2013 Conference Paper Submission System Opens: Tips for Your Submission

by Emily Karsnak, ICA Conference & Membership Coordinator

Starting 1 September, the Paper Submission System for the ICA Annual Conference in London will open and all interested parties are invited to submit full papers, extended abstracts, interactive papers, extended session and panel proposals.  The system will remain open for 8 weeks until 1 November, 23:00 EST.

As You Prepare Your Submission, Consult the Call for Papers 

It is important to keep in mind that every division and interest group is different both in terms of subject matter and submission criteria. When deciding which section to apply to, make sure you understand the section’s scope.

Learn more about ICA's sections...

If you have any questions about whether your paper is a good fit for a particular section, you should e-mail the section leadership directly.

Each section sets its own submission criteria. A few sections will accept extended abstracts, many will not. Some set their own word limit; others follow ICA’s general guideline of 8,000 words. Be sure to consult the London Call for Papers (available in PDF and HTML) and read both the section’s call and ICA’s general guidelines. This is the first and most crucial step you can take to ensure that your paper is eligible for consideration.

New Guidelines

New this year, all submissions must be uploaded in PDF format. This added requirement eliminates file conversion issues and ensures that the final content and formatting of your paper is as you intended.

Introduced last year, please keep in mind that each submitter/presenter is limited to five (5) peer reviewed submissions per year, including papers and panels. This policy applies to all submissions, regardless of whether the submitter is listed as a first or seventh author. Submitting more than five submissions will disqualify the individual from consideration.

Submitter Pitfalls

Each year, there is a number of recurring submitter complications that can lead to a paper’s disqualification. Please note the following:

1.  All submissions must be anonymous: Your name, affiliation, or any identifying information cannot be listed anywhere (header, footer, title page, etc.) on the uploaded PDF.  If your name appears on your submission, section leaders have grounds to automatically reject your paper. 
   
   
2.  Avoid creating duplicate user profiles: If a submitter has more than one account with ICA, that submitter will not be able to gain access to submissions, read completed paper reviews, or upload revised papers. There are two very simple things a submitter can do to avoid creating a duplicate record: 1) When starting the submission process, always search for your name and record. By searching, you will know that you have located your record and also verify that no duplicate exists. Should you find more than one record for yourself, contact the ICA staff to merge these accounts before any of the aforementioned issues comes to pass. 2) If you are adding a coauthor or member of a panel to your submission, be sure to search thoroughly for his or her record before creating a new one. If the listed affiliation is not up-to-date, you should still add the record if you know it is for the same person. That individual can easily update the affiliation when signing into the Paper Submission System.

ICA is sensitive to the fact that the coming months are quite busy for many of our members. We strongly encourage early submissions to ensure that the ICA staff has ample time to answer any questions or problems that might arise. The system will remain open for 8 weeks until 1 November, 23:00 EST. In fairness to all submitters who meet the deadline, we will not accept any submissions past this date.  ICA will send out acceptance and rejection notifications in mid-January; at that time, conference registration will open.

If you have any questions as your prepare to submit, please send questions on call for papers directly to section leadership and all other questions to ICA staff at conference@icahdq.org.