Fall Meeting abstracts
Abstract overview
Abstract submissions are now closed. Abstract authors were notified of acceptance, format, and schedule in early October.
AGU Fall Meeting 2020, with your input and help will co-create a dynamic, engaging online experience for a worldwide audience that helps develop your science and careers, and showcases the Earth and space sciences and their growing connections and importance
We are working to have a range of ways for presenting, discussing and sharing the science and engaging with each other over it, and many of these will seem familiar—through electronic posters sessions, eLightning sessions, oral discussions and presentations and plenary talks. The virtual meeting allows each of these to be developed in ways that expand engagement, including making the pre-recorded content available over longer time periods to watch (or binge) at your convenience, and allowing more time for online chats and engagement with speakers, including plenary speakers.
Most of the scientific programming will be from 7-17 December; some content, including town halls, scientific workshops, innovative sessions and AGU events are scheduled during the week of 1 December, with additional content scheduled to best meet the needs of our international attendees around the world.
The registration rates are reflective of the large amount of content and design experience and to support participation from undergraduate student members, K-12 educators worldwide, and attendees from lower income countries, who will be able to register for free. Abstract submission is possible for members from AGU members as well as from several partner societies (such as AAS, EGU, JpGU, MSA, APHA, ESIP and ESA). There is also a non-refundable abstract processing fee, separate from meeting registration fees.
To submit an abstract, you must be an AGU member and the abstract submission deadline is 29 July at 23:59 EDT/03:59 +1 GMT. Late abstracts will not be accepted after this date.
Why you should submit
Fall Meeting is the largest virtual gathering of those in the Earth and space sciences. Submitting an abstract allows you to present your research to those who care most about its impacts, connect with new colleagues and be inspired by the contributions of our community.
Abstracts can focus on scientific results and/or their applications, enabling Earth and space science, and the impact of Earth and space science on society.
Key abstract content
When preparing your abstract, please note the following:
The abstract title is limited to 300 characters and the abstract text is limited to 2,000 characters. The limit excludes spaces but includes punctuation.
The official language of the meeting is English. Please submit your abstract in English and, if your abstract is accepted, plan to present in English.
Please ensure you are selecting the correct affiliation and using the preferred email address for the co-author. Co-authors will receive a notification they have been added to an abstract.
As the Fall Meeting moves to a "mostly" virtual platform, potential session types may include:
- Oral sessions: include pre-recorded presentations with scheduled live Q&A with a group of presenters.
- eLightning sessions: include a virtual poster with scheduled short lightning talks and Q&A.
- Poster sessions: include a virtual poster with scheduled chats based on author’s availability.
A flat fee of $70 USD will be charged for each regular submission and a flat fee of $40 USD for each student submission. The abstract submission fee is a required and non-refundable processing fee and not based on approval of your abstract submission or attendance at AGU Fall Meeting. There is no fee for individuals residing in qualifying low-income and lower- middle-income countries, as defined by the World Bank.
Additional resources for abstract submissions
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How to write an AGU abstract – Check out this Eos article for pointers on how to write an abstract for an AGU meeting.
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Register for Fall Meeting – Find information on AGU Fall Meeting registration including rates and policies for attendees.
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Outstanding Student Presentation Award (OSPA) Program – Learn how to participate in OSPA as a student or as a judge.
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Travel grants – Discover available student and early career travel grants to help you attend Fall Meeting.
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Berkner Travel Fellowship – Berkner Fellowships provide funding for early career scientists and students from countries designated by the World Bank as “low” or “lower-middle” income to present research at AGU-sponsored meetings.
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AGU Ethics Policy (PDF) – Download a PDF copy of the AGU Scientific Integrity and Professional Ethics Policy.
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iThenticate – Utilize plagiarism detection software from iThenticate upon submission to identify any duplication.
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Publicity for meeting abstracts – If you think your abstract is newsworthy, you can tell AGU’s public information office about it for potential publicity.
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Fall Meeting Program Committee – View the Fall Meeting Program Committee members by section.
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Fall Meeting First-Timers mentoring program – This program provides guidance for navigating AGU’s abstract submission process, from writing an abstract proposal to developing an engaging virtual presentation. We are now accepting both mentors and mentees.
Important dates for abstract submission
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1Mid-June 2020: Session proposal acceptance notification letters are sent; the abstract submission site opens; and the invited author tool opens.
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2Mid-July 2020: Town hall and workshop proposal notification letters are sent.
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329 July 2020: Abstract submissions close at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
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4August 2020: Fall Meeting Program Committee allocates and schedules sessions. At least one convener for each session (an AGU member) must be available to discuss mergers of sessions and schedule sessions in online program.
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5Early October 2020: Authors are notified of the acceptance, format, and schedule of their abstracts, and the official scientific program is available.
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6October 2020 through Fall Meeting: Authors are expected to confirm their participation; Conveners are expected to monitor the final program for withdrawals and presenter changes.
Author guidelines and related policies
The person submitting the abstract will automatically be the first author. You may not submit an abstract on behalf of another author. The first author cannot be modified for any reason.The first author, including invited authors, must be an AGU member. Membership requirement exceptions are granted if you are a member of one of the below co-sponsoring organizations or GeoHealth cooperating societies. Note that you will still have to pay the abstract fee.
Coauthors or presenting authors who are different than the first author are not required to be an AGU member. The abstract submitter is responsible for ensuring that all coauthors have agreed to be on the abstract.
A research team may be referenced during the submission process in the “Title of Team” field, in lieu of adding the names of individual team members.
Authors can add an optional plain language summary of their abstract with a maximum of 200 words.
LaTeX is supported. Special characters are also available in the abstract management system.
The abstract submission fee is separate from membership dues. If you are paying your membership by credit card, you will have immediate access to the abstract submission site.
Following the abstract deadline, sessions may be merged and the program committee may decline to consider an abstract or the submitted abstract may be placed in a different, more appropriate session than the one to which it was submitted. Final decisions regarding placement of individual abstracts within sessions rest with the Fall Meeting Program Committee.
Author Policies
AGU Membership
The first author, including invited authors, must be an AGU member. Exceptions are granted to non-geoscientists and members of the below co-sponsoring organizations or GeoHealth cooperating societies.
Coauthors or presenting authors who are different than the first author are not required to be an AGU member.
If you have a question on your membership status, need to join or renew, or need assistance with your AGU membership account, contact the AGU Membership Services Team by email or call 800.966.2481 (toll-free in North America) or +1 202.462.6900.
First Author Policy
First authors can have a maximum of one contributed and one invited abstract or two invited abstracts. The only exemption to this policy is the submission of one additional contributed abstract to a GeoHealth (GH) session, Education (ED) session, Science and Society (SY) session, or, for 2020, a COVID-19 session.
Possible combinations for people submitting more than one abstract are as below:
- 2 Abstracts:
- 1 regular contributed abstract to any session and 1 invited abstract to any session
- 1 regular contributed abstract to any session and 1 regular contributed abstract to an ED, GH, SY, or COVID-19 session
- 3 Abstracts:
- 1 regular contributed abstract to any session, 1 invited abstract to any session, 1 regular contributed abstract to ED, GH, SY, or COVID-19 session
- 2 invited abstracts to any session, 1 regular contributed abstract to ED, GH, SY, or COVID-19 session
Invited Authors
Invited authors must be AGU members and up to date with 2020 membership dues; however, special exemptions may be requested for invited authors who are non-geoscientists. The deadline to invite authors is 15 July 2020 to ensure authors have enough time to receive the invite and submit the abstract.
Invited authors are not guaranteed an oral presentation and may be assigned a poster presentation.
Please note that certain authors may be marked as “Highlighted Authors” after submissions close.
Invited authors will receive an electronic invitation from the session convener via the submission site. The invitation will include a link to the session; please submit the abstract via the link included in the invitation. If the abstract is not submitted through the formal invitation, the abstract will not have an invited status listing. If you have submitted your abstract to the session as a contributed abstract in error, do not withdraw your abstract. Contact AGU’s scientific program staff to have the abstract status changed to invited.
A person may not be invited to submit an abstract to more than two sessions.
A first author may not be an invited author on an abstract submitted to a session in which they are convening.
Members submitting an abstract as first author may not have an oral presentation in a session where they are also a convener.
Important note: Being an invited author does not guarantee that the person will receive an oral presentation. All invited authors are subject to being scheduled either in an oral or a poster session. If a session is given an oral allocation, which is also not guaranteed, the authors in that session and the length of presentations will be decided by the convener during the scheduling process.
Conveners Submitting Abstracts
Conveners are allowed to submit abstracts to their own session but are not allowed to be invited authors to their own session or schedule themselves as an oral presentation.
The abstract submission fee and the first-author policy referenced above are still applicable. For instance, if you are a convener on two (2) sessions outside of the ED/GH/SY programs and you wish to submit an abstract to both of your sessions, you will be able to submit an abstract to only one session due to the first-author policy above.
There are no restrictions on a convener’s ability to submit an abstract to a session other than their own.
If a session receives multiple oral or poster session allocations, session conveners can retroactively mark up to two abstracts as “Highlighted” per each additional session during the scheduling period if needed.
Cooperating Societies
AGU has agreements with select cooperating societies. If you are a member of one of the below societies, the AGU membership requirement for first authors will be waived. Abstract fees will still apply.
American Astronomical Society (AAS)
American Meteorological Society (AMS)
American Public Health Association(APHA)
Ecological Society of America (ESA)
European Geosciences Union (EGU)
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Geochemical Society (GS)
Geological Society of America (GSA)
International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS)
International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE)
International Society for Exposure Science (ISES)
Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU)
Mineralogical Society of America (MSA)
National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT)
National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA)
The Optical Society (OSA)
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG)
Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM)
Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)
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Abstract Fees
A flat fee of $70 USD will be charged for each regular submission and a flat fee of $40 USD for each student submission. The abstract submission fee is a required and non-refundable processing fee and not based on approval of your abstract submission or attendance at AGU Fall Meeting.
There is no fee for individuals residing in qualifying low-income and lower- middle-income countries, as defined by the World Bank.
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Do not withdraw a paid abstract submission to make edits or submit a new abstract. Refunds will not be issued for abstracts that are withdrawn and resubmitted, and payment will be required for any resubmissions.
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After an abstract is submitted, it can be accessed and edited until the abstract submission deadline (29 July 2020). After this deadline, edits cannot be made.
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The only method of payment accepted for abstract fees is by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express) in the abstract submission system. Wire payments or purchase orders cannot be accommodated.
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The abstract submission fee does not register you for the meeting. Separate registration fees apply. All presenters must register in order to attend AGU Fall Meeting. Online AGU Fall Meeting registration will be open in mid-August.
For help with the abstract process
Technical support – For questions about the submission site or technical issues, complete the request form on the submission site, or call +1 401.334.9903 (support code 1438), Monday to Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., ET or send an email.
Scientific Program – Email us if you have a question on AGU’s scientific program policies or general procedures, contact the AGU Scientific Program Management Team.
AGU Membership – If you have a question on your membership status or need assistance with your AGU membership account, contact the AGU Membership Services Team or call 800.966.2481 (toll-free in North America) or +1 202.462.6900.
Final program and how to cite abstract
In early October, acceptance notifications will be distributed via email, and the final scientific program will be available online.
If you wish to cite an abstract presented at this meeting, please cite as: Author(s) (2020), Title, Abstract (Final paper number, ex: AH14B-1234) presented at 2020 AGU Fall Meeting, 1-17 Dec.
Letters of invitation and Participation
Letters of Invitation
Please note that if you have submitted an abstract for presentation, you may log in and download a letter of invitation.
If you are not submitting an abstract and will be a registered scientist attending the meeting, please contact us to request an invitation letter.
Letters of Participation
Letters of Participation are available to all registered meeting attendees. Registration is required for all presenting authors.
Please note: AGU’s policy is to withdraw abstracts where the presenting author is a “no-show” and does not attend the meeting to present their research.
