21st Islands of the World Conference

What to submit

Abstracts are submitted in English. The form is organised into four short sections — background, methods, results, and conclusions — each with its own word limit. For empirical work these map onto a conventional structured abstract; conceptual, theoretical, and humanities-based contributions are welcome to read “methods” as their approach or sources and “results” as their central arguments or findings. Organized panels and roundtables are submitted as one Word document; see the guidelines on the submission page. Author names and affiliations are removed before review, so your work is judged on its merit alone.

Key dates

• Abstract submission opens1 August 2026
• Submission deadline (extended)31 October 2026
• Notification of acceptanceDecember 2026

Presentation formats

Indicate your preferred format when submitting. The programme committee may suggest an alternative if it better serves the programme.

• Oral paper — 20-min presentation + 10-min discussion. Standard format for individual or co-authored papers.
• Organized panel — Four papers on a shared theme, submitted together by the session organizer as one Word document. 90-minute session including discussion.
• Poster — Visual presentation during a dedicated poster session. A0 portrait format. Well-suited to work in progress or visual research.
• Roundtable — Structured discussion without formal papers. Suitable for emerging debates or policy conversations. Up to 6 participants, 60–90 minutes. Submitted by the roundtable organizer as one Word document.

How abstracts are reviewed

Each abstract is assessed independently by three reviewers against six criteria. Scores are combined as a weighted average, so the criteria below carry different weight in the final result.

• Relevance to the conference theme×1
• Originality and contribution×1
• Scholarly quality and methodology×1.5
• Strength of findings or argument×1
• Relevance to island contexts and practice×1
• Clarity and structure×1