Objectives of the HPHR Hackathon

• To bring together intellectually, technically, socioculturally, and/or geographically diverse teams which are highly motivated, enthusiastic, and action-oriented 
• To encourage solution-oriented thinking and foster problem-solving to public health problems.
• To provide multiple networking opportunities and opportunities for intellectual exchanges, and social engagements
• To provide quick publication opportunities for academicians and researchers

Eligibility

• Individuals must be part of the university, academic or institutional organization, and/or volunteer organization. 
• Individuals can be BCPH members or non-members. Members are able to participate in the hackathon for free.  Non-BCPH members must pay a fee of $20 for the hackathon.
• Participants can be in any professional field, including public health, medicine, law, business, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering, photography, and more.

General Rules and Procedures

• Participation in the HPHR Hackathon must be in the form of groups.  Groups can be formed BEFORE or DURING the HPHR Hackathon.  Groups must consist of 2 to 5 people and can be from any professional background. 
• Individuals can join multiple groups. Group participation is unlimited. However, individuals must contribute substantively to each group they join.
• Groups can participate in an unlimited number of categories and submit an unlimited number of manuscripts or photo-essays.
• Each submission by a group must include a written or photo-essay along with a corresponding pitch deck.
• Groups will deliver a LIVE pitch on the last day of the hackathon. One member from each group must be present during the LIVE pitch.
• Only one member of your group needs to register the team in the group registration.  
• Groups will remain FINAL once submitted. New group registration forms or forms with errors must notify HPHR Hackathon administrators at [email protected].
• If a group elects to submit multiple submissions, each submission must be individualized and not submitted together on Scholastica.
• Participants must attend at least one of the networking events.
• Participants can receive a recorded version of the instructions for the HPHR Hackathon upon request.
• Participants must meet on the designated HPHR Zoom room with their team at least twice during the hackathon –  once during group formation, and once during writing/planning sessions
• During the LIVE pitch, one member from each group must be present
• Any situations which require additional accommodations must be requested by written request to [email protected].
• BCPH will provide Zoom space for brainstorming, planning, and writing sessions which will be available for 24/7 during the entirety of the HPHR Hackathon.

Written Essays

• Must be submitted with a cover letter.
• Written essays must be in the areas of Covid-19, Maternal and child health, Surgery and public health, Vulnerable communities, and/or environmental justice.  
• Written essays must range from 750 to 1000 words. Essays under or over the word limit will be immediately disqualified with no exceptions. Word limit does not include the title, references, or words used in the description of figures, tables, and images.
• One written essay may be submitted for a maximum of two categories (e.g. COVID-19 and vulnerable communities). The group must choose judiciously what those categories are. 
• AMA referencing style must be utilized. 5 references are required as a minimum.  There is no maximum number of references. 
• Infographics, photos, and illustrations are highly encouraged with written essays. 
• Each group must clearly identify a specific problem related to one or two of the five categorical areas.  These problems can be political, economic, social, technological,  entrepreneurial, legal, environmental, economics, or multifactorial.
• Each group must clearly design a novel and/or creative solution to the specified problem.  These solutions must adhere to the SMARTER acronym, specifically Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Relevant, Time-bound, Exciting, and Realistic solutions.
• Winning written essays will be published within HPHR Journal for FREE by April 2022. Winners will be highlighted in BCPH/HPHR newsletter and awards recognized. See award section for more details.

Photo Essays

• Must be submitted with a cover letter.
• Photo essays must be in the areas of Covid-19, Maternal and child health, Surgery and public health, Vulnerable communities, and/or environmental justice.  
• Photo essays must contain 10 to 20 photos as well as an accompanying 300 words description. 
• Photo essays may be submitted for a maximum of two categories,  so the group must choose judiciously what those categories are.
• Winning photo essays will be published within HPHR Journal for FREE by April 2022. Winners will be highlighted in BCPH/HPHR newsletter. See award section for more details.

Pitches

• Each pitch must be five slides maximum and in the form of PowerPoint. 
• The pitch can be submitted along with the written essay or photo-essay as a single document or as a separate document. If submitted as a single document, the PPT slides should be embedded on a word document accompanying the written or photo essay.
• One pitch slide must include the problem in 1-2 areas: Covid-19, maternal and child health, surgery and public health, vulnerable communities, and environmental health/justice
• One pitch slide must include the solution.
• One pitch side must include implications for health equity and/or social justice.
• The other slides may include germane images, statistics, graphics or other background information.
• Presentations must not exceed 7 minutes in entirety.
• Winning pitches will be published on the HPHR Journal website for FREE by April 2022. Winners will be highlighted in BCPH/HPHR newsletter. See award section for more details.

Disqualifications

• Written essays, photo essays, and pitches cannot be published elsewhere. 
• Lack of permission/credit given in the use of quotes, citations, or photos 
• Not using AMA referencing
• Submission of written essays, photo essays, or pitches with group members under 2 people and over 5 people
• Submission of written essays, photo essays, or pitches with group members that have not officially registered for the HPHR Hackathon
• Significant grammatical on punctuation errors
• Obscene or profane language
• Derogatory or stigmatizing language images
• Plagiarism of any kind
• Participants cannot be designated mentors during the HPHR Hackathon
• Participants cannot be designated judges during the HPHR Hackathon

Further Guidelines

• Written essays, photo-essays, and pitches must be submitted to Scholastica.  
• The titles of each submission should be Hackathon_(written essay/ photo essay)_(covid-19/maternal/surgery/vulnerable/environment)_TITLE
  • E.g. Hackathon_written essay_maternal_Endometrical cancer treatment disparities in Southeast Asia
  • E.g. Hackathon_photoessay_Covid-19_Doctors in the trenches

• All submissions must have a cover letter.  The cover letter must contain the following: 
  • Chosen topic area(s): Covid-19, Surgery and public health, Environmental Health and Justice, Maternal and Child Health, and/or Vulnerable Communities
  • Article or photo essay TITLE
  • Names and credentials of all authors within the group
  • 1-2 sentence professional biographies (this does NOT include resumes or curriculum vitaes)
  • Professional headshot photo for each group member (only one person in photo, no graduation photos), 
  • Number of words for written essays; number of photos for photo-essays
  • Type of submission: written or photo essay
  • one sentence explicitly stating the public health problem  
  • one sentence explicitly stating the solution
  • Keywords for written essay or photo-essay
• All submissions must have AMA references at the end of the article in the form of a bibliography.
• The pitch must be included with the submission of the written essay or photo essay.  The pitch may be in the same document (embedded PDF files on a word document) or separate document (PPT file)
• Font for written essays and photo-essays: at least 11 pt Times New Roman font.
• Submit your article file using Microsoft Word (i.e., .doc or .docx file)
• Authors are responsible for securing rights as necessary to reproduce previously published images, tables, and figures and ensuring that they are credited appropriately where applicable.
• DO NOT submit written essays with line numbers
• DO NOT submit PDFs or Google doc links.
• DO NOT include any page numbers on submissions
• DO NOT include any endnotes in submissions
• DO NOT include footnotes in submissions
• DO NOT include headers or footers in submissions

Figures
Figures should be configured as follows:  

• Figures are to be placed on separate pages of the article file with legends placed below each figure.
• Figures should be at least 300 DPI, submitted as JPEG, PNG, EPS, or SVG files.
• Figures ideally should be submitted with a transparent background.
• Figures should be titled consecutively according to the order they appear in the text.
• Titles are to appear above the figure, in bold, Times New Roman, 12 point font.
• Legends are to appear directly after the image, single-spaced, in Times New Roman, 12 pt font.
• Titles and legends should NOT be part of the image, but inserted as text in the document, above and below the figure image, respectively.
• Text within figures should be single-spaced, in Times New Roman, 10 point font.

Tables
Tables should be created in Word and configured as follows: 

• Tables are to be placed at the end of the submission
• Tables should be created using Word (do not submit them as images).
• Tables are to be numbered consecutively according to the order of citation in the text.
• Titles are to be set above the table in bold Times New Roman, 12 pt font.
• Table text and data are to be set in Times New Roman, 10 pt font, single space.
• Legends are to be included below in non-bold Times New Roman, 8 pt font, and single-spaced.
• DO NOT submit tables as images. 

Images and Other Media
Images and other media that are not part of figures may be submitted as follows: 

• Images should be inserted on separate pages of the article.
• Image files should be at least 300 DPI, submitted as JPEG, PNG, EPS, or SVG files. 
• Images ideally should be submitted with a transparent background.
• Images should be titled consecutively according to the order they appear in the text.
• Titles are to appear above the figure, in bold, Times New Roman, 12 point font.
• Legends must appear directly after the image, single-spaced, in Times New Roman, 12 pt font.
• Titles and legends should NOT be part of the image, but inserted as text in the document, above and below the figure image, respectively.
• Text within figures should be single-spaced, in Times New Roman, 10 point font.

Photographs

• HPHR Journal requires written permission or a signed waiver form for all images depicting individuals, except in the case of crowd scenes or when persons are not identifiable.
• If selected for publication, HPHR will require copies of all permissions paperwork; photographs must be submitted as PNG or TIFF files of 300 DPI or higher.

Awards
The following awards will be presented to the winners of the HPHR Hackathon 2022:

• Next Generation Public Health Award – This will be awarded to the top submission in any category written essay, photo essay, or pitch

   

   

• Best Written Essays categories in Covid-19, maternal and child health, vulnerable communities, environmental health and justice, and Surgery and public health

   

   

• Best Photo Essays in Covid-19, maternal and child health, vulnerable communities, environmental health and justice, and Surgery and public health

   

   

• Best Pitch in in Covid-19, maternal and child health, vulnerable communities, environmental health and justice, and Surgery and public health

   

   

HPHR Hackathon Mentors

• Help with brainstorming and group formation
• Facilitate networking and clarify the rules of the HPHR hackathon.
• Must be available for leading a networking session during the Hackathon period
• Receive the following benefits: expanding one’s network
• Cannot be a participant in the HPHR Journal Hackathon
• Cannot be a judge in the HPHR Journal Hackathon

For additional questions and to sign up, please email [email protected].

HPHR Hackathon Judges

• Can judge within any given area of written and photo essays (e.g. Covid-19, surgery and public health, maternal and child health, environmental health, and vulnerable communities)
• Receive the following benefits: expanding knowledge about public health areas of interest; learning of the potential innovation solutions within public health; and utilizing expertise in finding the next generation of public health leaders
• Cannot be a participant in the HPHR Journal Hackathon
• Cannot be a mentor in the HPHR Journal Hackathon
• Will receive training and a scorecard for judging competition areas
• Do not have to be present during the Hackathon, but will need to submit judging scorecards by the deadline. 

For additional questions and to sign up, please email [email protected].