A paper should be an original piece of research that would be considered on the path to publication in your field. Selected papers are presented orally on-site at the conference and written copies are shared with fellow conference participants about a month in advance of the conference.

Paper proposal submissions require an author, three tags, a title, an abstract, and an indication of any potential times the author(s) would not be available to present. Abstracts are limited to 200 words, titles are limited to 50 words, and all co-authors must be listed. Please note that it is the submitter's responsibility to ensure that everyone included in the paper proposal has confirmed their interest, willingness, and commitment to participate in it prior to the paper's submission. Failure to obtain permission in advance from any and all included in the paper proposal will result in its full rejection.

Individual paper submissions are reviewed by the Program Chairs, and selected papers are grouped into thematic sessions/panels. Papers submitted on a panel will be reviewed in the context of the complete panel submission, rather than individually. Note that if your paper is submitted as part of a panel, you should not submit the paper independently a second time.

Panels group together 5 papers and include a chair and a discussant. During a panel session, each paper is presented by the author(s) and time in the session is reserved for discussion amongst panelists and audience, led by the discussant.

Panel proposal submissions must have a title (less than 50 words), abstract (less than 200 words), tag words, at least 1 chair and discussant, and 5 papers (complete with their own title, tags, abstract and authors). Please note that it is the submitter's responsibility to ensure that everyone included in the panel proposal (i.e., chair(s), discussant(s), and authors) has confirmed their interest, willingness, and commitment to participate in it prior to the panel's submission. Failure to obtain permission in advance from any and all included in the panel proposal will result in its full rejection.

Panels will be reviewed by ISA Program Chairs for inclusion on the program.

Papers submitted on panels should not be submitted a second time independently of the panel. If the panel is not accepted, the included papers will be considered for individual placement from the waitlist after the program is announced.

Roundtables are discussion-centered sessions with high audience engagement. Roundtables do not include papers and follow a less-structured format than standard panels. Roundtable chairs coordinate with fellow participants to determine organize the session. Roundtables require a title, an abstract, tag words, a chair and at least five participants (with no more than 2 chairs, 3 discussants and 10 participants), and an indication of which group should review them. Titles need to be less than 50 words and abstracts need to be less than 200 words.

Please note that it is the submitter's responsibility to ensure that everyone included in their roundtable proposal (i.e., chair(s), discussant(s), and participants) has confirmed their interest, willingness, and commitment to participate in it prior to the roundtable's submission. Failure to obtain permission in advance from any and all included in your proposal will result in its full rejection.

As a part of the proposal process, submitters will be asked to review potential times and indicate where they (and any fellow proposal participants) WOULD NOT BE AVAILABLE to present. ISA is asking for this information to attempt to accommodate participants. Proposers are responsible for gathering this information on behalf of themselves and their fellow proposal participants in advance of submiting proposals to the conference. (Please note, we cannot guarantee scheduling or placement around any restrictions you indicate here, but they will be considered.)

The following will be time slots that proposers can indicate unavailability. (All times are in US Eastern Daylight Savings time.)

1. 4:00-6:00 AM EDT
2. 6:00-8:00 AM EDT
3. 8:00-10:00 AM EDT
4. 10:00 AM-12:00 PM EDT
5. 12:00-2:00 PM EDT
6. 2:00-4:00 PM EDT
7. 4:00-6:00 PM EDT
8. 6:00-8:00 PM EDT
9. 8:00-10:00 PM EDT
10. 10:00 PM-12:00 AM EDT

There are a number of different roles available to prospective program participants.

Chair: A Chair is either submitted as part of a panel/roundtable or will be added as part of the panel building process by program reviewers. Participants can indicate their willingness to serve in these roles via the Submission page. The exact role of the chair varies somewhat depending on the specific program item. [More on the Chair Role]

Discussant:A Discussant is either submitted as part of a panel/roundtable or will be added as part of the panel building process by program reviewers. Discussants are charged with commenting on the research/discussion presented during a session and participants can indicate their willingness to serve in these roles via the Submission page. [More on the Discussant Role]

Author: Paper proposals require at least one author. Individuals listed as an author on a paper proposal should be directly contributing to the paper, project, and/or research that the proposer wishes to present. All co-authors should be listed on proposals. Only papers can have authors associated with them.

Participant: Participants is a general role associated with roundtable proposal types. This role should expect to present, discuss and/or participate in some manner on the content of a roundtable/session as a whole, rather than on a specific paper.

Looking for more information on Chair & Discussant Roles?

In addition to submitting a proposal, we have a number of other ways you can get involved with the program and placements on the program for which you can volunteer. Chairs and discussants are integral to the conference experience, ensuring thoughtful discussion and valuable feedback for conference participants. You will be asked to identify for the roles in which you are willing to serve and your areas of expertise.

Looking for more information on Chair & Discussant Roles?

Chair: A Chair's primary responsibility is to ensure a successful and smooth-functioning session, not only with regard to onsite participation but also coordination in advance of the conference - among panelists, the Program Chairs, and ISA-HQ. You can select to serve as a panel chair on the main submissions page. [More on the Chair Role]

Discussant: A Discussant's primary responsibility is to ensure a rich engagement with the intellectual work of panelists, providing thorough and constructive feedback of each panelists’ research essay, paper, or presentation submitted to the discussant before the event. You can select to serve as a panel discussant on the submissions page. [More on the Discussant Role]

All proposals should be submitted via the ISAnet system at www.isanet.org/Conferences/Virtual-2025/Submissions.

We recommend that all proposal participants create an ISAnet account (or verify that they can access their ISAnet account) as soon as possible so that there are no delays in the proposal submission process. Please note: ISAnet accounts and ISA paid memberships are separate, and an ISA membership is not required to create an ISAnet account nor for proposal submission or program placement.

You can Create An ISA Account here, in advance of initiating the proposal.

Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that everyone included in your proposal (i.e., chair, discussant, author, participant, etc.) has confirmed their interest, willingness, and commitment to participate in it prior to its submission. Failure to obtain permission in advance from any and all included in your proposal will result in its full rejection.

If you have any questions, contact us at isa@isanet.org.

The submission deadline is Saturday, March 15, 2025.

Submit Today!