An academic conference is a conference for researchers (not always academics) to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide the most important channel for exchange of information between researchers.
Generally, work is presented in the form of short, concise academic papers and presentations lasting about 20 to 30 minutes. Often there are one or more keynote speakers (usually scholars of some standing), presenting a lecture that lasts an hour or so, and which is likely to be advertised before the conference. Panel discussions, roundtables on various issues, workshops may be part of the conference, the latter ones particularly if the conference is related to the performing arts.
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. In some disciplines it is usual for a paper of perhaps 12 to 15 pages to be required, which is peer reviewed
by members of the program committee or referees chosen by them.
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.
Depending on the theme of the conference, social or entertainment activities may also be offered; if it’s a large enough conference, academic publishing houses may set up displays offering books at a discount. At larger conferences, business meetings for learned societies or interest groups might also take place.
Academic conferences fall into three categories:
- the themed conference, small conferences organized around a particular topic;
- the comprehensive 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;
- the professional conference, large conferences with university-related issues
Organizing an academic conference
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 organizer or PCO.
The meeting is announced by way of a "Call For Papers" or a Call For Abstracts, which lists the meeting's topics and tells prospective presenters how to submit their abstracts or papers. Increasingly, submissions take place online using a managed service such as Community of Science or Oxford Abstracts.
