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Conference Submission Types
INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSIONS
*Consult the Division’s or Interest Group’s submission guidelines within their calls for papers for specific guidance by DIG and to discover what DIGs accept which types of submissions.
Extended Abstract An extended abstract should contain references, comparisons to related work, proofs of key theorems, and other details found in an extended paper.
Full Paper 8,000 words maximum, not including tables and references, unless Division or Interest Group guidelines state otherwise. (Where ICA guidelines and Division or Interest Group guidelines differ, the Division or Interest Group guidelines will prevail.)
GIFTS; Great Ideas for Teaching Students Scholars may submit ideas for effectively teaching communication concepts and/or contexts (e.g., health communication, research methods, theory, gender, organizational communication, PR, responsible leadership, management). Accepted GIFTS are presented in high-density panels consisting of 1-2-minute oral previews of the GIFT and roundtable discussions with attendees.
Interactive Paper (Poster) Presentations Most Divisions and Interest Groups accept poster presentations. A poster presentation is a paper you would like considered for presentation at an interactive poster session. Some research lends itself well to this style of presentation. If your poster presentation is accepted, you will be expected to prepare a poster display of your research for presentation at the conference. Please note that any presentation may be accepted as a poster even if it was submitted as a paper presentation; this is at the discretion of the DIv/IG planner. For all poster sessions, the presenter will be expected to be available at their poster location for the duration of the 75-minute poster session (these occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). There is a “Top Poster” and “Honorable Mention” ribbon awarded for each day’s poster session.
Interdivisional

Interdivisional submissions can take the form of individual papers or fully formed panel sessions; extended abstracts will not be accepted. Previously submitted/published material is not eligible. All submissions will be reviewed by members of a committee comprising reviewers from all 33 divisions and interest groups. When submitting, please ensure the keywords you select include the names of the division/interest group(s) to which your submission corresponds. 

Submitting a fully formed panel: please note that as always, an interdivisional panel must encompass a minimum of THREE (3) different divisions or interest groups in order to qualify as sufficiently “interdivisional.” Be sure to choose the names of these three DIGs as your keywords to aid us in assigning reviewers.

Submitting a paper: Individual interdivisional paper submissions do not have to encompass three divisions/interest groups, but should select any DIGs to which they do correspond as their keyword(s). They will be grouped, if accepted, into interdivisional sessions by the conference chair, Dr. Thomas Hanitzsch.
Session Paper This individual submission is submitted within a session proposal, and so cannot be submitted alone through the individual submission track.Only the session submitter will input this paper into the system.
Works in Progress Works in progress reflect ongoing research that has not yet reached full completion stage but has a structure and enough substance (an argument, methods, a reference list, preliminary results, or preliminary conclusions) for review. These submissions need to be clearly labeled as “Work in Progress” on the cover page. Unorganized first drafts do not qualify as “works in progress.”
Research Escalator Extended Abstract The Research Escalator session is a mentorship opportunity for early career scholars, those new to ICA, or scholars with a work-in-progress to receive feedback and support on a project that is being developed, with the intent of helping the work toward future stages of the knowledge sharing process (e.g., publication or conference presentation).
Preregistration The design and analysis plan for the reported research is preregistered in a public, open-access repository.
Theme session Both individual papers and full panels can be submitted to the theme, which is named each year by the incoming president-elect and becomes the title of the conference and its Call for Papers. Theme submissions are revised and accepted by the theme committee; please reference the call for papers for guidance. For ICA25, all accepted theme submissions will be presented as hybrid sessions.


SESSION PROPOSALS
*Consult the Division’s or Interest Group’s submission guidelines within their calls for papers for specific information and to see who accepts what.
Blue Sky: Big Ideas Session Blue Sky Workshops (BSWs) aim to engage participants in critical discussions of current concerns within the discipline; exploration of theories, concepts, or methods; the collective development of new research strategies; or best-practice recommendations for a particular subfield of communication.
Blue Sky: SECAC Skills Workshop Organized by senior scholars for an early-career audience or by SECAC officers themselves, these workshops are meant to provide a “track” for career skills for students/early-career attendees in topics such as job hunting; Vitae formatting; interview/job talk skills; and paper presentation best practices.
Blue Sky: Administrator Workshop These sessions are meant for support or presentations around administrator issues such as helping students through difficult times; leading with compassion; recruitment of faculty; or how to attract diverse candidates.
Blue Sky: Professional Development Workshop These sessions are meant for support or presentations around administrator issues such as helping students through difficult times; leading with compassion; recruitment of faculty; or how to attract diverse candidates.
Blue Sky: Pedagogical Workshop Workshops related to teaching topics such as designing effective assignments or developing best practices for leading group discussions in a hybrid environment.
Corporate Spotlight Session ICA allows registered exhibitors/sponsors to host paid sessions at the conference, only if there is space available after scheduling all juried sessions.
Extended Session This double session (two and a half hours) may be utilized in a variety of ways. These MUST be labeled as Extended Sessions in all caps at the beginning of the title, so that they are scheduled with the appropriate amount of time allotted.
High-Density Paper Session Different from the typical paper session which has four presenters (15 minutes each) and a 15-minute Q&A for a total of 75 minutes, high-density sessions are those in which each speaker has fewer minutes to present because there are a greater number of scholars on the panel (typically 8 presenters but can be anywhere from 6-10).
High-Density Breakout Session Sessions in which presenters each speak for a few minutes (offering a “teaser presentation”) and then retire to the back of the room at one of several tables provided, to participate in a more interpersonal interaction about their work with audience members who choose to join their table to hear more.
Innovative Format A session in which presenters are asked to give a brief (5-minute) “teaser” of their work followed by 5 minutes of feedback from a mentor.
Interdivisional Panels If a panel is broad enough to truly encompass three or more divisions/interest groups, it may be submitted as an interdivisional panel (for judgment by the planner) rather than to any one division/IG. Please be aware that if a panel is not sufficiently multidisciplinary in nature (i.e. if it is "mostly" within one division with a taste of overlap into one other division) it will not be accepted as an interdivisional panel, and should instead be submitted to the division/IG it best fits. Interdivisional submissions can take the form of individual papers or fully formed panel sessions. For ICA25, all accepted interdivisional panels will be presented as hybrid sessions. Interdivisional submissions will be reviewed by members on a committee including reviewers from all 33 divisions and interest groups, and sessions will be assembled from accepted submissions by the conference chair. When submitting, ensure that the keywords you select include the names of the division/interest group(s) to which your submission corresponds.
Mixed High-Density Session Presenters are asked to give a brief (3-minute) “teaser” of their work. This teaser does not cover the entirety of the paper but instead highlights the key questions that the work answers. Presenters may choose to use PowerPoint (maximum of 5 slides), but this is not required (the A/V equipment is available nonetheless). Then, after all presentations, the session changes to a poster session (or other interactive presentation) where presenters can more deeply present their work to small groups or in one-to-one discussions with audience members. Posters may not be attached to the wall.
Panel Session A coordinated paper session that is submitted for consideration as a panel instead of as individual papers. The typical paper panel comprises four presenters of full papers (15 minutes each) with a respondent and a 15-minute Q&A for a total of 75 minutes.
Partner Panel A panel hosted by an association organization. Any association member of ICA is entitled to hold one free educational session during the ICA conference. Learn more.
Poster session A session in which participants present papers in poster format and interact with attendees in an interpersonal setting. These occur once during each of the first three days of the conference, for 75 minutes. Authors are expected to attend their poster to interact with viewers during the entirety of the 75-minute session. Ribbons are awarded for Top Poster and Honorable Mention for each of the three days.
Pre/postconference Only after a pre/postconference has been accepted through the proposal form outside of the management website, should the organizer enter their pre/postconference into the paper management website. Accepted pre/post conferences will be invited to submit their work on the website via an email from conference@icahdq.org. Pre & post conferences can be held onsite or offsite and can utilize varying levels of support from ICA headquarters. More information can be found in the pre/postconferences guidelines.
Research Escalator session Developed by the Children, Adolescents, and the Media Division, Research Escalator Sessions provide scholars an opportunity for less developed research to be presented and discussed (with the goal of making the paper ready for submission to a conference or journal) with experts in the field. Submitters will present their project (no slides) in a short 2-minute presentation. Then, submitters will meet with their mentors in one-on-one mentorship meetings to discuss their feedback on the manuscript (audience members are welcome and encouraged to attend these conversations as well). At the end of the session, all regroup, and submitters will give a short “recap” of new directions/goals as well as highlight the main points they took away from their mentorship sessions. To get a feel for these sessions, be sure to check out CAM’s video online - https://youtu.be/Pypa_EYuGG8
Roundtable discussion A gathering of scholars with similar research interests for in-depth, focused discussion/exploration, including an audience Q&A. The participants do not submit individual papers as with a panel session, but the submitter should describe the focus of the proposed discussion and describe/justify the expertise of the proposed speakers.
Standard paper session A session in which presenters (usually 4 to 5) give oral research presentations, followed by commentary from a Chair/Respondent and an audience Q&A. Typically this is four authors for 15 minutes each, with a 15 minute Q&A to fill the total 75-minute allotment.
Theme session Both individual papers and full panels can be submitted to the theme, which is named each year by the incoming president-elect and becomes the title of the conference and its Call for Papers. Theme submissions are revised and accepted by the theme committee; please reference the call for papers for guidance. For ICA25, all accepted theme submissions will be presented as hybrid sessions.


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