This document is still in draft form.
When selecting offers for our events, do everything we can to review proposals without bias, using the following process:
- Our CFP proposal form collects various information from proponents, including a speaker bio, the talk abstract, and “any other relevant information” that the proponent wishes to provide. We ask that the talk abstract and the “any other information” fields do not identify the proponent.
- After submission, offers are vetted by our publications editor to ensure that the abstract and “any other information” fields do not contain any identifying information. If they do, that information is either deleted, or replaced to de-identify it.
- The offers are then made available to a team of reviewers. Reviewers only see the anonymised talk abstract and “any other information” fields. They do not see the speaker’s name, contact details, bio, original version of the abstract, original version of the “any other information” field, or any other information submitted as part of the CFP.
- All offers are reviewed and scored by the reviewer team. Guidelines are provided to reviewers to attempt to ensure that scores fall within a standardised range. Relevance to the event theme is considered, along with the quality of the offer. At least three reviewers score every offer before its average score is available for ranking and consideration.
- After the CFP closes, the editorial team will review the offers, ranked by score, and consider them for inclusion in the event program. We don’t necessarily accept all offers in strict ranking order. For example, it is common for some presenters to submit multiple offers. Even if they all rank highly, we will generally only accept one of the offers, and will select based on best fit with other accepted offers, relevance, and other factors.
- Following the review process, some offers will be marked for inclusion, some for rejection, and some for potential inclusion, depending on program space. Proponents are contacted at this point, indicating whether their offer is accepted, rejected, or being considered.
- for accepted offers, the proponent must confirm their intent to present at the event, otherwise their offer is rejected
- for “under consideration” offers, attempts will be made to include them in the program when/as space becomes available
- Some events may include a second-round CFP. This can happen if insufficient quality offers are received in the first round. Any second-round CFP will have a shorter timeline, but the same review and ranking process is followed as for the initial CFP.