Submission Information

Submission Process

All authors for Oral, Poster or Symposium presentations must submit an Extended Abstract for peer-review. Details of how to submit Extended Abstracts and Symposium Proposals are provided here.

Submission Instructions

Extended Abstract Templates and Symposium Proposal Templates, Author Instructions and On-Line submission guides may be downloaded here.

Peer Review

All Extended Abstracts for Oral, Poster and Symposium presentations will be peer reviewed. Authors who requested extending their submission into a Full Paper for further peer review and for possible run-on into the Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety will be notified after the first review round. All Full Papers that have been peer reviewed and accepted will be HERDC compliant.

Submission Types

At this point Authors may choose to only submit an Extended Abstract. For example, practitioners and policy oriented Authors may prefer this more relaxed and briefer format. After the Extended Abstract has been peer reviewed and accepted, no further peer-review will be carried out. An opportunity will be provided to Authors who want to revise their submission after receiving the 1st round reviewer’s comments. The latest version of the Extended Abstract in the Editorial System will be used for the Conference Proceedings. It should be noted that Extended Abstract that have been peer-reviewed and accepted are not HERDC compliant.

Posters

Some Authors may also choose to only present a Poster. All Poster presenters must submit an Extended Abstract. Poster presenters can request their Extended Abstract be considered for extension to a Full Paper. Poster presenters will be provided a 5 minute speed Oral presentation slot in one of the parallel sessions. Posters will be presented at the Poster session held within the exhibitor’s area and where morning and afternoon refreshments and lunch is provided. Poster presenters will also be offered the opportunity during the Extended Abstract submission process, to partner with a Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) final year graphic design student to develop high quality visual communications (e.g. infographic) of their poster content.

Symposium Proposals

Please detail the Symposium theme/title, the background and justification for holding the Symposium and 1 to 4 committed speakers that will present at the Symposium (if the maximum of 4 speakers is proposed each will have 20 minutes for presentation including question time).  Alternative formats for the Symposium will be considered, e.g. 1 speaker and a discussion/panel session, etc.

All speakers participating in the Symposium must submit an Extended Abstract via Editorial Manager by the submission deadline. Their Extended Abstract will be subjected to the same review process as all other Authors submitting an Extended Abstract. The value in submitting an Extended Abstract for Peer Review is that Symposium Presenters will receive feedback from experts on their scheduled presentation. Another advantage is that if the Symposium Proposal is not supported by the Conference Scientific Committee, and the review outcome is positive, the Authors can choose to have their submission rescheduled to present in an alternative stream. Also a Symposium Proposal will have a better chance of being accepted by the Conference Scientific Committee if presenters have submitted an Extended Abstract as this will demonstrate commitment to the proposal.

Article Types

The article types for ARSC 2021, regardless of whether the submission is a research or practitioner paper, comprise of:

1. Extended Abstract – Oral Presentation, or
2. Extended Abstract – Poster, or
3. Extended Abstract – Symposium Presentation.

Post Peer Review of Extended Abstract – permitted to expand Extended Abstract to Full Paper:

1. Full Paper peer reviewed – Oral Presentation, or
2. Full Paper peer reviewed – Poster, or
3. Full Paper peer reviewed – Symposium Presentation.

With a theme of ‘Towards Zero – A Fresh Approach‘, the Conference will be a multi-disciplinary event featuring representatives from all facets of road and transport safety including research, teaching, practice and policy.

Submissions of new and innovative developments in road safety for Oral presentations, Poster presentations, Symposium presentations and Symposium Proposals can be made under the following broad topic areas:

Real World Experiences

Practical program outcomes; Success Stories; Challenges and Barriers; Failures (Help everyone save time by sharing what didn’t work); Community attitudes, engagement and awareness; Current innovations and insights into how to quickly respond in a dynamic environment.

Road Safety Management

Safe System approach – an integrated system approach; Practice and Policy; Policing and Enforcement; Capacity Building, Place-making, public spaces and community; Design rules; Work Related Road Safety Management; Insurance, Legislation and Law; New technologies and the implications; Crash data – reliability, uniformity; Better connection and collaboration internationally.

Safe Roads and Roadsides

Best practice integration and implementation; Intelligent road infrastructure, smart roads; Road assessment programs; Road safety audits; Roadside spaces: shoulders, verges, footpaths, driveways, carparks.

Safer Vehicles

All modes of mobility, including pedestrian e.g. motorised mobility scooters, micro-personal e.g. e-scooters, bicycles and e-bikes, motorbikes, cars and light vehicles, heavy vehicles; Crashworthiness, New Car Assessment Programs; Motor Vehicle technology e.g. crash avoidance, vulnerable road users detection, ITS, Intelligent Speed Adaptation, Interlocks (alcohol/seat belts), Autonomous Vehicles.

Safe Speeds

Detection and enforcement; Community attitudes, consultation, engagement.

Road User Behaviour

Includes Speed, Drink and Driving, Fatigue, Pedestrian, Cyclist and Motorcyclist Safety, Young and Older Drivers, Community, Education and Training, etc.

Safe People

Education and training for safe driving, riding and walking; Driver training; Driver licensing; Rider training; Community engagement and awareness; Targeted behaviour programs e.g. distraction, fatigue, drink/drug driving, speed, fatigue, older drivers

Post-Crash Care, Data and Crash Analysis

Rescue, EMS and rehabilitation; Data collection and research methods; Forensic crash investigation.

Mode of Presentations

Presentations will be made in one of the following modes (as already mentioned above):

Oral Paper Presentation

Consists of 12-minute presentation plus 3-minutes for questions

Poster Presentation

ACRS 2021 are partnering with Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) this year to link Poster Authors with final year graphic design students. This will give authors an opportunity to develop high quality visual communications (e.g. infographic) of their poster content. All Posters will be displayed on Posters Boards in the catering area where delegates will congregate and network during morning and afternoon tea/coffee breaks and lunch for the three days. Each Poster Author will be offered a 5 minute speed Oral presentation in one of the program’s concurrent sessions.

Symposium Presentation

Symposium sessions will run for 90 minutes, and will typically include 3-4 speakers in a symposium. ARSC2021 will require speakers to submit an Extended Abstract for traditional format Symposiums with 3-4 speakers. The Symposium Speaker Extended Abstracts must be submitted by the same deadline required for the Oral Presentation stream. These sessions will be included as part of the main conference program, and will be finalised by the Conference Scientific Committee for their value in regards to contribution to the Conference and Road Safety.

Extended Abstract Assessment Process

• Extended Abstracts will be peer-reviewed by at least two expert Reviewers
• Acceptance of Extended Abstracts are based on the assessment criteria below
• The Scientific Committee’s decision is final

Extended Abstract Assessment Criteria

Papers will be scored by Peer Reviewers, typically out of 5 for each criterion where 1 is Poor and 5 is Excellent, according to the criteria listed below.
The criteria for evaluating Extended Abstracts include, but are not limited, to the following:

• Contains new and novel information or new research data
• Has a strong evidence supporting the conclusions*
• Clarity of the 150 word abstract within the Extended Abstract
• Relevance to practice or policy/scientific merit
• Contribution to the Conference theme
• Towards Zero – A Fresh Approach
• Interest to the audience
• If requested by Author, whether extending Extended Abstract to Full Paper peer-reviewed submission will be of sufficient interest, merit and contribution to road safety
• Whether the submission should be considered for an Award

* Note: Extended Abstracts that present general discussion or future research or policy will tend to receive a poor review outcome and may result in a rejection.

Terms & Conditions

The presenting Author and Symposium participants will be required to register to attend the Conference as a paid delegate. Failure to register may result in the submission or Symposium Proposal being deleted from the Conference Program.
Neither the invitation to submit an Extended Abstract or Symposium Proposal, nor the acceptance of an Extended Abstract or Symposium Proposal, constitute an offer to pay travel, accommodation, registration or other costs associated with the Conference. Similarly, no speaker fee will be paid to presenters.

The Conference Organisers reserve the right to allocate Extended Abstracts, Full Papers, Posters and Symposia into sessions as they see fit in accordance with the overall program objectives.

Extended Abstracts, Full Papers, Posters and Symposia that do not include all required information, or where the content is found to be unsuitable, may be rejected.

The decisions of the Conference Organisers are final.