Hello all,

I used to be a regular on here but haven't been on in some time - a lot of new faces I see!

I wonder if you can help me... I have a conference paper that I am writing and presenting for a *big* international conference - it is my first one and it being the holidays I am a bit in the dark about what is expected of me. I have been told by the person organising our panel that she expects the initial deadline for the paper to be the 15 sept, but that she 'hopes this is flexible and we should be ready to circulate our paper to each other (people on the panel) by the 10th October'.

Does anyone know what this means?! I assumed that the 15 sept was a tight deadline for the paper, but my Sup has told me recently that the paper can be rough with unfinished refs if I want, and now I hear the deadline may be flexible. Does anyone know what the protocol is for writing papers before a conference - will anyone actually see it bar our panel?! Why can it be 'rough' - would they ask me to pep it up *after* the conference do you think?

Sorry, am just so confused and obviously I don't want to be up until midnight every night stressing about a paper that no one will actually see!!

Thanks for any help!

x Jayney

This sounds very strange for a conference - especially an international one. I've presented at quite a few conferences, and they all have fixed deadlines. Obviously this is a lot more informal, and the presenters just want to get an idea of what each other is saying, hence you can submit a rather rough paper. If I were you, I'd assume that the conference papers will be made available - they normally do pop up on a website. So, rough draft for the other presenters, then rework into a good paper by the conference date.

Hi Sue, thank you for your input i really appreciate it.

It does seem strange, I have never done a conference before but I did think that there would be a clear deadline.  At the mo I am treating the Sept 15 deadline as a pseudo-serious one, getting the paper so it is readable and with the refs in it, but then hope that the flexibility means I can spend more time afterwards tightening it up. For this conference only a handful of papers will be chosen for publication.

I just thought the organisers would want the papers sometime before the conference so they could know what we are all going to say, and distribute them before our presentations/panel?  Or are they always happy simply with the abstract?

x J

It seems the other presenters want to look at papers so they can finalise what they're going to say, but conference organisers don't normally want to know what people are saying - they're too busy organising the conference! Organisers can be quite happy with just the abstract - it gives the academics who are choosing the presenters enough information to be able to tell whether the topic is worthwhile and suitable for the conference, and it's not unusual to not have to submit a full paper. I think you're right in treating 15 Sep as a deadline. Better to be well prepared in any case.

Ah ok... so am I writing this for the *panel* organisers and my fellow presenters in the first instance, rather than for the journal/conference organisers?

hmmm.

x J

Yes, I think so, but it will also be for the journal if chosen to go in.

thanks for your help!! Without wanting to sound defeatist it won't be chosen for the journal - I am a very small fish in an extremely esteemed pond! I will write it like it will be though ;0)

x J