How to Choose the Right Conference
Your research deserves to be shared with a wide and diverse audience. While publishing in high-impact journals has traditionally been the primary path to recognition, presenting at conferences offers another powerful avenue to expand your reach.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS
With the rise of virtual and hybrid events, the potential to connect with larger and more varied audiences has significantly increased, making conference participation a crucial component of a successful research career.
HOW TO FIND CONFERENCES
The easiest way to find conferences that meet your needs is by looking for calls for papers for conferences. There are several channels you can explore to harvest calls for papers.
Social Media: Follow relevant academic groups, journals, and researchers to stay updated
Listservs and Membership Mailing Lists: Many professional organisations and academic societies have listservs and mailing lists you can sign up for free.
Journal Adverts and Reports: Check the advertisements and reports sections of the journals you read. Many journals publish calls for papers for special issues or themed sections.
University Pages: Universities often have dedicated web pages or bulletin boards for academic announcements, including calls for papers.
HOW TO CHOOSE A CONFERENCE
It is important to take the time to choose the right conference to maximise the benefits of attendance, affirm the value of your work, allow you to engage with your peers, and contribute to discussions and debates within your field. Ultimately, you need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether submitting a proposal is worthwhile. The criteria below can help you with this.
Logistics: Ensure you can afford it, attend on the scheduled dates, and have the time to prepare a strong proposal and paper.
Eligibility: Ensure the event is relevant to your field, you meet the demographic criteria, your work aligns with the topics, and you can meet the submission guidelines.
Outcomes: Before committing to the conference, consider the likelihood of acceptance, the value of networking with attendees, additional incentives like workshops, and potential publishing opportunities.
BUT BEWARE!
Attending the wrong conference can waste your time, energy, and money. Predatory conferences, driven by profit rather than scholarship, exploit the pressure on researchers to publish and present. Identifying features include no peer review for abstracts, high fees, false claims about partners, and invitations to speak on topics outside your expertise. In some cases, these fraudulent conferences don’t even take place, and no refunds are issued!
The risks of predatory conferences include:
