81st Annual Midwest Political Science Association Conference
Thursday, April 4 through Sunday, April 7, 2024
Hybrid Format: In-Person at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, IL or Online

All Panels/Paper Sessions, Roundtables, Lightning Talks and Working Groups will Feature a Hybrid Format (for In-Person or Virtual Participation). Undergraduate Poster Sessions will be In-Person Only.

Conference Program Co-Chairs:
Gisela Sin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Elizabeth Suhay, American University

Learn more about the conference. Sign up here to receive email communications about the conference.

Submission Guidelines

Prepare Your Proposal Submission | How It Works | Other Considerations | Submitting A Complete Panel | Submit A Proposal

If you are offering to serve as a chair or discussant, please indicate your fields of expertise and provide a statement of your interests. Individuals may participate on no more than three panels. Participants may give two paper presentations (only one may be single-authored), and serve as a chair and/or discussant on a third session. Roundtables are exempt from participation limits. Groups not affiliated with the MPSA that wish to sponsor sessions should contact the MPSA (mpsainfo@mpsanet.org) to arrange this.

Session formats for 2024 include: Panel/Paper sessions, Lightning Talks, Poster sessions*, Roundtables, Working Groups/Conference-Within-a-Conference, and Meetings, Receptions and Networking Events*. Please click here to view detailed session format information and session role descriptions (paper presenter, chair, discussant, etc.).

With the exception of Poster sessions and Meetings, Receptions and Networking Events, all session formats are hybrid, which allows for either in-person or online participation. Sessions will be broadcast online in real time.

*Limited to in-person participation only. There is no virtual participation option for this session format.

The preliminary schedule will be posted on the MPSA website with specific days and times of sessions. At that time, you will be able to search on your name and print the pertinent information, if needed.

Prepare Your Proposal Submission

TURN OFF POP-UP BLOCKER IN YOUR BROWSER BEFORE YOU SUBMIT.  You do not need to be a member to submit a proposal, but you do need an active account on the MPSA website (this is NOT the same as registering for the conference).

Proposals must be submitted electronically and you must be logged into your MPSA account to access the proposal submission system. If you do not have an account, or are unsure, please click here. If you need to reset your password, please click here. After logging into your account, click the “Submit a Proposal” button. Please note, all users must complete their profile before submitting a proposal. If you have not already completed your account profile, you will be prompted to do so before you can access the proposal system. Every user must submit their own proposal using their own account. If you are a faculty advisor, please do not submit a proposal for one of your students when you are logged in with your personal account.

Do you have an account associated with an email you no longer have access to? Email us to help! If you create a duplicate account, there may be a delay in submitting your proposal. 

The following information is required for the online submission form:

  • Section(s). Prior to submitting your proposal, please review section descriptions to determine the appropriate section in which to submit your proposal. You may submit to up to 2 sections (subfield and undergraduate submissions may only select one section).
  • Title of the proposal. This information will be included in the conference program if the proposal is accepted. There is a 250 character limit. Spaces and punctuation marks DO count as characters. Do not use tabs or hard returns.
  • Brief overview. This information will be included in the conference program if the proposal is accepted. There is a 250 character limit. Spaces and punctuation marks count as characters. Do not use tabs or hard returns. We recommend that you write the overview before you log into the system and copy and paste it into the text box.
  • Key words. There is a 250 character limit.
  • Abstract. There is a 1,500 character limit. Spaces and punctuation marks DO count as characters. Do not use tabs or hard returns. We recommend that you write the abstract before you log into the system and copy and paste it into the text box.

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How It Works

Once you select the proposal link you will be taken to the Submitter Menu. You have three options:

  • Submit or Edit a Proposal (submit or edit proposals for this conference).
  • Volunteer to be a Chair or Discussant for a Section
  • Message Center (read messages sent from this site).

To submit proposals, select “Submit a Proposal”. Depending on your Professional Level listed in the Background and Research Interests section of your MPSA profile you will see the appropriate submission forms for your professional level.

Select the appropriate form, then choose the section to which you wish to submit. You may then select a secondary section (subfield and undergraduate submissions may only select one section). Next add your title, abstract, keywords, and a brief overview by following the instructions on the page. Finally, select the “Accept and Continue” button at the bottom right of the page.

NOTE: watch for error messages that will be displayed in red.

WARNING: DO NOT USE YOUR BROWSER’S BACK BUTTON.

The Select Author(s) page will appear. You will have been pre-populated as an author. To add a co-author, use the search box: Add/Search for Author(s) by Last Name. Enter the author’s first and last name and select the “Search for Author” button. If the author appears in the list, select them by clicking their name. Below their name, select from the dropdown their role. Then click “Save Role Information” button to the left side of the screen. Continue to do this for all authors. Check the results carefully to determine if the person you wish to add is already in the database.

NOTE: Authors MUST have an MPSA account before you may add them as a co-author.

DO NOT create an additional record if the person appears in the results – even if their record needs to be updated (affiliation, email, etc.). Doing so may prevent your co-author from accessing MPSA membership benefits and historical conference information.

If you determine that your co-author is not in the MPSA database you will need to create a new record, you should select the box beside “Can’t find a name in the contact list”. You will be prompted to add a new record. A form will appear. Once completed, click the “Create Contact” button. Choose the participant’s role and click “Save role information”; this will add the participant and role to the paper.

Change the Author order by clicking Up or Down in the Display Order field. The authors should be listed in the order they will appear in the final program. To remove an author, click “Remove” in the Action column. Once you have completed the process of adding authors click “Next”.

Next a review page will appear. Review your proposal information carefully. If you wish to make edits, use the “Previous” button at the bottom of the page. Make your edits and then click “Next”. Once again on the review screen, if you are satisfied with your proposal select the “Next” button on the bottom right of the page. You will be directed to the “Submit a Conference Proposal” page. You must click the acknowledgement box and select “Next”.

Your confirmation will appear on the screen when you have completed the submission process, it will include your proposal number. You should also receive an email from MPSA <do_not_reply@mpsanet.org>. The email will arrive within twenty-four hours of completing your submission. If you do not receive the email, it may be due to one of the following reasons:

  • You did not complete the submission process properly. Go back and review the above help notes to make sure you have completed the process. 
  • Your email address is incorrect. If you log in with an email account you no longer use, you will not receive email notifications. 
  • Your email has very sensitive spam blockers that are blocking the incoming email. You can check your “junk” email inbox, add the domain “@mpsanet.org” to your safe list, and talk with your email provider to resolve this issue.

When you receive your email confirmation, please DO NOT REPLY to the email. Email sent to this mailbox will not be viewed or answered.  For questions about your submission, or its status, please email MPSA conference staff.

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Other Considerations

  • You may submit up to two paper proposals. Only one of two proposals may be a single-authored paper. The same proposal may be submitted to up to two sections, but submitting a proposal to two sections does not increase the chance of acceptance.
  • If you have a terminal degree and submit a proposal, you will also automatically be considered for the role of discussant/chair.
  • You cannot submit a full paper to the proposal submission system. If your proposal is accepted, you will receive instructions in the Spring about how to submit your paper to the members of your panel by uploading it to the MPSA paper archive.
  • Undergraduate students may only submit to undergraduate poster sections. Poster sessions are only available in undergraduate sections. First-year graduate students may only submit to subfield sections. See a list of sections and descriptions here.
  • You cannot delete a proposal once it is submitted.
  • By January, you will be notified via email about the status of your submission. Be sure to provide an email address that you check regularly. All correspondence about your submission and the conference will be through email.
  • The conference will take place from Thursday through Sunday. By submitting a proposal, you agree to be available to participate during any of the conference days. Requests for specific days or times for participation are not accepted, except for reasons related to religious observances or unusual family circumstances.

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Submitting a Complete Panel

You must hold a terminal degree to submit a complete panel.  A complete panel consists of four to five papers, one chair, and two discussants. You will need the following information to complete the form:

  • Session Title
  • For each paper proposal: Author Names, affiliations, email addresses, mailing address, telephone number, proposal title, abstract, overview, and keywords.
    • Title of the proposals. This information will be included in the conference program if the proposal is accepted. There is a 250 character limit. Spaces and punctuation marks count as characters. Do not use tabs or hard returns.
    • Brief overviews. This information will be included in the conference program if the proposal is accepted. There is a 250 character limit. Spaces and punctuation marks count as characters. Do not use tabs or hard returns. We recommend that you write the overview before you log into the system and copy and paste it into the text box.
    • Key words.
    • Abstracts. There is a 1,500 character limit. Spaces and punctuation marks count as characters. Do not use tabs or hard returns. We recommend that you write the abstract before you log into the system and copy and paste it into the text box.
  • For the discussants and chairs: Name, affiliation, email address, telephone number, Note: the discussants may not serve as authors on any paper on the same session.

Please do not submit this form until you have all the information requested above. You will not be able to submit incomplete submissions.

Questions about the electronic submissions process, policies, or presentation formats should be directed to MPSA conference staff.

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Guidelines subject to change.