<p>I’m now a third year grad student in history and looking for opportunities to present at conferences. I submitted an abstract some time ago to a so-so conference, but just noticed that there is now a call for papers at a more prestigious conference on the subject matter that concerns my already-submitted abstract!</p>
<p>As a novice to the world of conferences, I would like to know if it is permitted to submit the same abstract to multiple conferences. Obviously I am not going to present the same paper at two different conferences, if it gets accepted by both: I realize that I will have to choose only one.</p>
<p>Please let me know and thanks in advance!</p>
<p>You may indeed submit to both, but if your paper is accepted at both, you may only choose one. (And you may not put the declined conference presentation on your CV!)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I am unfamiliar with non-science conferences, but is it possible to submit abstracts that present different aspects of your research? In other words the general topic is the same, but the research presented is different.</p>
<p>I’m in a different field but I strongly doubt it can be very different in history. If you submit, it’s expected you will attend the conference if accepted-- if you bail after acceptance, you are just wasting everybody’s time and leaving a spot open on the program that can not be filled. These aren’t just unwritten rules, but often ones that are written down for those that lack professional judgment. </p>
<p>If you really want to send to the more recognized conference, either a) contact the first conference and ask if its too late to withdraw or b) for the second conference, prepare an abstract and plans for a somewhat different paper based on the same body of work (ie. a different angle/slice/ perspective if possible). </p>
<p>It’s a very very small academic world so don’t do things that can come back and bite you. Sending in the same abstract to two conferences wont’ look good, nor would being absent from the program of one.</p>
<p>Thanks Professor X, ParAlum, and starBright for your valuable opinions. starBright, may I ask what your academic discipline is, since your recommendation differs significantly from Professor X’s? I guess at the very least I should ask people in my field and see what they think.</p>
<p>First, let me note that ParAlum has made an excellent suggestion. And most certainly, blukorea, you should ask folks in your field what the expectations are.</p>
<p>In my own field, there are many different reasons for which someone might need to bail on a conference. As long as a selected presenter notifies the section reviewers (the folks to whom the proposal was submitted) well ahead of time, this is not a problem at all.</p>
<p>I’m on the steering committee for one section of my primary national scholarly association, and was notified a couple of months ago that one selected presenter cannot attend. His university has cut back severely on conference travel funds. This in no way reflects poorly on him. Even if he just decided not to attend because of personal reasons, that would not be a problem whatsoever, as long as he let us know well in advance of the conference.</p>
<p>In this case (as usual), I simply contacted another person whose proposal was initially declined, and invited her. She’s delighted, and my section’s steering committee is happy as well.</p>
<p>Prof. X,</p>
<p>In your opinion, would doing basically the same presentation but in two different languages be a problem.</p>
<p>I asked this because of my field, which is primarily linguistics on a particular language other than English. While I should go to conferences in N.America to show like-minded scholars what I can do with another language medium within the theoretical framework I work with; I would also want to attend international conferences in countries that speak this particular language, so that native speakers can have a vested interest in what I do.</p>
<p>Dear Limnieng,</p>
<p>I suggest you ask this question of scholars in your field. In my field, each presentation should be different. One would want to target the presentation to each audience, for example.</p>
<p>In general, presentations (in the humanities and social sciences) are intended to be stepping stones toward publication. It is conceivable that an entirely different group of scholars could provide very different kinds of feedback, which could be helpful. But again, I would suggest a different focus for each presentation, with different content in each.</p>
<p>I may draw a parallel here. I have presented at conferences in two different disciplines. It would not have been acceptable for me to present the same paper in these two different disciplinary venues. It would look as if I were trying to pad my CV, pretending I had done more work than I really had.</p>