Call for Papers

Key Information
  • Conference Dates: Sunday, May 11, 2025 to Friday, May 16, 2025
  • Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: November 29, 2024*
  • Final Abstract Submission Deadline: February 14, 2025
  • Results of abstract review returned to authors: Generally within four weeks
  • Full conference registration fees due for all presenters: March 27, 2025
  • Full conference paper submission (after the event): June 20, 2025

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

The Conference Programme Committee is calling for abstract submissions. To present your research at the conference your abstract must first pass a double-blind peer review. Upon payment of registration fees, your attendance at the conference will be confirmed. Submit well before the submission deadline in order to benefit from Early Bird or Advanced Registration rates.


Submission Streams

The Conference Programme Committee welcomes papers from a wide variety of interdisciplinary and theoretical perspectives, and submissions are organised into the streams and sub-streams listed below:

Arts

  • Teaching and Learning the Arts
  • Arts Policy, Management and Advocacy
  • Arts Theory and Criticism
  • Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts
  • Visual Arts Practices
  • Performing Arts Practices: Theater, Dance, Music
  • Literary Arts Practices
  • Media Arts Practices: Television, Multimedia, Digital, Online and Other New Media
  • Other Arts

Humanities

  • Media, Film Studies, Theatre, Communication
  • Aesthetics, Design
  • Language, Linguistics
  • Knowledge
  • Philosophy, Ethics, Consciousness
  • History, Historiography
  • Literature/Literary Studies*
  • Political Science, Politics
  • Teaching and Learning
  • Globalisation
  • Ethnicity, Difference, Identity
  • Immigration, Refugees, Race, Nation
  • First Nations and Indigenous Peoples
  • Sexuality, Gender, Families
  • Religion, Spirituality
  • Cyberspace, Technology
  • Science, Environment and the Humanities
  • Other Humanities

IAFOR's Conference Themes for 2025-2029

Our selected themes for 2025-2029 bring together ideas and encourage research and synergies in the following areas:

  • Technology and Artificial Intelligence
  • Humanity and Human Intelligence
  • Global Citizenship and Education for Peace
  • Leadership
  • Our four themes can be seen as standalone themes, but they are also very much in conversation with each other. Themes may be seen as corollaries, complementary, or in opposition/juxtaposition with each other. The themes can be considered as widely as possible and are designed, in keeping with our mission, to encourage ideas across the disciplines.


    How to Submit Your Abstract

    • Before you Begin
      The corresponding author must collect and enter the following information for the abstract submission:
      - Contact data - Correct spelling of first and last name, rank, affiliation, affiliation country
      - Paper Title - Full paper title for the presentation
      - Paper Abstract - 250-word abstract
    • To submit, go to IAFOR's online submission system.
    • Login or Create your account
      Your email address will be used as your username and you will be asked to ​create a password. Please be aware that the information you enter when creating your account will be used for official Letters of Acceptance, Letters of Invitation, and Conference Programmes, so please ensure correct spelling of names, affiliated institutions, and so forth.
    • Submit your Proposal
      Submit your abstract (maximum 250 words), choosing from the available presentation formats listed below (Oral, Poster​, Panel, Workshop, Live-Stream, ​or Virtual).
    • Initial Screening
      Your submission will be checked by staff to ensure it conforms to accepted academic norms, and to screen out incomplete submissions. After the initial screening has been completed you will receive a notification by email. Submissions are assigned a submission number at this stage and you can check on the status of your abstract submission by logging in to the online submission system. The status is displayed in the "Your Submissions" area.
    • Review
      Your submission will undergo double-blind peer and a final review by the Programme Committee.
    • Result Notification
      A result notification will usually be sent to you generally within four weeks. If your abstract is accepted you will be invited to register for the conference. A Letter of Acceptance will be available for download from "Your Submissions" area in the online submission system.
    • Registration
      Conference registration is open on the conference website. All individuals who wish to present at the conference, are required to submit conference registration payment by the registration deadline. Upon payment of the registration fee, you will receive a confirmation email containing your official receipt. The submission WILL NOT appear in the Printed Programme unless at least one author of the submission is registered by the registration deadline.


    Presentation Formats

    Oral Presentation (25 minutes)

    This is the standard presentation format. In an oral presentation the presenter delivers their research to their audience verbally, often accompanied by a PowerPoint slideshow. Oral presentations are generally organised by stream into parallel sessions comprising three or four presentations.

    Poster Presentation (60 minutes)

    A poster presentation provides a relaxed presentation atmosphere in which the presenter uses a poster pinned to a poster board (1800mm high by 900mm wide) to illustrate their research. Presenters will often engage with interested participants on a one-to-one basis, providing excellent opportunities for networking, discussion and relationship building. A Virtual Poster Presentation option is also available as an alternative means for those delegates who may be unable to travel to the conference due to financial or political restrictions.

    Live-Stream Presentation via Zoom (25 minutes)

    Many people around the world are moving meetings, classrooms and events online, and IAFOR is now offering the option to present online, via Zoom. This is an exciting new opportunity for scholars around the world to engage with an international audience without the need to travel. Live-stream presentations give speakers the opportunity to avoid expenses and time required to travel, reduce their carbon footprint, and share ideas online. Additionally, many of the same benefits enjoyed by presenters at traditional in-person conferences are also available to online presenters, including presenting one’s work to an international audience and engaging in Q&A, publishing in the Conference Proceedings, and participating in discussions with other scholars around the world.

    Virtual Presentation (Pre-Recorded Video or Pre-submitted Poster)
    Two presentation options are available:
    1) Virtual Video Presentation – Present via a pre-recorded video.
    2) Virtual Poster Presentation – Submit a poster and optionally present your poster with a 3-minute introductory video.

    Virtual presentations afford authors the opportunity to present their research to IAFOR’s far-reaching and international online audience, without time restrictions, distractions or the need to travel. Presenters are invited to create a video of their presentation, which is then uploaded to the official IAFOR Vimeo channel and remains online indefinitely. This is a valuable and impactful way of presenting in its own right, but also an alternative means for those delegates who may be unable to travel to the conference due to financial or political restrictions. The same publishing opportunities apply to virtual presenters, with final papers being included in the Conference Proceedings.

    • Following the conference virtual presenters will receive a Certificate of Presentation
    • The Vimeo channel will be referenced on all conference materials.
    • There is no limit to length or style but certain restrictions apply to file size and music selection. Guidelines and further information on creating the video will be sent following registration.
    • Please note that video presentations are to be created by the author.
    Workshop Presentation (50 minutes)

    A workshop is a brief, intensive course, lasting 50 minutes, which is led by an experienced researcher or practitioner, usually with a PhD-level qualification. It facilitates group interaction and the exchange of information between a smaller number of participants than is usual at a plenary session.

    Often a workshop involves problem-solving, skills training, or the dissemination of new content or disciplinary approaches. Conference workshops are typically more instructional and interactive in nature than oral presentations and involve participants working with the workshop leader on a particular topical issue.

    Symposium Presentations (75 minutes)

    Symposium presentations are conceived and organised by individuals who recruit speakers to present papers on a specific topic. Presenters should submit their own abstracts separately before a Symposium Presentation can be proposed. Presenters may submit separate papers to the Conference Proceedings. The organiser will require a Submission Number from each accepted presenter in order to propose a Symposium Presentation.
    They last for 75 minutes and are typically organised as follows:

    • Introduction
    • 3 or 4 oral presentations based on submitted abstracts
    • Discussion
    Panel Presentations (75 minutes)

    Panel presentations are conceived and organised by individuals who recruit speakers to present in an interactive discussion on a specific topic. There are no titles associated with the panelists’ presentations. Proposals for panel discussions should include clear descriptions of the topics to be discussed. Presenters may submit a joint paper to the Conference Proceedings. They last for 75 minutes and are typically organised as follows:

    • Introduction
    • a short presentation by each panel member
    • Discussion

    As the organiser of a proposed panel, submit your proposal through the online system. Presenters may submit a joint paper to the Conference Proceedings.


    Review System

    Authors as Reviewers: A Reciprocal System

    Our academic events would not be what they are without a commitment to ensuring adherence to international norms of abstract peer review. IAFOR relies on a large number of international scholars from around the world to contribute to a shared vision of promoting and engaging in international, intercultural and interdisciplinary dialogue, and if you are taking part in an IAFOR event, then that would mean you. Authors may be asked to review up to five abstracts for the conference. You are under no obligation to participate in this reciprocal system, but if you are selected to review, and undertake this task of grading abstracts for the conference, you will be credited in the conference programme.


    Scheduling Requests

    Because of the complexity of putting the Conference Programme together and the large numbers of participants involved, it is not usually possible to accommodate requests for specific presentation days or times. We ask that you reserve requests for religious reasons or other exceptional and unavoidable circumstances.

    We encourage participants to attend the conference each day in order to benefit fully from the experience. While requests for specific presentation days or times are not accepted other than under exceptional circumstances, you may request one blackout day – a day on which you will not be scheduled to present at the conference.

    Scheduling requests will not be accepted after the registration deadline.


    Conference Proceedings

    If you wish your paper to be published in the Conference Proceedings, once you have registered please ensure that you upload your full paper through the online system by June 20, 2025.

    Final papers are only accepted in Microsoft Word format. Before submitting your paper please ensure that you have read the Final Paper Guidelines and formatted your paper correctly.

    The official Conference Proceedings will be published online in a PDF format under an ISSN issued by the National Diet Library of Japan on July 25, 2025.


    Publication & Licensing Issues

    IAFOR believes in “Open Access” publishing, and since 2009, has been committed to maintaining an online searchable research archive that offers free access to anyone, anywhere, where there is Internet access, regardless of institutional affiliation or scholarly rank. IAFOR publications are accessible on the website (Open Access) to researchers all over the world, completely free of charge and without delay or embargo. Authors and contributors are not required to pay charges of any sort towards the publication of IAFOR journals.

    Abstracts, research papers, and video footage are published under an IAFOR user license and are protected by copyright. Users may access, download, copy, translate, text and data mine, redistribute, display or adapt the articles for non-commercial purposes provided that users follow the guidelines set out in the IAFOR User License.

    Journals and other forms of print and digital media will be made available by IAFOR to the general public on an online, Open Access basis. By publishing their work with IAFOR, authors enter into an exclusive License Agreement, where they have copyright but license exclusive rights in their article to IAFOR as the publisher.


    Ethical Conduct

    IAFOR takes ethical conduct very seriously, and considers any form of plagiarism unacceptable. IAFOR follows guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in relation to conference submissions and publications. Papers that contain redundant publication (reusing one's own writing verbatim or in a substantially similar form) or plagiarism (using another author's writing without attribution) will be rejected without further review, and additional action will be taken as appropriate. To verify compliance, submissions may be checked by Crossref Similarity Check and other originality or duplicate checking software.


    The Use of Generative AI and AI-assisted Technologies

    IAFOR follows Elsevier's AI author policy for use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in writing. Authors are allowed to use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process before submission, but only to improve the language and readability of their paper and with the appropriate disclosure. This does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc.