Fairmont Resort Blue Mountains, New South Wales


Call for Conference Abstracts


Abstracts for Conference Papers are due by
Friday, 19th February, 2016

Authors will be advised of the outcome of their submission by
Wednesday, 9th March, 2016

Final Refereed Papers for Peer Review are due by
Thursday, 21st April, 2016

Final Non Refereed Papers for Program Committee Review are due by
Thursday, 21st April, 2016

Review of Papers and Technical Notes by
Friday, 13th May, 2016

Final Author Revisions required by
Friday, 17th June, 2016

Final PowerPoints are, due by
Friday, 19th August, 2016





Introduction
The 8th Australian Stream Management Conference (8ASM) will be held in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales from Sunday, 31st July to Wednesday, 3rd August, 2016.
The Conference Steering Committee invites you to participate by submitting an abstract for a concurrent presentation at the 2016 Conference.
Twenty years on from the inaugural Australian Stream Management Conference, the 2016 event will provide the opportunity to discuss recent developments and challenges in stream management, in the context of experiences from the last two decades and beyond. Focus areas will include the role of physical interventions, catchment and riparian management, environmental flows, community expectations from stream systems, drought and flood recovery policy, and monitoring and evaluation programs.
Practitioners, professionals, community leaders, policy analysts and academics are invited to submit an abstract and/or register for the Conference. The 8ASM Conference is being convened by the River Basin Management Society with support from the Catchments Australia Foundation.

Conference Structure

The Conference will comprise of:

• Three days of Conference Sessions from Monday 1st August to Wednesday 3rd August, incorporating a half day Technical Tour on Tuesday, 2nd August.
• Conference Welcome Reception on Sunday, 31st July followed by the Conference Dinner on Tuesday, 2nd August.

The Conference Committee is seeking Expressions of Interest for the conduct of:

• Concurrent Paper Sessions – Refereed Papers
• Concurrent Paper Sessions – Technical Notes

Concurrent papers will be offered as 15 minute sessions with 5 minutes for questions.

Call for abstract submission for 8ASM
It is time to tell the Australian stream management community about the projects that you and your colleagues have been working on, your ideas, your plans, what has worked and what hasn’t! We want to hear from managers, policy makers, community representatives, scientists and those who are involved in some way in understanding and managing streams.
We are particularly seeking submissions that encourage debate and will allow participants to explore new ideas that challenge existing paradigms and engage participants in collaborative discussions.

Themed sessions
If you have an idea for a themed session (e.g. urban waterways, community engagement) then please forward them to Geoff Vietz (geoff@streamology.com.au).

What is the difference between a Peer Reviewed Paper and Technical Notes?

Refereed papers describe new techniques, tools, theories or inventions, or present case histories that extend our understanding of stream management. Papers undergoing peer review must present new ideas, backed by repeatable methodology and will be reviewed by acknowledged experts in the field. Authors typically request for their paper to be refereed when they are seeking publication in an industry journal. Nonetheless, a benefit of choosing the peer review stream is to receive constructive evaluation from leaders in the field. Specialist feedback improves the quality of papers, and therefore the quality of the conference.

The referees will evaluate the paper, noting weaknesses or problems along with suggestions for improvement. Referees' evaluations usually include an explicit recommendation of what to do with the paper from options provided by the journal or funding agency. Most recommendations are along the lines of the following:

• to unconditionally accept the manuscript or proposal,
• to accept it in the event that its authors improve it in certain ways,
• to reject it, but encourage revision and invite resubmission,
• to reject it outright.

Where modifications are required, the paper will be returned to the Author for update based on the recommendation of the reviewer. The revised paper is then returned to the reviewer for final approval before it will be accepted for presentation and publication.

Technical Notes are less formal than refereed papers and are reviewed by the Conference Technical Committee for inclusion in the program, but are not subject to the peer-review process for refereed papers. All papers that are presenting case studies should be submitted as Technical Notes.


Guidelines for All Proposals

The following guidelines apply for the submission of all abstracts:

All abstracts are to be submitted online via the Conference Website at www.8asm.org.au

• Submissions on any topic related to the streams of the Conference will be considered.
• Abstracts can be provided as a paragraph of description or as dot points if preferred. If you would like assistance with developing an abstract or the submission process please contact the Chief Editor Geoff Vietz (geoff@streamology.com.au). Maximum length 250 words
• Submissions must include a biography of the presenter of up to 150 words. Submissions not including a biography of the presenter will not be considered.
• Abstracts for concurrent papers should be submitted by no later than Friday, 19th February, 2016.
• Contributors will be provided with advice of acceptance of their submission. The Committee reserves the right to accept or reject any submissions. The timelines for this advice are included on page 1 of this document.

Presenters will be advised of the outcome of their submission by no later than Wednesday, 9th March, 2016. After initial acceptance of abstracts, and in addition to the formal peer review process, the Conference Program Committee require that all Technical Notes submissions will be subject for a final review to ensure consistency with approved abstract and to ensure a balanced presentation of ideas and learning.


Evaluation Criteria

Abstracts will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Originality: That the paper is an original piece of work, be it research, experience or case studies of projects undertaken.
• Significance of the subject/project: That the paper adds to the knowledge, understanding and practical application of stream management.
• Technical content and Methods: That the paper is structured to clearly outline the methodology, aims, results, discussions and conclusions.
• General quality of the material presented.



Further Information

If you have any questions in relation to abstract content and applicability, please contact either:

Dr Geoff Vietz
Program Chair
8th Australian Stream Management Conference
E: geoff@streamology.com.au

If you have any questions concerning the abstract submission process, please feel free to contact either:

Katherine Ducker Lilly Barker
Conference Manager Conference Coordinator
E: kducker@gemspl.com.au E: lbarker@gemspl.com.au

GEMS Event Management
PO Box 1221, Burwood NSW 1805
T: +61 2 9744 5252
F: +61 2 9747 8366
W: www.8asm.org.au


Final Paper Preparation Guidelines and Restrictions

Guidelines for Conference Abstracts – REFEREED

Refereed Papers are abstracts distributed to a scientific panel for review and evaluation. The review process is typically carried out over a number of weeks and aims at maintaining or enhancing a certain quality of work. As the review process involves a number of unbiased opinions relating to a certain abstract, Refereed Papers are therefore typically viewed as more credible.

These guidelines relate only to accepted abstracts where the author has requested that the paper be refereed by members of the Scientific Committee

• Submissions must be in English, a minimum of 11 point Times New Roman font.
• Final papers are not to be more than 8 pages in length.
• Manuscripts should conform to publication style listed at the end of this document and submitted using the paper template provided upon acceptance of your submission into the Conference Program.
• Authors requesting refereed status shall state clearly at the top of the manuscript, “To be Refereed”. Only papers stating this request will be circulated to the Scientific Committee.
• Evidence of review will be provided to the author in pro forma showing anonymous comments of the expert reviewer and the scientific committee’s determination. This will be in the form of a notification of acceptance (possibly subject to amendment). Authors should keep the pro forma as evidence of satisfactory peer review in accordance with the Specifications.
• All refereed papers will be identified as such and published in full on the convenor’s website.
• Completed papers to be refereed MUST be submitted to the Scientific Committee through GEMS Event Management by no later than Thursday, 21st April, 2016.
• Failure to do so will cause the presentation to be removed from the program and may preclude the presenter from presenting at future ASM Conferences.
• Please note that the Conference Organisers and/or Committee will communicate only with the 'first author' of a paper. In the case of co-authored papers it will be the responsibility of the 'first author' to pass on to the co-author(s) communications from the editors.
• All concurrent paper presenters are required to register for the Conference. Plenary presenters receive complimentary registration on the day of their presentation only and are required to register for any other days they wish to attend.


Guidelines for Conference Abstracts – TECHNICAL NOTES/SUBMISSIONS

These guidelines relate only to accepted abstracts where the author has NOT requested that the paper be refereed by members of the Scientific Committee

• Technical Notes/Submissions that are not being submitted to the Scientific Committee are still required for review by the Conference Program Committee in order to ensure that the paper is representative of the accepted abstract.
• Submissions must be in English.
• Final papers are not to be more than 8 pages in length.
• Manuscripts should conform to publication style listed at the end of this document and submitted using the paper template provided upon acceptance of your submission into the Conference Program.
• It is a requirement of participation that all conference paper presenters must prepare a document to be included in the conference proceedings. Completed submissions MUST be submitted to the Conference Program Committee by Thursday, 21st April, 2016. Failure to do so will cause the presentation to be removed from the program.
• Please note that the Conference Organisers and/or Committee will communicate only with the 'first author' of a paper. In the case of co-authored papers it will be the responsibility of the 'first author' to pass on to the co-author(s) communications from the editors.
• All concurrent paper presenters are required to register for the Conference. Plenary presenters receive complimentary registration on the day of their presentation only and are required to register for any other days they wish to attend.

Publication Style

• The Oxford English Dictionary is the journal's standard for spelling.
• Documents are to be prepared in Microsoft Word. No pdf documents will be accepted.
• Any graphics included in the document are to separately attached to the final document as jpeg files.
• No headers and footers are to be used.
• Substantial quotations should be indented without quotation marks. Other quotations should be enclosed by single quotation marks. Double quotation marks should be used only as innermost quotation marks within single quotation marks, or where necessary to ensure fidelity to another's work.
• Published works referred to in the text should be in parentheses containing author, date (and page number(s) if necessary).
• Books and journal articles should be listed as follows:
Macpherson, C.B. (1972). The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism: Hobbes to Locke. Oxford University Press, London.
Trimble, S. W., Mendel, A. C. (1995). The cow as a geomorphic agent — A critical review, Geomorphology 13 (1), 233-253.