ACS Fall Meeting: Chemistry Conference Guide

The ACS Fall Meeting is one of the two national meetings the American Chemical Society holds each year, alongside the ACS Spring Meeting. Presenters submit abstracts through the society’s Meeting Abstracts Programming System (MAPS), and technical divisions organize the sessions. This guide covers how abstract submission works, the membership and prior-publication rules, division travel awards, and how the national meetings relate to regional and division events in chemistry. Details below are as described on the official pages on 2026-11-07, and individual divisions set their own policies.

What it is and who runs it

The ACS Fall Meeting is organized by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Together with the Spring Meeting it forms the ACS national meeting series. Technical programming is built by ACS divisions, such as the Division of Organic Chemistry (ORGN) and the Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE), which sponsor sessions and symposia, arrange accepted papers by subject, and run their own awards. Abstract submission for ACS meetings goes through MAPS, which is powered by ScholarOne Abstracts and lists each meeting and regional meeting separately, marking those that are closed to submissions.

Eligibility

The requirements below come from the Division of Organic Chemistry’s guidelines for ORGN-sponsored sessions at ACS national meetings. Other divisions may add their own rules, so check the division you plan to submit to.

Society membership: At least one author of each paper must be a member of the American Chemical Society, unless all the authors are not chemists or engineers residing in the United States.
Prior publication: Under the Organic Division policy, a paper should not appear in print in a journal before presentation, other than as a communication to the editor. If a manuscript is accepted before the meeting, authors should ask the editor to schedule publication in an issue circulated after the meeting. Responsibility for following this policy rests with the authors. For how preprints fit with your own plans, see the ChemRxiv guide and check the division’s policy first.
Travel award eligibility: For the Organic Division awards, applicants must be members or affiliates of the division and must be presenting at the meeting with an abstract submitted to ORGN.

What it funds or requires

Division travel awards: The Division of Organic Chemistry makes travel awards of $600 each for graduate students, undergraduate students, and faculty at predominantly undergraduate institutions presenting at ACS national meetings. Scientific merit of the paper is considered, and each institution or department is limited in how many recipients it can have. Other divisions run their own awards; for example, PMSE gives a graduate student travel award for ACS national meetings in its division.
Other funding: Researchers often cover attendance from research grants or institutional funds. See the guide to ACS grants and research funding for the society’s funding programs.
Presentation format: Presentations are oral or poster. The Organic Division’s guidelines state that oral presentations are allotted 20 minutes and suggest no more than ten slides, and that poster boards measure 4 by 6 feet, with contents readable from at least four feet.
Formatting standards: Abstract and manuscript conventions are covered in chemistry manuscript writing conventions.

Application or compliance steps

For general advice on writing the abstract itself, see how to submit a conference abstract. The steps below follow the Organic Division’s notes to authors.

Open MAPS: Go to maps.acs.org and select the meeting from the list.
Choose the division and session: Select the session sponsored by the division that matches your research. Extended abstracts are no longer required for ORGN sessions.
Record your ID and password: Keep the ID number and password MAPS displays so you can edit your abstract or submit to more than one session without creating duplicates.
Format the title and graphics: Write the title in lower case except for the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper names or acronyms. Submit images as TIFF files created at 300 dpi, saved directly from the drawing program.
Enter authors and affiliations: Give authors from the same institution the same address to avoid redundant addresses in the abstract.
Check the format selection: Make sure the oral or poster choice and the session agree with your intended format. If you are submitting multiple papers, say so in the comments so scheduling conflicts can be avoided.
Submit and keep the receipt: MAPS generates a receipt for a successful submission.

Typical timeline phases

Exact dates change with each meeting, so check MAPS and the division pages for the current cycle. The phases are:

Submission: MAPS lists the meeting and shows whether it is open or closed to submissions. Travel award deadlines are set by each division and can fall close to the abstract deadline.
Programming: Divisions arrange papers by subject. The presenting author is notified of the half-day session to which the paper is assigned, or that it cannot be accepted.
Format decisions: If an oral presentation is requested but the topic does not fit an oral session, or requests are very numerous, the paper may be moved to a poster session. With no preference stated, the paper is placed in an oral or poster session depending on the topic.
Award decisions: The Organic Division notes that its award review takes several weeks after the deadline, and all applicants are notified of the committee decision.

Common mistakes

No ACS member among the authors: The membership requirement applies to every contributed paper in ORGN sessions.
Publishing the full paper first: Appearing in print in a journal before the talk, other than as a communication to the editor, goes against the Organic Division policy.
Mismatched format and session: Selecting an oral or poster option that does not match the chosen session causes confusion.
Unflagged multiple submissions: Not noting multiple papers in the comments makes scheduling conflicts more likely.
Waiting on acceptance to apply for travel support: The Organic Division states that the abstract does not need to be accepted before applying for its travel award, so applicants can use the submitted abstract.
Several applicants from one institution: The Organic Division allows only one nominee per institution per award, so contact your advisor early.

Related programs

Meeting / Program	Host	Notes from the official pages
ACS Fall Meeting	American Chemical Society	National meeting; abstracts through MAPS; division-sponsored sessions
ACS Spring Meeting	American Chemical Society	The other national meeting of the year; listed in MAPS in the same way
ACS regional meetings	American Chemical Society	Listed in MAPS separately from the national meetings (for example Midwest and Central regional meetings)
National Organic Chemistry Symposium (NOS)	ACS Division of Organic Chemistry	Division-run meeting listed on the division’s meetings pages
Graduate Research Symposium (GRS)	ACS Division of Organic Chemistry	Division-run symposium listed on the division’s meetings pages

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the ACS Fall Meeting and the ACS Spring Meeting?

Both are ACS national meetings, and abstracts for both are submitted through MAPS. They differ in the season in which they are held and in their host city and program for each year. See the MAPS site for the meetings currently listed.

Do I have to be an ACS member to present at the ACS Fall Meeting?

Under the Organic Division’s guidelines for national meetings, at least one author of each paper must be an ACS member, unless all authors are not chemists or engineers residing in the United States. Check the guidelines of the division you submit to.

Can I submit more than one abstract?

The Organic Division’s notes to authors allow multiple papers and ask authors to indicate this in the comments so scheduling conflicts can be avoided. Use the ID and password MAPS gives you to avoid duplicate submissions.

Does my abstract have to be accepted before I apply for a travel award?

For the Organic Division travel awards, no. Applicants can use the submitted MAPS abstract, which must identify the ORGN division and the speaker. Other divisions have their own rules.

Is an ACS Fall Meeting presentation a publication?

Presentation and publication are separate. The Organic Division asks that a paper not appear in print in a journal before presentation, apart from a communication to the editor.

Sources

American Chemical Society. Meeting Abstracts Programming System (MAPS). https://maps.acs.org/ (date checked 2026-11-07).
ACS Division of Organic Chemistry. Abstract Submission Guidelines. https://www.organicdivision.org/meetingsupport/acsmeetings/abstractsubmissionguidelines/ (date checked 2026-11-07).
ACS Division of Organic Chemistry. Travel Awards. https://www.organicdivision.org/meetingsupport/acsmeetings/travelawards/ (date checked 2026-11-07).
ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE). https://pmsedivision.org/ (date checked 2026-11-07).