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Academic Discussions => General Academic Discussion => Topic started by: paddington_bear on December 14, 2022, 09:57:37 AM

Title: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: paddington_bear on December 14, 2022, 09:57:37 AM
I submitted the same abstract for two spring conferences, hoping that it would be accepted at one of them. Well, of course, it was accepted at both. I'm going to one because the location is better. :) Is it unethical to present the same paper at two separate conferences?  Each conference theme is relevant to my work, obviously, and both sponsoring organizations have the same "prestige," so there's no difference there either. My university isn't really funding a lot of faculty travel these days, so the second conference would definitely be out of my own pocket.  The second conference, in "less desirable" city would have sessions that would interest me, I'm sure, so I would enjoy that conference.

And if I do present at both conferences, is it bad to list them both on my CV? Should I change the title of one of the papers?
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: Puget on December 14, 2022, 10:09:39 AM
This may be field dependent, but in my field conferences are just a way to share your work with colleagues, they aren't equivalent to papers in any way (I know that's different in e.g., computer science). So, no problem presenting the same work at multiple conferences, especially when the audiences are different.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: Parasaurolophus on December 14, 2022, 10:50:04 AM
It's 100% okay (both to present, and to list each presentation). (We do it all the time in my field, anyway.)
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: artalot on December 14, 2022, 11:25:56 AM
For us (humanities, LAC) you could definitely do both and wouldn't be considered unethical, but they couldn't both count towards tenure/review. Could you change the title and maybe the angle a little bit?
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: AJ_Katz on December 14, 2022, 11:26:07 AM
+1 to presenting at both


I encourage my students and postdocs to present multiple times with minor tweaks to the title.  Even preliminary results and a proposed research project could be presented for a new student.  It's a great way to publicize the research and is important metric for evaluation, reports, and credentials.

Congrats!
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: paddington_bear on December 14, 2022, 12:02:52 PM
Quote from: artalot on December 14, 2022, 11:25:56 AM
For us (humanities, LAC) you could definitely do both and wouldn't be considered unethical, but they couldn't both count towards tenure/review. Could you change the title and maybe the angle a little bit?

Yes! I just checked to see if I titled the abstracts differently - I wanted to use one of the conference theme's words in the title - and I did. Thanks for the reminder! 

If I decide to present at both - which I'm leaning towards - I'd still probably put them both on my CV. Whoever ends up seeing them on my CV can count them however they want.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: poiuy on December 16, 2022, 06:16:30 PM
Another voice saying you should present at both, especially if the audience won't overlap/duplicate. That way, you get to share your work with more people!
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: dismalist on December 16, 2022, 06:21:11 PM
Pre-publication, but even post working paper, this is done all the time.

It's common to see footnotes in published papers: Presented here, there, and everywhere. Thank you all for comments.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: darkstarrynight on December 16, 2022, 08:35:26 PM
This is very timely for me since I am working on two conference proposals based on my sabbatical project research. Both are due in January and I have been struggling with how to differentiate them beyond the audiences (one is a practitioner conference, one is a research conference). Everyone's suggestions are very helpful to me too!
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: kaysixteen on December 16, 2022, 09:25:25 PM
I get that one could not actually submit such a paper to two separate journals oneself, but if you present the same paper at two different conferences, how do you prevent the conference runners in question from publishing the paper in their respective proceedings journal?
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: Sun_Worshiper on December 17, 2022, 08:39:37 AM
This is completely acceptable and even encouraged in my field. I've presented a single paper at two or three conferences and also given it as an invited talk or at a workshop. Nobody objects.

Quote from: kaysixteen on December 16, 2022, 09:25:25 PM
I get that one could not actually submit such a paper to two separate journals oneself, but if you present the same paper at two different conferences, how do you prevent the conference runners in question from publishing the paper in their respective proceedings journal?

The major conferences in my field just publish a list of abstracts, as opposed to full papers. Not sure about fields where proceedings are included as full papers in a journal.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: mleok on December 17, 2022, 09:15:27 AM
Quote from: kaysixteen on December 16, 2022, 09:25:25 PM
I get that one could not actually submit such a paper to two separate journals oneself, but if you present the same paper at two different conferences, how do you prevent the conference runners in question from publishing the paper in their respective proceedings journal?

I would not suggest submitting the same work to two conferences that both publish full proceedings articles.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: dismalist on December 17, 2022, 06:13:47 PM
Quote from: mleok on December 17, 2022, 09:15:27 AM
Quote from: kaysixteen on December 16, 2022, 09:25:25 PM
I get that one could not actually submit such a paper to two separate journals oneself, but if you present the same paper at two different conferences, how do you prevent the conference runners in question from publishing the paper in their respective proceedings journal?

I would not suggest submitting the same work to two conferences that both publish full proceedings articles.

No, one mustn't do that.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: glowdart on December 19, 2022, 08:33:33 PM
Generally, if the audiences will be different, then go ahead. I have seen people chided for literally giving the exact same paper at two conferences in our field that everyone goes to.

But save yourself questions at review time on your home campus and use different titles.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: MarathonRunner on December 21, 2022, 12:34:50 PM
Some conferences in my field explicitly state that the material can't have been presented at another conference. Some welcome things that have been presented elsewhere, but only by students.

This seems to be a thing that varies by field.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: larryc on January 17, 2023, 01:16:02 AM
Yeah it is all about changing the title and maybe pitching it a bit differently.

I *might* know a guy who, early and mid-career, presented the same paper a lot. And I mean, a lot. He never did get around to publishing it and just today he saw a swarm of tweets about a brilliant young historian who just published a book on the topic.
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: bacardiandlime on January 17, 2023, 06:54:22 AM
Quote from: larryc on January 17, 2023, 01:16:02 AM
I *might* know a guy who, early and mid-career, presented the same paper a lot. And I mean, a lot. He never did get around to publishing it and just today he saw a swarm of tweets about a brilliant young historian who just published a book on the topic.

ouch
Title: Re: Same paper at separate conferences?
Post by: larryc on April 18, 2023, 10:53:02 AM
Oh I'm fine with it. I'd long since lost interest and the topic required substantial additional research to become published. I look forward to reading the book.

Quote from: bacardiandlime on January 17, 2023, 06:54:22 AM
Quote from: larryc on January 17, 2023, 01:16:02 AM
I *might* know a guy who, early and mid-career, presented the same paper a lot. And I mean, a lot. He never did get around to publishing it and just today he saw a swarm of tweets about a brilliant young historian who just published a book on the topic.

ouch