Call for Papers

CALL FOR PAPERS EXTENDED

CLOSING 13 JANUARY 2025 11:59pm AEDT

Invitation to Submit

On behalf of the Organising Committee, we are excited to open the first call for papers for the 11th Oceanic Conference on International Studies (OCIS).

OCIS 2025 will be held on 9-11 July 2025 at UNSW Sydney, Australia. UNSW Sydney is proudly hosting the conference in partnership with the University of Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney, and The University of Wollongong.

Held biennially since 2004, OCIS brings together the growing community of international studies scholars in the Oceanic region (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific), and provides an opportunity to showcase a variety of world-class research conducted in the region, and build scholarly networks and relationships within the region and across the globe. We invite scholars both from this region and further afield to attend the conference and submit a paper.

The Organising Committee invites the submission of individual papers, panels (3-4 papers plus Chair; a Discussant is optional), and roundtables (4-5 speakers plus Chair). Proposals may cover any topic within the fields of International Relations / International Studies and Global Politics, broadly defined. We invite submissions in and across the themes listed further down the page.

We strongly encourage submissions that intersect these themes with a focus on Pasifika studies and scholarship.

Conference attendees may not present more than two (2) papers at OCIS2025 and may take on up to four (4) roles during the conference, including acting as panel chairs and discussants.

This will be an in-person conference for all paper presenters. The deadline for panel and abstract submission is 13 January 2025.

For any questions please feel free to contact the OCIS Committee Co-Chairs at mail@conferencedesign.com.au

A/Prof Srinjoy Bose
A/Prof Deborah Barros Leal Farias
Prof Elizabeth Thurbon
Prof Susan Park

Important Dates

• Call for Presentations Open
  September 2024
• Call for Presentations Close
  13 January 2025
• Presentation Notifications Sent
  19 March 2025
• Presenter Registration Closes
  12 May 2025
• Conference Starts 
  9 July 2025

Presentation Formats

Please ensure you submit under the respective submission portal only and please ensure you do not submit the same presentation in more than one portal.

Click on the blue banner for the respective submission portal.

Individual Papers

Oral presentations will be allocated 15 minutes. Oral presentations will be grouped into 90-minute sessions on a common theme.

• A 15-minute presentation.

Submission Details:

• Presentation title (15 words)
• Abstract (250 words)
• Preferred theme
• Names of authors
• Affiliations of authors
• Indicate the presenter
• Short biography of the presenter (100 words)

Panel Sessions

Panel sessions provide an opportunity for in-depth exploration of a topic or theme. Panels comprise 3-4 abstract presentations; a Discussant is optional. For panels with Discussants, we ask that discussants limit their comments to 10 minutes maximum to allow time for audience Q&A

Panel proposals are to be submitted in two parts.

Part 1 should include the following:

• The panel title
• The chair’s name and affiliation
• 50 word biography of panel chair
• A 150 word overview of the panel session

Part 2 will include:

• Upon submitting the panel session overview, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to upload the individual abstracts
• Please upload between 3-4 individual abstracts. The chair can do this or send the email with the link to individual presenters to upload
• Each individual abstract will need to reference the Panel Session title. This is noted in the submission section at the bottom of the confirmation email.

Panels with three (3) presentations may go over the standard 15 minute time frame per presentation.

Round Tables

Roundtable sessions are less formal than presentations. This is an opportunity to discuss related research/topics of interest in a conversational type of format. These sessions should include 3-5 speakers, plus a session chair.

Submission Details:

• Roundtable title (15 words)
• Preferred theme
• Names of Chair and Speakers
• Affiliations of Chair and Speaker
• Short biography of the presenters (100 words)
• Round Table overview (250 words)

Abstract Guidelines

• Abstracts must be original and unpublished.
• You must declare a potential conflict of interest.
• Ensure that your abstract is grammatically correct and free of other errors.
• Use single spacing for all text.
• Do not use abbreviations in the title of the abstract
• When using abbreviations in the abstract, spell them out in full at the first mention
• Capitalise the first letter in trade names.
• Abstracts should NOT contain references, tables, or figures.
• Accepted abstracts will appear exactly as submitted.
• Industry representatives are welcome to submit an abstract for consideration, however, submissions that are commercially or sales-focused will not be considered

Presentation Themes

Select one of the following theme options when submitting your abstracts.

1. Climate and Energy Governance / Global Environmental Politics
2. Gender & Sexuality
3. Global Governance
4. Foreign Policy
5. Human Rights
6. International Development
7. International Political Economy
8. Indigenous Politics
9. International Ethics
10. International Law
11. International Political Sociology
12. International Relations Theory
13. Peace and Security Studies

Review & Selection Process

Open Peer-Review

The Program Committee will peer review all submitted papers in open collaboration.

Selection Process

The Program Committee will allocate presentations to the program considering the score of the abstract, recommendations from reviewers, the author’s preference for presentation format, and the balance of the program.

Abstract authors will be notified of acceptance, rejection or change of format via email at the date specified above. All presenters are then required to register.

Submission & Presentation Information

Authors’ Permission

By submitting an abstract all authors are deemed to have agreed to release the content to the conference organisers and give permission to publish the abstract and presentation in all conference publications including on the website, in the app and printed material.

Presenter Guidelines

A set of guidelines to assist presenters will be made available before the conference.

Cancellations or Change of Presenter

Please avoid late cancellations or changing the presenter as material will be pre-printed with the speaker’s name and organisation and cannot be changed at a later date. If you need to cancel or change the presenter, please advise Conference Design at mail@conferencedesign.com.au as early as possible.

Disclosure Of Interest Statement

We recognise the considerable contribution that industry partners make to professional and research activities. We also recognise the need for transparency and the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by acknowledging these relationships in publications and presentations. Where relevant, all authors must include a disclosure of interest statement in their abstract and if accepted in their presentation. For example, The Melon Institute and Metabolism Corp are funded by the University of Oxbridge, UK. No pharmaceutical grants were received in the development of this study.

Speaker Biography

A brief biography of the presenter is to be provided when you submit your abstract. Biographies may include the presenter’s position, career details and major work achievements. Biographies should be written in the third person. If your abstract is accepted, your biography will be used when introducing you as a speaker at the conference.

Uploading Your Presentations

You will be sent links to upload your PowerPoint slides via Drobox.

Permission for Material Presented

Please ensure you have documented permission to use any images, music or other content in your abstract and presentation. Do not include any images copied from the internet. Getty Images and other image agencies crawl the internet looking for images that have been copied without the appropriate licenses. You are liable for all copyright infringements that arise from your presentation.

Copyright and Ownership of Material

All materials, including but not limited to presentations, slides, posters, abstracts, papers, and any other written or visual content presented at the event, are the intellectual property of us or the respective authors and presenters. The authors or presenters retain ownership rights to their materials.

Will People be Able to Record or Download My Presentation?

During the registration process, attendees agree to the conference Terms & Conditions, which include rules on unauthorised photography and recording of conference material. We cannot enforce this rule completely, so presenters should assume a participant may take unauthorised photographs, screenshots, audio, or video recordings. You may wish to adjust the content of your presentation accordingly. Presentations in the online portal and conference app are available only to view and cannot be downloaded.