How to Submit a Proposal

Many speakers submit papers to an individual session organiser, who will then add them to their session proposal. However, it is also possible to submit an individual paper proposal directly to the IMC. The Programming Committee will attempt to group individual papers into thematically coherent sessions. Most sessions will consist of three individuals presenting 20-minute papers (or four individuals presenting 15-minute papers).

To submit your paper, please use the button below to access the proposal form.

You should:

• Complete the Privacy Notice, providing your individual details
• Provide details of your paper details, including title, language of presentation, and let us know about any equipment and accessibility requests.
  • Each IMC session room is equipped with data projector and PC as standard and, to ensure virtual participants can participate fully, speakers must use the in-room PC. You can find out more about session equipment and setup at the IMC.
  • Accessibility needs may include, for example, wheelchair access, assistive listening devices, or information in alternative formats such as Braille or large print. Find out more about accessibility at the IMC.
• Add 2-4 relevant index terms for your paper
• Add yourself, and up to one co-author/co-presenter, to the paper. You must add at least one author for each paper you submit and should not submit more than one paper per IMC.
• Include a short abstract for the paper of no more than 100 words, in the language in which you want to present your paper.
• Review your submission on the confirmation screen and submit

We will include the abstracts of papers in our online programme for the IMC. If your paper is accepted, we will contact you to give you the opportunity to make changes to your abstract before the programme appears online. If for any reason you do not wish your abstract to appear on our website, please tick the appropriate box on the form.

The deadline for submissions for individual paper proposals is always 31 August before the IMC.

Paper proposals received after this date will be marked as late paper proposals and considered at the discretion of the Programming Committee.

Sessions should have a maximum of two organisers, who are responsible for:

• Gathering papers on a common theme.
• Submitting a proposal, including an abstract providing a clear rationale for the session.
• Liaising with your speakers during the year.
• Ensuring that participants of session register for the Congress.
• Finding replacements if any speakers need to withdraw.

Most sessions will consist of three individuals presenting 20-minute papers (or four individuals presenting 15-minute papers), plus a moderator who will introduce them and preside over the discussion. Other formats are welcome, but should provide a rationale.

Two-paper sessions are unlikely to be accepted, unless they also include a respondent whose overall contribution to the session is made explicit in the proposal.

Before you submit your proposal, please ensure that all participants:

• Have agreed to attend;
• Have not already submitted a paper to the IMC either as an individual paper proposal or to another session;
• Are aware they will need to pay the Programming and Registration Fee to attend.

Each organiser may submit a maximum of four sessions, plus one round table discussion. Please note, however, that the IMC administration may not be able to allocate the full number requested.

To propose a session or round table, click the button below to open the relevant form.

You should:

• Complete the 'Privacy Policy' section with your own details as the session submitter
• Provide the session title, following the guidelines available on the page
• Provide the session abstract, details of any sponsor, and confirm availability, access, and additional equipment requests
  • Each IMC session room is equipped with data projector and PC as standard and, to ensure virtual participants can participate fully, speakers must use the in-room PC. You can find out more about session equipment and setup at the IMC.
  • Accessibility needs may include, for example, wheelchair access, assistive listening devices, or information in alternative formats such as Braille or large print. Find out more about accessibility at the IMC.
• On the 'People' step, you must add all participants in the session. We recommend first adding the organiser(s) and moderator, then the paper speakers, then any respondents or round table participants.
• Each time you add a person to a given role, you will be prompted to either select them from a list of recent IMC participants, or provide their details in full in line with our Privacy Policy.
  • You will need to provide full name and contact details for each person involved in the session and will be prompted to provide the paper title for speakers who are giving papers.
  • You will then need to click into the paper submission and add their personal information, access, and equipment requests. When this has been completed, a tick will appear next to the paper.
  • You can then click in to each paper submission to add 2-4 relevant index terms for each paper. When this has been completed, a tick will appear next to the index terms for that paper.
  • You can then also click into the paper abstract to provide their individual paper abstracts. If you do not have these to hand, you can simply enter 'n/a' in the abstract box. When this has been completed, a tick will appear next to the abstract for that paper.
• The system will not allow you to proceed if your submission is incomplete, e.g. any required field is not completed, or the following rules are not met:
  • Provide a minimum of 1 moderator per session
  • Provide 1-2 organisers per session
  • Provide a minimum of 3 paper authors per session
  • Provide a minimum of 2-4 index terms per paper
• Once your submission is completed, the system will allow you to proceed to the next and final step.
• Review your submission on the confirmation screen and submit

We include the abstracts of sessions in the IMC online programme. If your session is accepted, we will contact all the speakers involved so they can make any changes to the abstract before it appears on our website. If you (or one of your speakers) do not wish their session abstract or paper abstract  to appear online, please tick the appropriate box on the form.

You will be the primary contact for the IMC for any queries regarding your session. If there are multiple organisers, please indicate which organiser is the primary point of contact on the proposal form. The deadline for session proposals is always 30 September before the IMC.

Moderate an IMC Session

Each year, the IMC organises a number of sessions composed of individual paper proposals. These require moderators. If you are interested in moderating one of these sessions, please email imc@leeds.ac.uk with the following details: your name, the topics or areas of medieval studies which you feel comfortable moderating, and the language(s) which you feel comfortable moderating in. We will be in touch if any suitable opportunities arise.

Information for All Moderators

We strongly recommend that moderators contact all speakers of their session beforehand to familiarise themselves with the content of each paper and with the research background of each speaker before the session takes place.

The main duties of a session moderator are:

• To introduce each speaker (be aware that there may be non-specialists in the audience who do not know a speaker, even if they are well-known in their field);
• To make sure that each speaker finishes his or her paper on time. You may need to bring a watch with you, as session rooms may not have accurate clocks;
• To make sure that the session starts and finishes on time so that the room can be prepared for the next session;
• To initiate discussion after all papers have been presented;
• To ask questions if none are forthcoming from the audience;
• To moderate the discussion, including ensuring that the session and all its participants adhere to the IMC Policy on Dignity and Mutual Respect.
• To ascertain whether speakers are happy with recording or other coverage of their papers, including but not limited to live tweeting, posts on social media, audio/visual recording and/or photography of speakers and/or slides. The moderator should ensure the speaker's requirements are clearly communicated to the audience at the start of the session.

You can check out our Guidance for Moderators for more information on the responsibilities of a session moderator.

The session and round table proposal forms also allows you to indicate the sponsor of your session.

Sponsoring a session is an opportunity for institutions and publishers to promote themselves, new publications, or recent research projects. It does not necessarily involve making a direct financial contribution; institutions may provide email addresses, sabbatical time, access to facilities, or other types of support to the participants of the session.

If you would like to propose an event or arrange a business meeting or reception at the IMC, please contact us directly to arrange this by emailing imc@leeds.ac.uk.

If appropriate, we may ask that you complete a submission via Confex which will collect essential information about your proposed activity in order for the IMC team to consider it for inclusion in the wider IMC programme.

Please do not make unsolicited event, excursion, reception, performance, or workshop submissions as these will not be considered.