Call for Submissions

Submissions are sought from both researchers and practitioners in academia and industry. Graduate students are also encouraged to submit either jointly with an academic/member of industry or alone.

Submissions to Meaningful Play 2014 can include:

• Papers
• Posters
• Panel Sessions
• Roundtable Discussions
• Workshops
• Individual Speakers
• Games and Prototypes

Specific requirements for each type of submission is available below.

Paper Submissions (due July 14, 2014)

Paper submissions should present original, unpublished research or design work. Papers under review elsewhere MUST NOT be submitted to Meaningful Play 2014.

Authors are encouraged to go beyond the discussion of their work and address implications back to literature, practice, and/or policy.

Authors may submit either extended abstracts (a minimum of 500) or full papers (up to 8000 words). Submissions should following the APA Style (APA formatting and style guide help). If submissions do not meet length and formatting requirements, they may not be considered. Papers must be submitted electronically in PDF format.

Authors of accepted papers are expected to present their work at the conference in a 15-minute presentation (approx.). The organizing committee will combine individual presentations into topical paper sessions.

Research proposals will be peer-reviewed. Authors will be provided with reviewers' critical comments as well as any suggestions for revision. If accepted, individual papers will be combined together into topical paper sessions. All accepted submissions will be included in the online Proceedings of Meaningful Play after the conference. If desired, authors may request to have only an abstract (or extended abstract) - not their full papers - included in the proceedings.

Meaningful Play 2014 and the Journal of Games and Culture have partnered to bring a Games and Culture special issue containing top papers from the Meaningful Play 2014 conference. Top paper authors will be invited to revise their Meaningful Play paper for publication consideration in the special issue. Revised versions will be peer reviewed once more for final publication decisions.

The Journal of Games and Culture Culture is a peer-reviewed, international journal that promotes innovative theoretical and empirical research about games and culture within interactive media.

NOTE: Only full paper submissions will be considered for the top-paper award.

Poster Submissions (due July 14, 2014)

Poster submissions should present original, unpublished research or design work whose topic directly advances the Meaningful Play 2014 topics. Late-breaking advances and work-in-progress reports from ongoing research or design are particularly encouraged to be submitted to the poster session.

Authors are requested to submit either a 200-500 word abstract of the poster contents OR a draft version of the poster. Posters abstracts and/or draft posters must be submitted electronically in PDF format.

All posters submitted to the poster sessions will be peer-reviewed. Authors will be provided with reviewers' critical comments as well as any suggestions for revision.

Poster size and design are flexible but the size should not exceed 40" wide by 32" high. It is possible to rotate the orientation if necessary given your poster design. Posters will be hung on a poster board and therefore it is fine to bring a poster with no backing, such as a rolled up poster.

Panel Session Submissions (due July 14, 2014)

Individuals (or groups of individuals) are encouraged to submit proposals for panel sessions which provide an opportunity to publicly debate and discuss issues relevant to the Meaningful Play 2014 topics with eager academic and industry audiences.

Panel session organizer(s) are required to submit a 200-500 word abstract, and directly recruit panel presenters. Panel session abstracts must be submitted electronically in PDF format.

Roundtable Discussion Session Submissions (due July 14, 2014)

Individuals (or groups of individuals) are encouraged to submit proposals for roundtable discussion sessions that focus on the Meaningful Play 2014 topics. At Meaningful Play 2014 roundtables are small peer discussion groups limited to no more than 25 people. Roundtable discussion sessions typically feature constructive controversy and debate, and promote an open-ended exchange of ideas in a relatively casual setting.

Roundtable discussion session organizer(s) are required to submit a 200-500 word abstract. Roundtable abstracts must be submitted electronically in PDF format.

Workshop Submissions (due July 14, 2014)

Individuals (or groups of individuals) are encouraged to submit proposals for workshops whose topics speak directly to the Meaningful Play 2014 topics. At Meaningful Play 2014, workshops are sessions in which specific hands on topics are explored over an extended period of time (typically 2 hours) in a highly hands on manner. Due to the nature of a workshop, the number of attendees is usually limited.

Workshop organizer(s) are required to submit a 200-500 word abstract that not only provides a description of the topic that will be covered, but the target/intended audience, and the core concepts/skills that the attendees are expected to take away from the workshop. Workshop abstracts must be submitted electronically in PDF format.

Individual Speaker Submissions (due July 14, 2014)

Individuals are encouraged to submit proposals for individual talks whose topic relates to the topics of the conference. At Meaningful Play 2014, individual speaker sessions are roughly an hour in length, and explore a specific topic or theme in depth, while providing a strong personal or visionary perspective. Individual speaker sessions can also be game case studies or project post mortems.

Individual speakers are required to submit a 200-500 word abstract for their session. Abstracts are to be submitted electronically in PDF format.

Games and Prototypes (due July 14, 2014)

View the game exhibition and competition for details on submitting games and prototypes.