2026 Student Delegate Manuscript Submission Form - American Association of Pathologists' Assistants

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Instructions for Submitting a Peer-Reviewed Manuscript

Student Delegate Requirements

All training programs have been invited to send two representatives each to attend our Annual Conference. Student delegates are required to participate in a number of activities leading up to and during their time at the conference. In return, the AAPA will provide complimentary conference registration and dorm style accommodations, with two students per room, for the length of the program. Student delegates are responsible for their own airfare, meals outside of those provided with conference registration, and any incidentals. Each student delegate is required to arrive on Sunday afternoon and depart on Thursday. The total length of stay will be five (5) days and four (4) nights at the conference. Each student delegate must meet the following requirements to participate in the program.

The Student Delegate Program includes updated poster and manuscript requirements designed to be equitable and achievable for all participants, reflecting thoughtful changes to better align with most students’ training timelines. The poster will be the primary deliverable presented at the conference, while the manuscript will be completed over a longer timeframe to allow students the full experience of identifying a case and developing a case study. Please review the updated deadlines carefully, as this represents a departure from how the program has been structured in the past.

Write a peer-reviewed manuscript for publication
- Manuscript draft due December 31, 2026
- Final manuscript, to incorporate peer review feedback, due March 31, 2027
- Top manuscripts may be published in our quarterly journal, The Cutting Edge

Present a poster at the 2026 Annual Fall Conference (does not need to be based on the manuscript)
- Poster abstract due May 8
- Poster PDF and two draft CE quiz questions due June 15
- Peer review feedback, rubric returned to author target July 15
- Resubmission of FINAL poster PDF and CE quiz questions, if requested by AAPA, due August 3
- Poster presentation recordings as assigned during the month of August
- Poster presentations as assigned the week of the conference

Onsite attendance requirements
- Volunteer for a minimum of one (1) of the available conference duty roster shifts. Areas to volunteer include registration, breakfast name badge scanning, reception check in, etc. Registration for volunteer slots will be sent out closer to the conference.
- “Meet and Greet” with other delegates, AAPA Leadership, and registered student attendees
- Student roundtable discussion
- All Receptions – Welcome Party, Happy Hour with the Exhibitors
- All lectures Monday – Wednesday. As time permits with scheduled departure on Thursday, attend morning/afternoon lectures.

Eligibility

The first author must be a student member of the AAPA chosen to represent their program in their second year of training as of the Annual Conference.
Manuscripts submitted for scholarship or grant at any other state and/or national pathology conference or which have been accepted for prior publication are not eligible.
The manuscript must be the original work of the author(s).
One submission per delegate.

Purpose

The purpose of this call for manuscripts is to receive contributions reporting on macroscopic dissection techniques of cancer surgical pathology cases at the anatomic pathology bench or autopsy table for the 2025 Student Delegate Program.

Subject Matter (refer to Appendix I for suggested guidelines)

The manuscripts must report macroscopic dissection techniques of cancer surgical pathology cases utilizing current cancer staging protocols, advancements in medical treatment supporting the patient safety initiative, and how these techniques ultimately impact quality patient care. These manuscripts may also include clinical presentation and discussion of the disease process.

Include macroscopic findings and how those findings affect staging.
Include what sections were taken and why.
Microscopic findings should also be included, but the main focus should be the macroscopic examination.
Include any immunohistochemical studies that were or could have been performed.
Include any pertinent molecular testing.

Exception: Non-cancer case topics will be considered; however, these will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with pre-approval required to move forward with manuscript development. Contact [email protected] for more information.

Caution: Manuscripts should stress the importance of the pathologists’ assistant (PA) in the diagnosis. It is not necessary to state everything the PA did (i.e., the PA took careful measurements, or during the autopsy, the PA collected the specimen using clean sterile tools). Include how the PA’s contribution to the case was important.

Format

Minimum word count of 1500; maximum word count of 3000 – not including title page or references.
Submit the manuscript as a Word document.
- Font – Arial, 11 pt.
All text must be double-spaced with left sided text alignment.
Add an extra return between paragraphs.
Do not indent the first line of the paragraph.
All pages should be numbered consecutively starting with the title page as page 1.
Abbreviations.
- Except for units of measure, abbreviations are discouraged. Except for units of measure, the first time an abbreviation is used, it should be preceded by the words for which it stands for.
If a brand name is cited, supply the manufacturer’s name and address (city, state, and country).
Do not include names of hospitals or clinics.
Please only use patient information truly relevant to the diagnosis or staging of the case. Follow HIPAA and CAP guidelines in regards to relevancy.
When using acronyms, spell out the full name on the first use followed by the acronym in parentheses.
In order to keep the review process anonymous, do not include the author’s name within the body of the manuscript.
The general format of the manuscript is as follows:
- Title Page – include:
  - Complete manuscript title
- Abstract
  - Separate page following the title page
  - Limit the abstract to 200 words or less
  - State the objectives, methods, results obtained, and conclusions drawn
  - List 3 to 5 key words or phrases
- Text – organize the manuscript into four sections
  - Introduction
  - Pertinent Patient History
  - Pathologic Findings
  - Discussion
- References
- Titles and legends to figures.

Images and Figures

Important: Images and/or figures should be submitted as a separate file (do not embed the photos within the Word document).
A minimum of one photomicrograph and one macroscopic photograph will be required to complement the macroscopic examination of cancer cases; maximum of four total.
JPEG and TIFF files are standard format.
Resolution should be at least 300 dpi.
Number the images according to the order in which they are referenced within the text.
Captions must be submitted.
Figures should be labeled sequentially, numbered, and cited in the text.
Figure legends should be printed and double-spaced on a separate page entitled ‘Titles and legends to figures’.
Figures should be referred to in the text of the manuscript but should not be embedded in the text. The format within the text should be bold, (Fig. X), with “X” being the image number.
It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that a patient’s anonymity be protected.
If photographs of patients are used, they should either not be identifiable, or the photograph should be accompanied by written permission to use them.

References

References are required. References do not count toward the total word count.
References must be cited within the text and at the end of the manuscript.
References within the text should be listed in the order of citation, using superscript Arabic numerals. Separate the numbers with a comma, but no space. Three or more consecutive references can be shortened to a range of numbers.
References are to be inserted after the sentence period (ex. … end of sentence.^5,8)
References at the end of the text should be listed in the order of citation in a separate section at the end of the manuscript.
References should be cited in accordance with the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style .
Consult the AMA Manual of Style for complete information.
References must be typed double-spaced and numbered in the order of citation in the text.

Use

The winning manuscript will be published in a future issue of The Cutting Edge.
The remaining submissions may be published in The Cutting Edge, CE e-blasts, or in another format.

Student Delegate Award Details

The top manuscript winner will receive a plaque and be published in The Cutting Edge.

Questions