Guidelines and Deadlines

Conference format

The Academic Programme will be organised in the format of Sections and Panels, with each Section organising a variety of Panels in a given field. There will also be an Open Section, consisting of stand-alone Panels and Papers which do not necessarily fit within any of the accepted Sections. The programme will be very broad, with more than 50 Sections covering all the main areas of political science, including Comparative Politics, Public Policy and Public Administration, Political Theory, International Relations and European Studies.

Call for Sections
Call for Panels and Papers
Final Academic Programme
Registration
Paper upload
Conference timetable
Visas
Further information

Application process: A guide for Section Chairs

There is a two-stage selection process for submitting proposals to the Academic Programme:

Call for Sections: 15 September - 17 November 2014 (midnight GMT)
Call for full Panels and individual Papers: 2 December 2014 - 16 February 2015 (midnight GMT)

There will not be a separate call for Papers. All Panel proposals must include 4-5 Papers. (Papers submitted as part of a Panel do not need to be resbumitted individually.) Anyone wishing to propose a Paper individually will need to propose it to a specific Section. If accepted, the Section Chair will then allocate it to an appropriate Panel.

Stage 1: Call for Sections
Deadline 17 November 2014 (midnight GMT)

Sections: Anyone from an ECPR member institution may organise a Section. Co‑Chairs may come from Full, Associate or non-member institutions. You can check your institution's membership status here.

All proposals to organise Sections must be submitted online using the form on the ECPR webiste.

Before completing the form, please note:

• A Section consists of 3-8 Panels on a specific topic. Section proposals should describe the kind of Panels planned for the Section, including themes and potential Chairs. Formal Panel proposals should be submitted by Panel Chairs at the second stage of the application process.
• Only the proposed Section Chair can submit a Section proposal.
• Standing Groups can endorse only one Section proposal; however, this does not guarantee the Section's acceptance.
• The submission process will be managed through the MyECPR part of the ECPR website. The proposed Section Chair and Co-Chair must both have a MyECPR account (please create an account if you do not already have one).
• Section proposals should be written in English.

You should have the following information to hand to complete the Section proposal form:

• The title of the Section (no more than 12 words long)
• The proposal, containing an abstract, 3-8 well-developed Panel ideas, and a biography of each Section Chair (altogether no more than 1000 words long).
• The Section Co-Chair's email address, as registered in their MyECPR account.

Academic Convenors use the following criteria to judge Sections for acceptance:

• Quality of the proposal
• Experience and competence of Section Chairs
• Participation potential

All proposals to organise Sections should be submitted online by 17 November 2014. The Academic Convenors will accept or decline proposed Sections by 1 December 2014. The number of Panels in each Section is determined by the Academic Convenors.

Proposers will be notified of the outcome of their Section submission during December 2014. If you have not heard by the end of December 2014, contact ECPR Central Services as soon as possible. Any queries regarding the academic content of the proposed Section should be addressed to the Academic Convenors via generalconference@ecpr.eu before the 17 November 2014 deadline.

Stage 2: Call for Panels and individual Papers
Deadline 16 February 2015 (midnight GMT)

The second stage of the process is open to anyone wishing to propose a complete Panel with Papers, and those wanting to propose individual Papers to a particular Section. Panels that have been provisionally proposed as part of accepted Sections must also be submitted through this procedure. Panels should include 4-5 Papers. There are no rules requiring proposers of Panels to belong to an ECPR member institution, but they must hold a MyECPR account.

Panel and Paper proposers will also have to complete the proposal process through the MyECPR area of the ECPR website. Once logged in, they will be asked to select which Section their Panel or Paper should be considered for (and, in the case of topics that cross more than one theme, to include the name of the alternative 'Section' within their abstract). Panel proposers are required to select up to eightkeywords. There is also an Open Section welcoming full Panel proposals and individual Paper proposals that do not fit into any of the listed Sections.

When completing their application, Panel proposers must include details of Panel Abstract, Chair, Discussant, Papers and Paper givers.

The deadline to submit complete Panels and Paper proposals is 16 February 2015 (GMT).

From 2 December 2014, Section Chairs can view Panels and Papers being proposed to their Section via MyECPR. From 17 February 2015 they may accept and decline Panel and Paper proposals to their Section. Section Chairs have until 10 March 2015 to finalise their Sections via MyECPR.

Besides Panels provisionally indicated in their original Section proposal, Section Chairs will have received additional Panels (with Papers) and individual Paper proposals to their Section. These proposals should be evaluated equally alongside any already suggested by the Section Chairs.

When judging Panels for acceptance, Section Chairs should use the following criteria: 

• Quality of proposal; 
• Fit with Section theme

From 11 March 2015 the Academic Convenors will review the accepted Panels via MyECPR in order to finalise the Academic Programme. The deadline for Academic Convenors to complete their review is 26 March 2015.

The Academic Convenors may use their discretion to reallocate Panels and Papers to Sections and Panels where required. Section Chairs may, therefore, be asked to accommodate new Panels in their Sections, and Panel Chairs may be asked to accommodate extra Papers within their Panels.

ECPR will email Section Chairs, Panel Chairs, and Paper givers with the Academic Convenors' decision soon after the deadline.

Final Academic Programme

The Academic Programme will be available on the ECPR website by 2 April 2015 and participants will be notified of the outcome of the proposal by this date. A full timetable will be published by mid-May 2015. Please note if you have agreed to more than one role within the conference it is your responsibility to make the Events Team aware of any potential clashes as soon as possible, to assist in the scheduling of Panels. We will try as far as possible to accommodate these requests, but we are unable to guarantee that Panels are not scheduled at the same time.

Amendments to Section/Panel/Paper information must be sent to the Events Team by 1 July 2015 to be included in the programme.

Registration

Online registration opens on 2 April 2015. Further details, including registration fees, will be on the ECPR website in due course. Please check the cancellation policy. Participants appearing in any capacity in the Academic Programme must register and pay before midnught UK time on 18 May 2015. Registration and payment takes place through MyECPR. Anyone who has not registered and paid by midnight UK time on 18 May 2015 will not be included in the conference and automatically withdrawn and replaced.

Co-Authors who do not intend to register and attend the conference should email the Events Team by midnight GMT on 18 May 2015 to ensure their names appear in the conference programme.

Paper upload

Accepted Papers may be uploaded to the ECPR website via MyECPR here from 1 May 2015. Please note only the person listed as presenter can upload Papers to the website. Papers should be uploaded in pdf format, in English. There are no specific requirements other than these. For specific preferences, please contact your Panel Chair directly. 

Conference timetable

Panels are scheduled in eleven time slots commencing 09:00 on Thursday 27 August and closing at 17:40 on Saturday 29 August. All participants should ensure their availability for ALL eleven time slots.

Visas

Please note that all visas are the responsibility of the individual participant. Visa letters will only be supplied once the registration fee has been received in full by ECPR.

Further information

Please contact the Events Team with questions about any aspect of the General Conference. The ECPR website will be updated regularly with information about the academic and social programmes, registration, hotel accommodation, etc. We will also make regular announcements in ECPR e-bulletins. Section Chairs should ensure that they are subscribed to the 'Conferences and Events' mailing list via MyECPR.