How to Submit
MAPACA web account: You must have a MAPACA web account. (For roundtable submissions, EVERYONE must have a MAPACA web account — no exceptions.) All presenters must add a bio in their personal profile and enter a first and last name in the required fields. We also encourage everyone to add their academic and/or professional affiliation. You can read more information on how to manage your profile on the website.
Click “Log In.”
a. Choose either “I have an account” or “I want to create an account” to log in or register.
b. Returning MAPACA members who have forgotten their password may choose “Request new password.”sure to use the same email address with which you previously registered.
c. If, for any reason, you cannot access your account, do not create a new one. Please email mapaca@mapaca.net and we’ll help you out.
Choose “Submit a Proposal” on the home page.
Title your presentation using title-case capitalization. You can add italics and other simple formatting both in your title and in your abstract using Markdown, an easy-to-use formatting tool. This help link is also available on the form.
You may only submit 1 individual paper proposal for the conference. Please note that MAPACA considers co-authored papers to be individual paper proposals. Indicate the area to which you are submitting by using the drop-down menu. Abstracts must not exceed 300 words.
Since your abstract will be publicly visible to attendees, take care that it is free of grammatical, structural, and spelling errors. Be sure everything is correct. Be sure email address(es), name(s), and affiliation(s) are entered correctly. If you discover something is wrong after you submit, you have a 24-hour grace period (or until the deadline, if it comes first) to make any corrections if necessary. See “Style Guide” for more.
Please specify audio-video requirements.
Types of Submissions
Individual paper (15 minutes each for panels of four presenters, 20 minutes each for panels of 3 presenters as part of a 90 minute panel). Abstracts may be no longer than 300 words. Accepted papers will be placed on panels by the area chair. One individual paper submission is permitted. Co-authored papers fall into this category as well as submissions by single presenters.
Roundtable (90 minutes) Using the presentation submission form list the email addresses of all the presenters in the roundtable. If an address is not linked to an existing account on the website, you will be prompted to add the person’s name, and a new account will be created for them. That person will receive an email notifying them of the new account, which they must confirm and to which they must add their profile information. If you receive a message that a presenter already has a presentation in the system you must contact the relevant Area Chair(s) to add their name to the roundtable. Regardless, it is a good idea to contact the Area Chair(s) and alert them your roundtable idea.
In your abstract clearly indicate that you are proposing a roundtable. You might also include “roundtable” in your title. Please note: Roundtables differ from traditional panels in that they are discussion-based, with the roundtable participants and the audience sharing ideas in a conversation moderated by the chair. Therefore, each presenter in a roundtable will be limited to ten minutes to introduce their work. Please note, roundtable presenters may also submit one individual paper to the area of their choice but because of our 1 presentation limit joining the roundtable after creating a presentation proposal will require Area Chair assistance.
Complete panels (90 minutes, which can include three to four individual papers) should be submitted as individual papers by the presenters. Contact the appropriate area chair with the following information: the panel title, all presenters in the panel, and the session chair.
Non-traditional panels — please contact your area chair to discuss non-traditional panel formats.
Crash Course (5 minutes) —This high-density session will feature several 5-minute micro-presentations about current popular culture topics in a “crash course” format. Interested participants must submit a 75-word proposal that includes a presentation title, explanation of the topic, and identification of significance for contemporary popular culture research. To submit a Crash Course proposal, you must be registered for the current conference. The deadline to submit for the Crash Course is in September. Further Crash Course details will be published in the MAPACA newsletter.
What’s Next
You should receive a system generated response upon successful proposal submission. If you do not see one in your email, check your spam folder. If you do not find confirmation there, contact the appropriate area chair.
Within a couple of weeks of the submission deadline you should receive a response from your area chair. You can always check the status of your proposal by visiting your profile page and clicking on “Conference content”. You may also add or edit your personal information by clicking “Edit account” on your profile page.
If your abstract is accepted, you will receive information about conference registration following the conference submission deadline. Please note that failure to register for the conference by the deadline will result in the proposal being withdrawn. You may also contact your area chair with any questions.
A Note about Plagiarism
MAPACA is serious about academic integrity. If we detect plagiarism in your submission, it will be rejected. If we detect plagiarism in an accepted submission at any time, the presentation will be withdrawn from the conference.
MAPACA Code of Conduct
MAPACA is also serious about promoting a positive and inclusive atmosphere at our conference. Please read our Code of Conduct at https://mapaca.net/about/code-conduct.