Academic Conference
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An academic conference or scientific conference (also congress, symposium, workshop, or meeting) is an
event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...
for
researcher Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...
s (not necessarily
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
s) to present and discuss their scholarly work. Together with
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
or
scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such as s ...
s and
Preprint In academic publishing, a preprint is a version of a scholarly or scientific paper that precedes formal peer review and publication in a peer-reviewed scholarly or scientific journal. The preprint may be available, often as a non-typeset versio ...
archives such as
arXiv arXiv (pronounced "archive"—the X represents the Greek letter chi ⟨χ⟩) is an open-access repository of electronic preprints and postprints (known as e-prints) approved for posting after moderation, but not peer review. It consists of ...
, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers. Further benefits of participating in academic conferences include learning effects in terms of presentation skills and “academic habitus”, receiving feedback from peers for one’s own research, the possibility to engage in informal communication with peers about work opportunities and collaborations, and getting an overview of current research in one or more disciplines.


Overview

Conferences usually encompass various
presentation A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...
s. They tend to be short and concise, with a time span of about 10 to 30 minutes;
presentation A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...
s are usually followed by a discussion. The work may be bundled in written form as
academic paper Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or theses. The part of academic written output that is not formally pub ...
s and published as the conference
proceedings In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings is a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the confere ...
. Usually a conference will include
keynote speaker A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework f ...
s (often, scholars of some standing, but sometimes individuals from outside academia). The keynote lecture is often longer, lasting sometimes up to an hour and a half, particularly if there are several keynote speakers on a
panel Panel may refer to: Arts and media Visual arts * Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image *Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...
. In addition to presentations, conferences also feature
panel discussion A panel discussion, or simply a panel, involves a group of people gathered to discuss a topic in front of an audience, typically at scientific, business, or academic conferences, fan conventions, and on television shows. Panels usually include a ...
s, round tables on various issues, poster sessions and workshops. Some conferences take more interactive formats, such as the participant driven "
unconference An unconference is a participant-driven meeting. The term "unconference" has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid hierarchical aspects of a conventional conference, such as sponsored presentations and t ...
" or various conversational formats.See e.g. Hohl, M., & Sweeting, B. (Eds.). (2015). Composing conferences. Special issue of Constructivist Foundations, 11(1). Retrieved from http://www.univie.ac.at/constructivism/journal/11/1


Format

Academic conferences have been held in three general formats: in-person, virtual or online and
hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
(in-person and virtual). Conferences have traditionally been organized in-person. Since the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
many conferences have either temporarily or permanently switched to a virtual or hybrid format. Because virtual or hybrid events allow people from different time zones to participate simultaniously, some will have to participate during their night-time. Some virtual conferences try to mitigate this issue by alternating their schedule in a way so that everyone has the chance to participate at day time at least once.


Presentations

Prospective
presenters A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...
are usually asked to submit a short abstract of their presentation, which will be reviewed before the presentation is accepted for the meeting. Some organizers therefore disciplines require presenters to submit a paper, which is
peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
ed by members of the
program committee Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Progra ...
or referees chosen by them. In some disciplines, such as English and other languages, it is common for presenters to read from a prepared script. In other disciplines such as the
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
s, presenters usually base their talk around a visual presentation that displays key figures and research results.


Size

A large meeting will usually be called a conference, while a smaller is termed a workshop. They might be ''single track'' or ''multiple track'', where the former has only one session at a time, while a multiple track meeting has several parallel sessions with speakers in separate rooms speaking at the same time. However, there are no commonly shared definitions even within disciplines for each event type. There might be no conceivable difference between a symposium, a congress or a conference. The larger the conference, the more likely it is that academic publishing houses may set up displays. Large conferences also may have a career and job search and interview activities. At some conferences, social or entertainment activities such as tours and receptions can be part of the program. Business meetings for
learned societies A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may ...
or
interest group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...
s can also be part of the conference activities.


Types

Academic conferences typically fall into three categories: * the themed conference, small conferences organized around a particular topic; * the general conference, a conference with a wider focus, with sessions on a wide variety of topics. These conferences are often organized by regional, national, or international
learned societies A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may ...
, and held annually or on some other regular basis. * the professional conference, large conferences not limited to academics but with academically related issues.


Infrastructure

Increasing numbers of
amplified conference An amplified conference is a conference or similar event in which the talks and discussions at the conference are 'amplified' through use of networked technologies in order to extend the reach of the conference deliberations. The term was originall ...
s are being provided which exploit the potential of WiFi networks and mobile devices in order to enable remote participants to contribute to discussions and listen to ideas. Advanced technology for meeting with any yet unknown person in a conference is performed by active RFID that may indicate wilfully identified and relatively located upon approach via electronic tags.


Organization

Conferences are usually organized either by a scientific society or by a group of researchers with a common interest. Larger meetings may be handled on behalf of the scientific society by a Professional Conference Organiser or PCO. The meeting is announced by way of a Call For Papers (CFP) or a Call For Abstracts, which is sent to prospective presenters and explains how to submit their abstracts or papers. It describes the broad theme and lists the meeting's topics and formalities such as what kind of abstract (summary) or paper has to be submitted, to whom, and by what
deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...
. A CFP is usually distributed using a mailing list or on specialized online services. Contributions are usually submitted using an online abstract or paper management service. Increasingly, there has been a call for more sustainable academic conferencing, as flying to and consumption at conferences is one of the largest components of an academics environmental footprint. However, few conferences have enacted practices to reduce their environmental impact, despite guidelines being widely available. An analysis of academic conferences taking place in 2016, showed that only 4% of 116 conferences sampled offered
carbon offset A carbon offset is a reduction or removal of emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. Offsets are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e). One ton of carb ...
options and only 9% of these conferences implemented any form of action to their reduce environmental impact.


Predatory conferences

Predatory conferences or predatory meetings are meetings set up to appear as legitimate
scientific conference An academic conference or scientific conference (also congress, symposium, workshop, or meeting) is an event for researchers (not necessarily academics) to present and discuss their scholarly work. Together with academic or scientific journals ...
s but which are exploitative as they do not provide proper editorial control over presentations, and advertising can include claims of involvement of prominent academics who are, in fact, uninvolved. They are an expansion of the
predatory publishing Predatory publishing, also write-only publishing or deceptive publishing, is an exploitative academic publishing business model that involves charging publication fees to authors without checking articles for quality and legitimacy, and withou ...
business model, which involves the creation of academic publications built around an exploitative business model that generally involves charging publication fees to authors without providing the editorial and publishing services associated with legitimate journals.
BIT Life Sciences BIT Life Sciences (or BIT Congress Inc., BIT Group Global Ltd) is a for profit Meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions, meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE) company based in Dalian, China, that specializes in arranging mu ...
and SCIgen § In conferences are some of the conferences labeled as predatory.


Environmental Impact

Academic conferences are criticized for being environmentally unfriendly, due to the amount of airplane traffic generated by them. A correspondence on ''Nature.com'' points out the "paradox of needing to fly to conferences" despite increased calls for sustainability by environmental scientists. The academic community's
Carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...
is comprised in large parts by emissions caused by air travel.


Critique of in-person conferences

In-person conferences suffer from a number of issues. Most importantly, they are fostering the existing social inequality in academia due to their inaccessibility for researchers from low income countries, researchers with care duties or researchers facing visa restrictions.


See also


References


External links

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