DSA2018: Global inequalities

University of Manchester, 27-29th June

Convenor and author information

Once again the DSA adopted an open call for paper proposals from all-comers. The aim is to continue to open up the conference process to allow for the creation of new networks, putting people in touch with each other who have related research interests.

Rules

• Paper-presenters may be students
• Convenors may also present a paper during the conference, either in their own panel or another.
• Due to the 'competition for time' within such a conference, colleagues are allowed to convene no more than one panel and present only one paper during the conference.
• This does not prevent you from making multiple proposals, but in the case of multiple acceptances we will ask you to make a choice
• In brief, each participant may convene one panel, present one paper, chair one panel and be discussant in one panel.
• Paper presenters need not be members of the association.  However, the DSA welcomes new members.  Members of the association can register for the conference at a discounted fee.
• All accepted panels, except roundtables, were open to paper proposals through the website; panels could be proposed with specific contributors in mind, but when the call for papers opened, convenors were open to the possibility of other contributions arriving via the open call.
• The General panel is a 'non-aligned' space for proposing work which does not fit in the other panels. The conference convenors will try to create meaningful panel sessions from such papers after the call ends and before registration opens.

Acceptance letters

Formal acceptance letters (signed pdfs on headed paper) can be downloaded from the login environment (the head icon). Log in, proceed past your contact details with the "Proceed" button (located under the contact fields) and then scroll through to your panel/paper. There will be an encircled A at the end of the panel/paper title line. Click on this, download the pdf and print your letter. Please note that we do not send such letters by post.

Your details in Cocoa

When logged into Cocoa, make sure your contact details are the way you'd like them to be presented - especially your title, name, institution, as these are visible on panel pages and will eventually appear in the printed programme.

Convenor responsibilities

It is the convenors' responsibility to ensure that all panel participants are well briefed and that the panel continues to meet DSA's requirements. To that end, convenors should not only communicate their decisions over proposals as detailed below, but also later in the process, email the panelists to: inform them of the speaking order (albeit this is displayed on the public panel page), inform them as to how much time they have been allocated, remind them to register (the registration status can be seen in the login environment), inform them of any late changes or additional chairs/discussants, and give any other information related to the panel. If panelists withdraw convenors should mark these withdrawals in the login environment to inform the organisers.

Controlling/editing your panel

Panel convenors can use the login link (the head icon) in the tools menu above to edit and administer their panels. Convenors should log in to state any specific timing requests for their panel (when directed to so by the conference administrator), to add the names of chairs/discussants, and to manage the paper proposals. Co-convenors cannot be added/removed nor can panels be withdrawn through this environment - please email us to do this (address in footer).

When papers are proposed via the website, they will be proposed to specific panels. Convenors will receive a summary email of the proposal. Convenors are welcome to acknowledge proposals by email, and even to ask contributors to edit their abstracts by logging in themselves. When the call for papers is over, Convenors will then be asked to make their decisions over the papers proposed to their panel by the 22nd March and to communicate those to the proposers, marking them up within the login environment. Papers which are neither accepted nor rejected, but marked for 'transfer', will be given the possibility of finding a place in another panel, when and where possible. The successful transfer of all papers cannot be guaranteed. If an author later emails to withdraw their paper, the convenors should mark the paper as 'Withdrawn' in the login environment, otherwise the conference administrator may not know of the withdrawal. The papers can be placed in order via the login environment, and this should be done once decisions about all papers have been made.

The conference organisers will contact authors whose papers are set to transfer after 29 March in order to try and find them a new panel for their paper.

Length of panels

Panels may run over one or two 90-minute panel sessions, each of which may hold up to four papers. After the call for papers is over, the conference administrator will contact convenors, to agree how many sessions can be allotted to specific panels. This will be based on the number of paper proposals received, and the desires of the convenors. Some compromise may be required due to the overwhelming response to this conference call and the time/space constraints thus faced. We ask that convenors do not accept any papers before the call for papers ends.

Editing your paper

Paper authors can use the login link in the toolbar above (the head icon) to edit their proposals.

Pre-circulation of papers

The DSA has no rule about this but many convenors are keen to pre-circulate completed papers. To facilitate this and save on loads of email traffic, authors can upload a PDF of their paper within Cocoa, and it will then show as a downloadable file beneath their abstract on the public panel page on this site. It is your choice whether you instruct your presenters to make use of this.

Timing of presentations

How you allocate the time in your sessions is largely your decision. The DSA norm is to allot each presenter a maximum of 20 minutes (for presentation and questions/discussion). The key is to respect the fact that many presenters have travelled a long way in order to be able to contribute and clearly need time to set out their argument. 

This said, the conference convenors are keen to involve the wider community of colleagues working in the realm of policy and practice, and so welcome sessions arranged in other formats that would generate exciting discussion and exchange of ideas. These other formats should be described in the long abstract.

We are unable to represent specific intra-panel timings in our programme. Delegates reading the conference book will have to work on the assumption that papers will be evenly distributed through the panel. Clearly you may wish to amalgamate discussion time, but where possible please try to stick to this even distribution.

Registration

We will notify you with an email when registration opens and publicise this online. Registration does not require instant payment but does indicate your commitment to attend the event. On registering, you will be sent an automated notification that your registration was received. We process your registration manually, getting back to you if there are any mistakes/questions, and emailing you an invoice with a payment information/link. You then have thirty days to pay. Once you have paid, the payment will be logged, and you will be emailed a receipt. So please do not put off registering just because you know your funding will arrive at a later date - register when registration opens so that you can be invoiced with the lower, "early-bird" rates.

Communication between authors/convenors

Convenor/author email addresses are not shown on the panel pages for anti-spam and privacy reasons reasons. However, there is an in-built secure email messaging system. If you cannot work that, please email us (address in footer) to obtain the relevant email addresses.