The Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of abstracts for IAMCR 2025, which will be held in Singapore from 13 to 17 July 2025, hosted by the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University.
The deadline for submission is 7 February 2025, at 23h59 UTC.
See the list of all sections and working groups and their remits
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups
IAMCR conferences address many diverse topics defined by our 37 thematic sections and working groups. We also propose a single central theme to be explored throughout the conference with the aim of generating and exploring multiple perspectives. This is accomplished through plenary and special sessions, as well as in many of the sessions of the sections and working groups. The 2025 central theme is Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet.
Consult a detailed description of the main theme
The Emerging Scholars Network welcomes proposals from early career scholars that address the section’s interests in communication research that promotes universal values of solidarity, equality, and respect. As a section dedicated to the support and development of emerging scholarship, our section welcomes works in progress, work that creates frameworks for new ideas in research and teaching, and panels and special sections addressing publishing, mentoring, academic work and academic jobs, innovative research methodologies, and language barriers in academia.
Authors are encouraged to submit proposals related to the conference’s central theme of Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet, particularly as it relates to the concerns and interests of emerging and early career media and communication researchers. (See below for more on the conference theme). The section also welcomes proposals on topics of interest to the ESN, including community media; media, protest, and activism; media and education; media and identity (including gender, LGBTQ2+, ethnic and racial identity; and indigenous media); and communication policy and governance.
In addition to the themes mentioned above, the ESN works proactively to organize joint sessions with other sections and to provide experienced discussants for our sessions. These joint sessions provide an intentionally mentorship-oriented space and enable early career scholars to engage with both the ESN and another section dedicated to a specific topic. This year, ESN will host joint sessions with the Communication, Policy, and Technology section (CPT), the Participatory Communication Research section (PCR), Gender and Communication (GEN), and with the Community Communication and Alternative Media section (CAM). If you would like to be included in one of the joint sessions, submit your abstract to ESN and identify the panel in the drop down “topics” menu, and in the space provided for comments to the chairs.
Joint Sessions
In addition to the themes mentioned above, the ESN works proactively to organize joint sessions with other sections and to provide experienced discussants for our sessions. These joint sessions provide an intentionally mentorship-oriented space and enable early career scholars to engage with both the ESN and another section dedicated to a specific topic. This year, ESN will host joint sessions with the Communication, Policy, and Technology section (CPT), the Participatory Communication Research section (PCR), the Gender and Communication section (GEN), and with the Community Communication and Alternative Media section (CAM). If you would like to be included in one of the joint sessions, submit your abstract to ESN and identify the panel in the drop down “topics” menu, (CPT/ESN joint session, PCR/ESN joint session, GEN/ESN joint session, or CAM/ESN joint session) and in the space provided for comments to the chairs.
Guidelines for abstracts
Abstracts must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 3 December 2024 through 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC.
Abstracts submitted to the Emerging Scholars Network should be between 800 and 1000 words. It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts, either individually or as part of any group of authors and authors should not submit more than one abstract to any single section or working group.
Evaluation criteria
Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of:
- Technical merit
- Readability
- Originality and/or significance
- Use of or contribution to theory
- Relevance to the section and current trends or controversies in its field
- Depth of knowledge of the research, theory and/or literature related to the proposed topic as evidenced in the submission
- Acceptance of proposals may also be conditioned by programme diversity and balance criteria
Statement on use of AI tools
IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to prepare abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.
Languages
The Emerging Scholars Network accepts abstracts in English and in French. We encourage our members to include subtitles to their slides in the official languages of IAMCR, where possible.
Deadlines and key dates
The deadline to submit abstracts is 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. For other key dates see https://iamcr.org/singapore2025/keydates. Dates are subject to change.
Contacts
For further information about the Emerging Scholars Network Section, its themes, submissions, and panels please contact the section co-chairs:
Steph Hill
sh903@leicester.ac.uk
Wafa Khalfan
Wafa.Khalfan@Sharjah.ac.ae
