2023 NCA CONVENTION - CALL FOR INDIVIDUAL COMPETITIVE PAPERS, PAPER SESSIONS, AND PANEL DISCUSSION SUBMISSIONS

The Mass Communication Division provides a forum in which scholars and teachers with diverse interests and approaches can come together to contribute to the study of mass and mediated communication. We invite submissions focusing on various questions about the consumption and production of media, the nature of media content in the form of images, narratives and codes, and the influence of media on individuals and societies across a wide range of contexts ranging from traditional to new media, health to politics, sports to science, and environment to ethics. All methodologies are respected and welcome.

The Mass Communication Division seeks submissions that explore the 2023 convention theme, Freedom. These submissions can be in the form of papers, paper sessions, and panel discussions. The convention theme, Freedom, asks us to think about ways in which our research can show the experience of people through their collective labor in projects. It also asks Communication scholars to demonstrate scholarly and pedagogical practices that honor marginalized communities. Finally, this year’s theme encourages researchers to explore their local communities and how local voices and knowledge can be shared through various Communication practices.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time.

If you submit your work, we strongly encourage you to review for our division. Sign up to review by clicking here. 

All submissions should be made via NCA Convention Central. Emailed or mailed submissions will not be accepted.  Please review the NCA Professional Standards for Convention Participants prior to registering your submission. We request that all Mass Communication Division participants adhere to the standards.

I. SUBMITTING INDIVIDUAL COMPETITIVE PAPERS

Please complete the required fields in NCA Convention Central including title, author(s), description, and keywords. You must also upload a copy of your paper. Before uploading your paper into the system, please keep the following in mind:

1. Paper length is limited to 30 pages, including tables and references. Papers should be double-spaced and use 12-point font. Longer papers will not be considered. Extended abstracts of papers will not be considered, except for ‘Research Escalator’ submissions (see below).

2. Do not include any author identifying information anywhere in the uploaded paper file (including the file name).

3. Your paper should not have a title page. However, please include the title of the paper on the first page of text. You will provide the title of your paper and your name, affiliation, and keywords in the appropriate sections of the Convention Central form. To aid in the review process, when registering your paper, please include 3 keywords that describe your paper's topic and methodology in the Keyword field of the submission screen.

4. You should not include an abstract in the paper file that you upload to the system. You will enter a description (75 words) during the paper submission process.

<5. A submission with student authors only can be designated as a student paper; this excludes papers with faculty co-authors. Student registrants MUST check a box in the paper submission process designating the paper as a student paper to be considered for the top student paper panel and Division student paper awards.

6. Submissions will be checked for plagiarism. Those manuscripts found to contain plagiarized material, in any form, will not be accepted for presentation

7. A/V requests must be made at the time of submission; we regret that late requests cannot be accommodated.

8. If you are willing to have your competitive paper submission considered for presentation in a Scholar-to-Scholar session, you should designate this willingness at the time of paper submission by checking the appropriate agreement box. Scholar-to-Scholar sessions are designed to provide for alternative forms of presentation, one-on-one interaction, and neighborhoods of knowledge and invite interactive media formats such as posters, laptop displays, and other experiential activities. Paper submissions considered for Scholar-to-Scholar sessions will be reviewed with the other Mass Communication submissions and may be programmed either as traditional paper presentations or as part of a Scholar-to-Scholar session.

9.  If your paper submission is accepted, you agree to present the submission that was accepted. You are welcome to make updates to the submission prior to the conference presentation, but you are not allowed to present a completely different paper than the one that was accepted

10. Another option: Research Escalator submissions. Research Escalator Sessions provide junior scholars (e.g., graduate students, very early-career scholars) an opportunity for less developed research to be workshopped with a faculty mentor (with the goal of making the paper ready for submission to a conference or journal). Those interested in the Research Escalator session should submit an extended abstract (500-600 words, excluding references, tables, and figures) of their paper. Submissions should not be complete research studies; instead, the abstract should be a proposed study or one in its early stages. If your abstract is selected for mentorship, you will be expected to send the most recent version of your full paper to your mentor 6 weeks prior to the conference so that they have sufficient time to review your piece. Please only submit 1 research escalator per conference.

During the convention, time will be set aside specifically for the research escalator sessions. Submitters will meet with their mentors in one-on-one meetings to discuss feedback on the manuscript. At the end of the session, submitters will give a short recap of new directions/goals as well as highlight the main points they took away from their mentorship sessions to all research escalator participants.

Please note: On the first page of the extended abstract, please make a note: CONSIDER FOR RESEARCH ESCALATOR SESSION. Also, if you would like a mentor with a specific type of methodological or content expertise, please note this on the first page of the extended abstract.

Questions regarding paper submissions should be directed to: 

Dr. Arienne Ferchaud 

College of Communication & Information 

Florida State University

aferchaud@fsu.edu  

II. SUBMITTING PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Please follow the online directions for submitting your panels. Please include a panel title, all presenters’ names and affiliations, a general description (75 word limit) and extended rationale (400 word limit). A session chair is required.

Panels with a focus related to this year's convention theme, Freedom, are especially encouraged. Panels must include participants from multiple institutions, and no individual may serve in multiple roles in the panel (e.g. no chairs serving as respondents). Please keep in mind that panel discussions will not involve presented papers but will instead focus on dialogue 

Dr. Matt Lapierre  

Department of Communication 

University of Arizona 

mlapierre@arizona.edu  

III. SUBMITTING PAPER SESSIONS

Please follow the online directions for submitting paper sessions. Include a session title; a general description (75 word limit); individual paper titles, descriptions, and author(s) information with the submission (75 word limit for each individual abstract); and extended rationale (400 word limit). A session chair is required.

Submissions with a focus related to this year's convention theme, Freedom, are especially encouraged. Submissions must include participants from multiple institutions, and no individual may serve in multiple roles in the panel.

Questions regarding paper sessions (not competitive paper submissions) should be directed to:

Dr. Matt Lapierre  

Department of Communication 

University of Arizona 

mlapierre@arizona.edu