Citizen Science Association
C*Sci 2023 Individual Submissions
--Call for late breaking posters open through April 10, 2023--
SHARE AND CONNECT AT C*SCI2023: Submit a proposal for late breaking poster here.
Share your insights, research, experience or new ideas about C*Science practices: the tools, strategies, or innovations that make for successful partnerships.
It's easy to submit, and presenting (either in person or virtually) opens doors for more ideas, connections, and inspired work in this field.
Traditional talks at C*Sci2023 are limited and highly competitive to focus this event more on engagement and connections. Some Symposia are inviting talks for their session or for related sessions.
All submissions are considered for posters, with both virtual and in-person options available. Dynamic sessions and formats enable deep conversations, to share ideas, ask questions, and build connections.
Poster presenters can also be considered to be part of, or to help lead, discussion sessions. Short (3-5 min) talks will launch group discussion around a common topic of interest.
What gets presented at this meeting? Ideas and insights that focus on practices – what has been done or could be done to make these partnerships work well.
Who can submit? Anyone working to make C*Science – public research partnerships from any tradition – powerful and possible.
Does this mean academics? This event uniquely brings together (both virtually and in person) all of the people and perspectives needed for projects to thrive. That includes academics from all disciplines, community leaders, data managers, tech designers, librarians, and… and…
Do I have to have research findings? Only if that’s the type of knowledge you want to share. Other options include sharing stories of lessons learned and ideas for emerging work.
Great! How do I propose an idea? We have a simple submission form that you can preview here (it’s easy, we promise). There are also other details below to help you prepare, including info on presentation formats.
MORE ABOUT TALKS
C*Sci conferences aim to make connections and foster engagement, and conferences since COVID also show attendees favoring engaged sessions over traditional talks. For this reason, most presentation options will be for posters and discussions (opening with lightning-style talks).
Talks do still play an important role, and C*Sci2023 will have some sessions of traditional talks (as well as some more engaged talk options) available in relationship to Symposia. If you plan to attend in person, you can ask for your ideas to be considered for any relevant options below:
Traditional Sessions: Practices for Producing Research
Three Contributed Oral Sessions will address Successes and challenges in producing research with C*Science methodology. Please consider submitting for a talk if you are a researcher who has successfully used C*Science methods in any of the following fields:
- Earth and Space Sciences
- Biomedical and Health Sciences
- Ecological and Environmental Sciences
Read more here about this special series of sessions, made possible with support from the National Science Foundation grant number OAC 1835530.
Join an Existing Symposium
A number of symposia conveners are interested in considering additional participants as part of their accepted session. Some of these symposia are traditional talks and panels, while others will take more engaged forms that may include Fishbowl Discussions, Lightning Talks, or Gallery Walks. Topics open to submission include:
Evaluation • Community Science • Facilitating Data Use • Transforming Research Institutions • Empowering Volunteers
Be sure to read the details specific to a Symposium of interest if you choose to submit.
Discussion sessions are also a presentation option for in-person participants, an opportunity to do a lightning talk in addition to a poster presentation. All proposed ideas submitted for talks will also be considered for poster presentations.
MORE ABOUT POSTERS
The primary way for you to share your work at this event is via a poster. Posters provide a touchstone to start a conversation – to share ideas, invite and ask questions, and learn more together by talking with others in this community about our work. Both virtual and in-person participants can submit poster ideas.
Virtual posters
The dynamic and media rich virtual posters from C*SciVirtual (2020) and C*Sci2021 have taken poster engagement to the next level. They can be as simple as uploading the PDF of a print poster, or as creative as including video, audio, forms, StoryMaps, and more.
All accepted presenters (both in-person and online-only) are expected to upload their poster content to the virtual event space. This virtual poster gallery will make all content available for both in-person and online registrants for two weeks surrounding the in-person conference dates. Dedicated pre-conference engagement activities will highlight and engage ideas from virtual posters. Sharing your work in the virtual conference space offers you the unique opportunities to connect with a large community of practitioners from across disciplines, roles, and locations that may or may not be able. If you are attending in person, it is an additional way you preview people with related interests and make advance plans to meet up in Tempe!
An additional perk: attendees loved last year’s opportunity for pre-conference peer-review sessions of poster content in development. Resources will be available to help you create an engaging poster presentation.
In-person posters
All in-person presenters will share about their work in a large-scale visual, print format in the conference poster gallery (must fit in a landscape-orientation 3x4ft space, but does not need to be on a single print-out). In-person presenters will share their poster during a happy hour poster event one afternoon. Posters will be available for viewing and engagement throughout the day, including during long lunch hours, for browsing and more casual engagement.
MORE ABOUT DISCUSSIONS
We can sit and listen at home – if we are traveling to Tempe, let’s have some active discussions!
If you are submitting an in-person poster, you can also indicate your interest in being considered to either take part in and/or to help lead a discussion session on a relevant topic.
Sessions will open with very brief (<5 minute) presentations (with or without slides), and will focus group discussion around conversations such as: advancing big ideas; feedback on considerations for new projects; stories that identify common interests, etc.
Submission BASICS:
How to prepare your idea
Ideas that are a good “fit” for this event are:
- Relevant to work in the field of c*science
- Focused on practices (what works)
- Have informative stories, research outcomes, or lessons learned to share with others in this field (see also EVALUATION CRITERIA, below).
Here’s what you need to prepare:
- A title (100 characters or less)*
- A short summary (200 characters or less)*
- An overview that will only be read by reviewers to decide if and where to put your idea in the program (2000 characters or less – at most that’s a page, and it can be less)
- A few keywords, and the name(s) and email(s) for any other authors
- Everything else is just answers to some basic menu-based questions like your presentation type (research, story, or emerging work), if you hope to attend in person, and so on (the full set of options are in the PLANNING GUIDE below).
*Titles and short summaries for accepted posters will be used in the final program, so please be comfortable with the content you submit.
Submissions will be accepted in English only and must be submitted through the online submission form.
Timeline and terms
How many ideas can I submit? Only two submissions per lead author will be considered. The program committee reserves the right to accept only one in-person poster per person due to space limitations (a second may be accepted as a virtual poster).
Will this cost me anything? There is no cost to submit an idea for an individual presentation. If accepted, the presenting author will need to register for the 2023 conference (see rates and options here).
What is the deadline again? Submissions will be accepted through 11:59 PM EST on January 27, 2023. Extended through January 30, 2023.
When will I hear back? Proposals will be reviewed and authors will be notified of decisions by the end of February 2023.
Who reviews these ideas? This is peer review – all who submit will also be invited to take part in the review process.
If I am accepted, then what? All in-person presenters must register by March 3rd to confirm their time in the program. If you are accepted for a talk or a discussion session, you will need to commit to travel to the in-person event in Tempe, Arizona.
Can I present remotely? The remote presentation option is for posters, and all online poster presenters will be asked to take part in live engagement events on May 17th. If you are accepted for a talk or discussion session, you can only take part in person.
Review Criteria:
Summaries are short to make submission and review as easy as possible. Summary titles and statements for accepted posters will be used in the final program, so please be comfortable with the content you submit. CSA staff and Conference Planning Committee will not edit summaries for clarity. We may reformat details only if needed to conform to standards for the conference website.
The following types of content can be shared:
- RESEARCH FINDINGS: findings from research, sharing insights into C*Science practices.
- STORY OF LESSONS LEARNED: lessons learned from on-the-ground experiences
- EMERGING WORK: inviting feedback on new projects, technologies, or research in progress (may be descriptive, but not promotional).
All proposals will be reviewed and ranked by the CSA Conference committee and invited reviewers from the c* science community (everyone who submits an idea will be invited to review). All proposals should address one of the following cross-cutting STRANDS and speak to one or more PRIORITY PRACTICES.
Priority Practices:
- Strategies for Successful Science
- Designing for Action and Impact
- Practices for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- Building Relationships and Community Trust
- Integrity in Data Ethics
Conference Strands:
- Discoveries and Frontiers
- Honoring Traditions
- Opening Science
- Connecting People and Place
Individual presentation proposals will be assessed using the following criteria:
- Illuminate one of the conference strands, and speak to cross-cutting priorities
- Focus on practices that advance a big topic, idea, or challenge within c*science
- Provide clear grounds for the insights shared (e.g., based on decades of experience, user testing, evaluation data, etc.)
- Offer insights or questions of relevance and distinct value to this field and audience
Proposals are strongly encouraged to discuss how they address issues related to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.