Academic conference

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Conference on Opioid agonist therapy in Oslo, Norway LAR-Konferanse 06 Foto Lars-Andreas Kvisle - forsamling 5.jpg
Conference on Opioid agonist therapy in Oslo, Norway

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 and preprint archives, 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. [1] [2]

Contents

Overview

Presentations form the core of most conferences America's Got Regulatory Science Talent 2017 Competition (02176) (34031793065).jpg
Presentations form the core of most conferences

Conferences usually encompass various presentations. They tend to be short and concise, with a time span of about 10 to 30 minutes; presentations are usually followed by a discussion. The work may be bundled in written form as academic papers and published as the conference proceedings.

Usually a conference will include keynote speakers (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 discussions are intended to bring multiple perspectives on a topic Panel Discussion (19307220363).jpg
Panel discussions are intended to bring multiple perspectives on a topic

In addition to presentations, conferences also feature panel discussions, round tables on various issues, poster sessions and workshops. Some conferences take more interactive formats, such as the participant driven "unconference" or various conversational formats. [3]

Format

Academic conferences have been held in three general formats: in-person, virtual or online and hybrid (in-person and virtual). Conferences have traditionally been organized in-person. Since the COVID-19 pandemic many conferences have either temporarily or permanently switched to a virtual or hybrid format. Some virtual conferences involve both asynchronous and synchronous formats. For example, there is a mix of pre-recorded and live presentations. [4]

Because virtual or hybrid events allow people from different time zones to participate simultaneously, 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. [5] [6]

Presentations

Presentations may be Plenary sessions designed for all attendees (shown here) or breakout sections designed for smaller groups. PhUSE Computational Science Symposium 2016 (26133831630).jpg
Presentations may be Plenary sessions designed for all attendees (shown here) or breakout sections designed for smaller groups.

Prospective presenters 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, and therefore disciplines require presenters to submit a paper, which is peer reviewed by members of the program committee 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 sciences, 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, interest groups, or affinity groups [7] can also be part of the conference activities.

Types

Academic conferences typically fall into three categories:

Infrastructure

Larger conferences may have exhibits and displays for participants between sessions PhUSE Computational Science Symposium 2016 C 1089 (26340497691).jpg
Larger conferences may have exhibits and displays for participants between sessions

Increasing numbers of amplified conferences 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. [8]

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. 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.

Predatory conferences

Predatory conferences or predatory meetings are meetings set up to appear as legitimate scientific conferences 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 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. [9] [10] BIT Life Sciences and SCIgen 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. [11] A correspondence on Nature.com points out the "paradox of needing to fly to conferences" despite increased calls for sustainability by environmental scientists. [12] [13] The academic community's carbon footprint is comprised in large parts by emissions caused by air travel. [14] Few conferences enacted practices to reduce their environmental impact by 2017, 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 options and only 9% of these conferences implemented any form of action to their reduce environmental impact. [13] More conferences included the use of teleconferencing after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Critique of in-person conferences

In-person conferences suffer from a number of issues. [15] 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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific journal</span> Periodical journal publishing scientific research

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Learned society</span> Organization promoting a field or discipline

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific literature</span> Literary genre

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An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding, or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. When used, an abstract always appears at the beginning of a manuscript or typescript, acting as the point-of-entry for any given academic paper or patent application. Abstracting and indexing services for various academic disciplines are aimed at compiling a body of literature for that particular subject.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poster session</span> Form of academic conference

A poster presentation, at a congress or conference with an academic or professional focus, is the presentation of research information in the form of a paper poster that conference participants may view. A poster session is an event at which many such posters are presented. Poster sessions are particularly prominent at scientific conferences such as medical and engineering congresses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology</span> Annual academic conference

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Stereoscopic Displays and Applications (SD&A) is an academic technical conference in the field of stereoscopic 3D imaging. The conference started in 1990 and is held annually. The conference is held as part of the annual Electronic Imaging: Science and Technology Symposium organised by the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T).

A virtual event is an online event that involves people interacting in a virtual environment on the web, rather than meeting in a physical location. Virtual events are typically multi-session online events that often feature webinars and webcasts. They are highly interactive, often aiming to create as similar an experience as possible to their physical counterparts.

The World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology or WASET is a predatory publisher of open access academic journals. The publisher has been listed as a "potential, possible, or probable" predatory publisher by American library scientist Jeffrey Beall and is listed as such by the Max Planck Society and Stop Predatory Journals. WASET's estimated annual revenue in 2017 alone was over $4 million, with other estimates ranging from $8.9 million to $11.9 million for the years 2014 to 2019 combined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OMICS Publishing Group</span> Discredited academic publishing company

OMICS Publishing Group is a predatory publisher of open access academic journals. It started publishing its first journal in 2008. By 2015, it claimed over 700 journals, although about half of them were defunct. Its subsidiaries and brands include Allied Academies, Conference Series LLC LTD, EuroSciCon LTD, Hilaris Publishing, iMedPub LTD, International Online Medical Council (IOMC), Longdom Publishing SL, Meetings International, Prime Scholars, Pulsus Group, Research & Reviews, SciTechnol, Trade Science Inc, Life Science Events, Walsh Medical Media, and IT Medical Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Predatory publishing</span> Fraudulent business model for scientific publications

Predatory publishing, also write-only publishing or deceptive publishing, is an exploitative academic publishing business model, where the journal or publisher prioritizes self-interest at the expense of scholarship. It is characterized by misleading information, deviates from the standard peer-review process, is highly non-transparent, and often utilizes aggressive solicitation practices.

BIT Life Sciences is a for profit meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE) company based in Dalian, China, that specializes in arranging multiple scientific congresses that have been described as "predatory". The company is part of a wave of organizations that have appeared in China in the past several years noted for arranging congresses with little academic merit and with the primary aim of generating revenue rather than scientific knowledge sharing. Papers submitted are usually accepted without revisions within 24 hours, and BIT has frequently been spoofed.

Predatory conferences or predatory meetings are meetings set up to appear as legitimate scientific conferences but which are exploitative as they do not provide proper editorial control over presentations, the topics covered can diverge substantially from what has been advertised, and advertising can include claims of involvement of prominent academics who are, in fact, uninvolved. They are an expansion of the predatory publishing 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.

The Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium is a 4–5 days biannual academic conference focusing on sensory and consumer science, named after sensory pioneer Rose Marie Pangborn. Usually, the event has 800–1000 participants and takes place in a different country every uneven year, which is chosen two years in advance.

References

  1. ↑ Hauss, Kalle (7 October 2021). "What are the social and scientific benefits of participating at academic conferences? Insights from a survey among doctoral students and postdocs in Germany". Research Evaluation. 30 (1): rvaa018. doi:10.1093/reseval/rvaa018. PMC   7499794 .
  2. ↑ Sha, Mandy (2019-05-14). "Professional Association and Pathways to Leadership in Our Profession". Survey Practice. 12 (1): 1–6. doi: 10.29115/SP-2018-0039 .
  3. ↑ 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
  4. ↑ "75th Anniversary Conference" (PDF). American Association for Public Opinion Research. Chaired by Mandy Sha. June 11, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ↑ "Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard Professors at the Alma Mater Europaea Symposium". www.sloveniatimes.com. 10 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  6. ↑ "Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard Professors at the Alma Mater Europaea symposium". en.almamater.si. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  7. ↑ "Cross-cultural & Multilingual Research Affinity Group". American Association for Public Opinion Research. Chaired by Mandy Sha. 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2023-12-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ↑ Rogers, Tony (2003). Conferences and Conventions: a global industry by Tony Rogers. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN   9780750657471 . Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  9. ↑ Kirwan, Gráinne; Power, Andrew (2013). Cybercrime: The Psychology of Online Offenders. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9781107276420.
  10. ↑ Rymer, J (1998). "Fraud. Fraud at conferences needs to be addressed". BMJ. 317 (7172): 1591. doi:10.1136/bmj.317.7172.1590. PMC   1114400 . PMID   9890770.
  11. ↑ Whitmarsh, Lorraine; Kreil, Agnes (2022). "Challenging the values of the polluter elite: A global consequentialist response to Evensen and Graham's (2022) 'The irreplaceable virtues of in-person conferences'" . Journal of Environmental Psychology. 83: 101881. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101881. ISSN   0272-4944. S2CID   252586199.
  12. ↑ Grémillet, David (2008-10-30). "Paradox of flying to meetings to protect the environment". Nature. 455 (7217): 1175–6. Bibcode:2008Natur.455.1175G. doi: 10.1038/4551175a . ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   18971997.
  13. 1 2 Holden, Matthew H.; Butt, Nathalie; Chauvenet, Alienor; Plein, Michaela; Stringer, Martin; Chadès, Iadine (2017-08-07). "Academic conferences urgently need environmental policies" (PDF). Nature Ecology & Evolution. 1 (9): 1211–1212. Bibcode:2017NatEE...1.1211H. doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0296-2. ISSN   2397-334X. PMID   29046545. S2CID   205564331.
  14. ↑ Achten, Wouter M. J.; Almeida, Joana; Muys, Bart (1 November 2013). "Carbon footprint of science: More than flying". Ecological Indicators. 34: 352–355. Bibcode:2013EcInd..34..352A. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.05.025.
  15. ↑ Sarabipour, Sarvenaz; Khan, Aziz; Seah, Yu Fen Samantha; Mwakilili, Aneth D.; Mumoki, Fiona N.; Sáez, Pablo J.; Schwessinger, Benjamin; Debat, Humberto J.; Mestrovic, Tomislav (March 2021). "Changing scientific meetings for the better". Nature Human Behaviour. 5 (3): 296–300. doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01067-y . hdl: 20.500.12123/9396 . PMID   33723404. S2CID   232242249.
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