The Call for Proposals is Closed.

We encourage works-in-progress as well as reflections on practice, conceptual explorations, and formal research dissemination.

Creating a Profile

OTESSA expects each author submitting to the conference to also participate in the review process. When you create your OJS profile, please ensure you have checked the box indicating your willingness to serve as a reviewer. In addition to entering keywords relating to your area of interest, please add the languages you are able to review in (e.g., English, French, etc.). We also hope you can add on any analytical or technical processes you have expertise in (e.g., quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, mixed methods, indigenous research methods, etc.)

Your proposal should contain four main elements:

• the names of ALL authors and presenters
• an abstract (up to 200 words)
• a proposal (up to 1200 words)
• a statement to address audience engagement and interaction (up to 250 words). 

The title should be written in plain language and should clearly describe what the session is about. Titles without enough information may not attract an audience. Titles are entered into a text field in the Online Journal System (OJS). 

Please enter the names of all authors and presenters and review the eligibility section for more information on limits on participation.

The abstract cannot be longer than 200 words and should be written in plain language. Please be catchy, concise, and coherent. Abstracts are entered into a text field in OJS.

The proposal (Word document upload of up to 1200 words, not including references) should include APA citations for key concepts. The text should be double-spaced, 11-point or greater, sans-serif style font (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Verdana).  On the OJS system, drop-down menus will allow you to select the presentation format, whether you opt to submit for a presentation format only or if you want to submit your proposal for inclusion in a proceedings collection as well. Lastly, you will also be able to select a drop-down menu to indicate if your selection of research-oriented or practice-oriented review criteria. 

The statement to address audience engagement and interaction (Word document upload of up to 250 words) should include an outline of plans for audience engagement in the room. 

Note: All submissions should include APA citations for key concepts, and submissions to the presentation, panel, and roundtable formats should include an additional outline of plans for audience engagement in the room.

Eligibility

Active membership is not required at the time of submission. Presenters must be a member of OTESSA, must register for the conference, be prepared to attend the conference, and make their presentations in person (unless otherwise approved). In the event that you are unable to attend, you are asked to notify us as soon as possible. 

Presenters of roundtable sessions are requested to bring copies of their proposals and lists of resources related to their work to the sessions. Doing so will enable participants to discuss the topic more effectively. 

Presenters are allowed to be first author or sole presenter TWICE for the entire OTESSA conference. All authors and presenters MUST be listed on a submission. This enables us to identify and trouble-shoot conflicts at an early stage. If an author appears on a number of submissions as co-author, we will only ensure no conflict occurs for two sessions.

Review Process

All proposals receive a double-blind review by at least two reviewers who have presented their work at previous conferences and/or who have published peer-reviewed research relevant to the submission topic. Proposals must conceal the identity of the author(s). Citing one’s own work is permissible, but authors must ensure they do not reveal their identity. Proposals that do not adhere to this requirement may be rejected or returned for revision.

Author identification must be removed from the MS Word document properties of the file. For Windows users, use the following procedure: File > Info > Check for issues > Inspect document (inspect) > Document properties and personal information (remove all). For Mac users, click on Tools > Protect document > Remove personal information from this file upon save.

Each reviewer will be asked to provide feedback on how this work may be improved substantively, to help authors improve their work.

Submissions may be accepted in a format other than what they were submitted for.

Authors may enter in the “comments to the editor” field, the names of any reviewers who they perceive may have a negative bias against their work. In these cases, steps will be taken to ensure a fair review.

Since each submission requires a minimum of two reviewers, OTESSA expects each author submitting to the conference to also participate in the review process. Please ensure you have updated your Open Journal System profile to indicate your willingness to serve as a reviewer.

Criteria for Evaluation

Regardless of presentation format chosen, all authors may self-select one of the following two types of submission for their work: “research-oriented” or “practice-oriented” with the following criteria for each:

Research-oriented

1. Significance to the field, to practice, to society, to OTESSA mission/focus
2. Relevance to conference theme 
3. Clarity (of objectives or purpose, of writing, of arguments, etc)
4. Situatedness (i.e. has the author situated their work in the broader research literature, provided perspective(s) or theoretical framework)
5. Substantiated conclusions and/or recommendations
6. Methodological and analytic rigour as required by the inquiry approach employed

Practice-oriented

1. Significance to the field, to practice, to society, to OTESSA mission/focus
2. Relevance to conference theme 
3. Clarity (of objectives or purpose, of writing, of arguments, etc.)
4. Situatedness (i.e. has the author situated their work in the broader context of similar work conducted by others)
5. Substantiated conclusions, and/or recommendations

Official Language

The official language of OTESSA is English, however, submissions can be accepted in either English or French, which are the official languages of Canada. The program indicates the languages of presentation and discussion. In any given session, the title reflects the language of presentation. OTESSA supports the practice of bilingual presentations for the official languages of Canada (French and English) and Indigenous languages (e.g., a presenter speaks in one language while the slides are in the other language; co-presenters each speaking one language; or a bilingual facilitator helping translate the Q&A session).

A bilingual session is defined as one in which presentations and discussions occur in either French or English, along with support in the other language. Support may take the form of presenter-supplied handouts, overheads, summaries or abstracts. Discussion moves freely between the two languages, French and English. 

The OTESSA Executive will make a reasonable effort to ensure public communications are available in both official Canadian languages and any additional languages. Please note, however, that our ability to meet these needs is expected to grow as we grow as a community and organization. We are attuned to the dark history of the denial of language in the oppression of marginalized groups and, where possible, will make a reasonable effort to translate into additional languages as well. The OTESSA Executive will determine when and how translations between the languages will be provided.