES

This document is an attempt to formulate purposes and directives of ESCoP conferences. Starting point is the joint responsibility of the ESCoP committee and the group of local organizers. In this document the group of local organizers is referred to as the local group. Sometimes the term organization committee is used to refer to a group of persons the core of which is the local group.

1. ESCoP conferences are organized every two years by an organization committee that consists of a local group of persons (the local group) and 2 members of the ESCoP committee. The liaisons of ESCoP are involved in the preparation of the conference: they typically participate in one or two preparatory meetings and they are available for consult over e-mail. This mixed group is henceforth called the joint committee.
2. As a general rule it is expected that the local group organises the conference and keeps complete control over this organization. This implies that the organization is not put out to contract to a commercial organization. This rule can only be changed with consent by the ESCoP committee. It is of course, possible to make subcontracts with commercial organizations for small parts of the organization, such as catering or accommodation, as long as the organizational responsibility is with the organization committee.
3. A conference is expected to have a duration of 3-4 days and in that period 4 persons can be invited to present a keynote lecture. Two of these invititations are the responsibility of the ESCoP committee, namely the Broadbent lecture and the Bertelson award. The other speakers may be invited by the local group. As an implicit rule, ESCoP committee wants to stimulate female representation in the invited speakers.
4. In any event, the conference budget must cover the costs of all these invited speakers (travel, accommodation, fee, etc.). However, a total amount of € 2500 is provided by ESCoP to cover the costs of the Broadbent lecture and the Bertelson award. The local organizer can call on ESCoP for an advance of maximally € 5000. The balance of this advance will be rebated from the overall receipts after the conference.
5. In addition, conferences may contain symposia invited by the organization committee, and contain symposia proposed by ESCoP members, as well as thematic sessions with oral presentations and poster presentations. The following principles of operation have been agreed upon by the ESCoP committee:
   • conveners of symposia must always be full ESCoP members; participants in the symposium can be nonmembers as well as members;
   • for filling the presentation slots available at the conference, priority is given to members over nonmembers given the restriction that every participant is expected to do not more than one presentation;
   • a book of abstracts should be published and should be available for a wider audience than the congress participants; the conditions will be clarified by the ESCoP committee;
     [Please, also note that the ESCoP committee will implement a procedure for the selection of papers to the conference, similar to the one used by the Psychonomics Society.]
6. With respect to practical organization, the following rules have to be considered:
   • the conference should be held in September of odd-numbered years and be placed on dates that do not conflict with the Jewish holidays;
   • the registration fees should differentiate at least between nonmembers of ESCoP and members; a separate fee for students is possible, but the local group should maintain a transparant and fair system of control; [ESCoP committee will define the minimal difference to be maintained between member and nonmember fees.]
   • accommodation must be available in a sufficient amount; moreover, a category of low-priced accommodation should be included in the offer.
7. Financial responsibility for the conference is assumed by the joint committee. Expenses and receipts of a conference are to be balanced. ESCoP takes over expenses of a conference only as an exception and after a corresponding agreement As much as possible the joint committee acts autonomously, but responsibly.
8. After the conference, the local group submits a report to the ESCoP committee reporting detailed information about submissions, participation, cancellations, etc. This should allow ESCoP to keep track of evolutions so that action can be taken well in time to improve the quality of the conferences.
9. Sufficiently in advance of the foregoing conference, candidate organizers submit a proposal to the ESCoP committee. The committee decides about the proposals on the basis of a comparison of the candidate groups with respect to a number of criteria that will become more explicit as the experience with this new procedure grows. Scientific quality, characteristics of the conference sites, guarantees provided by the local group, and variation in the countries are features that will be considered. The file submitted should at least contain the following information:
   • the composition of the local group proposing to organize the conference; a proposal of a conference chair and possibly a specification of the responsibilities assigned to the members of the local group; the chair should be an ESCoP member;
   • a detailed description of the conference site including, the possibilities for parallel sessions, for poster sessions, for plenary sessions, media equipment, etc.
   • a detailed description of the accommodation available, be it in a closed center or in the city; proposal of price levels for accommodation, etc.
   • a proposal of the format of the conference (number of invited speakers, number of parallel sessions, projected symposia, projected amount of posters, etc.) with room for the invited speakers, for a business meeting of the society, and for a meeting with the local officers;
   • the possibilities for meals at the conference site or in the surroundings, price levels of lunches, and dinners, etc.
   • a proposal for a conference dinner can be included; for the participants this should not be an obligatory part of the conference;
   • a proposal of a budget for the conference with expected incomes and expenses and a projection of the registration fee

Initial approval: committee meeting of December 5, 1998.
Modification approved: committee meeting of February 1, 2003.

New Journal Announcement for 2007

Journal of Neuropsychology

Editor: Professor Edward de Haan

The Journal of Neuropsychology is a new international peer-review journal published by The British Psychological Society. Due to be launched in March 2007, it will publish original contributions to scientific and clinical knowledge in the field of neuropsychology.

Topics reflect the multidisciplinary character of the field and include clinical and research studies with neurological, psychiatric and psychological patient populations in all age groups using a variety of research methods ranging from test construction and normative data, behavioural or pharmacological treatment regimes, to cognitive experimentation and neuroimaging. Its approach embraces neighbouring fields such as developmental psychology, neurology, psychiatry, physiology, endocrinology, pharmacology and imaging science.

The following will be considered for publication:

• Papers reporting original empirical investigations.
• Group and case studies addressing fundamental issues concerning brainbehaviour relationships and the cognitive architecture of the brain.
• Theory-driven studies regarding the epidemiology of specific deficits, new assessment tools, normative data and the evaluation of treatment regimes.
• Review papers.
• Brief reports and comments.

Please check the BPS Journals homepage for regular updates and future calls for papers and submission details.

www.bpsjournals.co.uk