Development Process for Academy Policy and Position Documents

The Academy official policy or position can be expressed via one of the following: Policy Statement, Position Statement, and Position Paper. How to determine when a Policy Statement, Position Statement, Position Paper is needed.

Before writing a statement or paper, please complete an appropriate proposal form listed below. The completed form should be submitted to the AAN Senior Policy Analyst who will review the proposal and (if no changes are required) forward it to the staff liaison of the appropriate committees/subcommittees for their review and approval.

Policy Statement Proposal Form
Position Statement Proposal Form
Position Paper Proposal Form

Once the proposal is approved, your next step is drafting the statement or paper. See Step 2: Draft.

Once the proposal is approved, the Senior Policy Analyst will ask the lead author (and any other contributing authors) to submit a disclosure form and sign a copyright letter. Please use an appropriate template below when developing a draft:

Policy Statement Template
Position Statement Template
Position Paper Template

The draft will be shared with each designated reviewing committee, subcommittee, and section (if applicable). If changes are required, the AAN Senior Policy Analyst will return the draft for revision.
If no changes are necessary, the AAN Senior Policy Analyst will forward the draft to the BOD for review. See Step 3: Approval.

The Board of Directors may approve; approve with edits; or reject the statement or paper. If changes are recommended by BOD members, the Senior Policy Analyst will relay those to the author.

If the statement or paper is approved by the BOD, the AAN Senior Policy Analyst will determine appropriate placement on AAN.com.

When appropriate, the staff liaison will need to work with the AAN Public Relations Department to develop the statement or paper dissemination strategy.

Note: If the sponsoring group is seeking to publish the statement or paper in one of the AAN's journals, the lead author will submit the statement or paper to the publication. The Journal has editorial independence from the Academy and is not obligated to publish any Academy papers or statements. If the statement or paper is not approved by the BOD, the lead author may, of course, still submit it to an AAN publication; however, it will not be considered an official position of the Academy.