Regulations for Submission of Abstracts

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Key Dates

Friday 8th January	Abstract Submission Deadline – BERA Keynote Symposia
Friday 22nd January	Abstract Submission Deadline – Early Career Researcher AND Main Conference
Monday 12th April	Corresponding Author advised of outcome of peer review process
Monday 17th May	Corresponding Author notified of the time and date of their presentation at the conference
Friday 28th May	Early bird registration deadline
Monday 14th June	Lead presenter registration deadline – otherwise paper is withdrawn

Types of Presentation

1. BERA Keynote Symposia
BERA invites submissions of abstracts for 6 Keynote Symposia on themes the authors consider to be of special interest to the wider membership. The BERA Keynote Symposia occupy a privileged position in the conference programme and are selected by an open competition. Submissions not selected as BERA Keynote Symposia will automatically be entered for consideration for a session in the Main Conference programme. Keynote Symposia consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of six individual papers addressing a common theme or issue and the submission should identify a convenor and a discussant for the session. Please note that each paper will be assessed separately against each of the criteria. Keynote Symposia are allocated 90 minute slots in the programme and are timetabled in two sessions with three parallel symposia in each session.

2. Main Conference Symposia
Symposia for the main conference programme occupy 90 minute slots and normally consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of six linked individual papers. The symposium should also have a discussant. The format for the symposia can be in an alternative form such as a workshop or a panel discussion; you are advised to contact In Conference for details about submitting such proposals. It is also possible to propose a series of linked symposia. Abstracts that are intended to form a series of symposia should be submitted separately with a note to indicate the links to the other symposia. It should be noted that the quality of each submission will be reviewed independently. Proposals for Symposia are not eligible for submission to the Early Career Researcher Conference.

3. Main Conference Individual Papers
Individual Papers are grouped in sets of three papers in 90 minute slots; each paper is allocated 30 minutes and the session is chaired by one of the presenters.

4. Early Career Researcher Conference Individual Papers
Individual Papers are grouped in sets of three papers in 75 minute slots; each paper is allocated 25 minutes and the session is chaired by a BERA Member.

5. Main Conference and Early Career Researcher Conference Posters
Posters are usually graphic presentations which are displayed on boards during the conference. Presenters also make the abstract summarising their poster available as part of the display. Posters will be displayed on boards that are 1m x 2.00m and should not exceed 1.5 m in length.

Submission of Abstracts

The abstracts for each paper (including those which form part of a symposium) should address the following:

Background to the topic
Research questions/focus of the enquiry
Research methods and/or mapping of the literature
Analytical and/or theoretical frame
Research findings and/or contribution to knowledge

IMPORTANT NOTE
The template for the abstract will be divided into text box sections corresponding to these points. Whilst each of these sections can accommodate up to 400 words, you can choose how much text to include in each section (up to a maximum of 400 words) but please note that the submission should not exceed the overall word limit.

1. BERA Keynote Symposia
Submissions should include:

Title, convenor and discussant with their affiliations.
400 word overview of the symposium
600 word supporting statement indicating the relevance of the theme/issue as a keynote symposium in accordance with the following selection criteria:

Quality of the research
Timeliness
National/international significance
Impact on practice, policy or theory

The names of the authors of each paper and their affiliations
1000 word abstract for each paper. Please note that each paper will be assessed separately against each of the criteria.

Main Conference Symposia
Submissions should include:

Title, convenor and discussant with their affiliations.
400 word overview of the symposium
1000 word abstract for each paper.

Main Conference and Early Career Researcher Conference Individual Papers
Submissions should include:

The name(s) of the author(s) of the paper and their affiliation(s). If the paper has multiple authors then an ‘author for correspondence’ should be identified.
1000 word abstract for each paper.

Main Conference and Early Career Researcher Conference Posters
Submissions should include:

600 word overview of the content

Procedure of the Review Process

All abstracts will be assessed anonymously against the following criteria by two reviewers nominated by the appropriate SIG Convenor:

Relevance of the topic to BERA members
Clarity of research question(s) and/or focus of enquiry
Appropriateness of research method(s) and/or literature
Robustness of analytical and/or theoretical frame
Significance for educational practice, policy or theory

Judgments will be made by rating each of the criteria on a six point scale and papers will be accepted or rejected on the basis of the average total score.

27-30 recommend definitely accept
23-26 recommend accept
19-22 possible accept
15-18 possible reject
10-14 recommend reject
0-9 recommend definitely reject

Symposia Review
With regards to symposia, a total score will be calculated by aggregating scores of individual papers. Convenors of symposia need to be aware that symposia will be accepted/rejected based on the average scores awarded to each paper therefore a weak paper could result in a symposium being rejected.

Exceptions

BERA Keynote Symposia will be reviewed by two members of BERA Council and/or the National Advisory Panel using the Keynote Symposia selection criteria as well as the generic criteria.

Papers submitted to the Early Career Researcher Conference are not peer reviewed.

Posters submitted to the Early Career Researcher or the Main Conference are not peer reviewed.

Special Interest Groups

BERA SIGs vary in character, function and level of activities and participation in them is one of the benefits of being a member of BERA. All symposia, individual papers and posters when submitted must indicate the Special Interest Group (SIG) which most closely relates to the topic of their paper. The reason for this link to a SIG is primarily for the purposes of reviewing. The SIGs organise the reviewers for all submissions and through this method, submissions are reviewed by peers who have interest, knowledge and expertise that is relevant to the particular submission. For more information on SIGs visit http://www.bera.ac.uk/networks/sigs/.