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BERA Conference 2023

12 September 2023 to 14 September 2023Aston University/ Conference Aston

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Abstract submission is now closed

Deadline for submissions: 31 January 2023

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Please read all the information below before submitting an abstract 

Important points for submitting an abstract:

  • There is no specific theme for the conference. When submitting an abstract you will need to select a theme. You can now select up to 2 themes to align your abstract to.
  • You will need a BERA account to submit an abstract. You do not need to be a BERA member. Once you have signed in, you will be redirected to the abstract submissions page.
  • Currently you will not need to submit a full paper for the Conference.
  • The conference is fully in person and we will not be accepting any virtual presentations if accepted
  • You should receive an email confirmation with a copy of your abstract once your submission has been completed.

Symposium

750 word abstract of the symposium, and must include the title and a paragraph about each paper in the symposium. There is an additional 250 words for references. The symposium as a whole must have a clear focus and each paper therein must be clearly related to the overall focus/theme of the symposium but also offer distinct perspectives.

You can also contact your Special Interest Group who may be putting together symposia. Visit www.bera.ac.uk/communities for a list of all the SIGs and contact details.

If your abstract does not include a paragraph under the title of each paper, this may be reviewed as an individual abstract. Successful symposia will be allocated a 90 minute session.

Reviewing criteria:
Clarity of the focus of the research
Originality of the symposium proposal
Rigour and coherence of the symposium and its individual papers
Significance of the research for education practice, policy or theory

Individual Papers

750 word abstract with an additional 250 words for references.

Option to specify Student, New Researcher, Researcher, Post-doctoral Researcher, Teacher/Practitioner Researcher Papers.

Individual Papers will be grouped into coherent symposia of up to four papers in a 90 minute slot. These sessions will have the discussion at the end of the session rather than after each paper.

The final presenter for each paper presentation slot will serve as the session chair.



Reviewing criteria:
Clarity of the focus of the research
Originality of the research
Rigour of the research
Significance of the research for education practice, policy or theory

Poster

750 word abstract with an additional 250 words for references.

Successful posters will either be physically displayed or available as an ePoster (this will be decided by the Committee). All posters (both physical and ePosters) will have the opportunity to deliver a 5 minute presentation during one of the sessions. There will be a prize for the best physical poster and best ePoster. 

Reviewing criteria:
Clarity of the focus of the research
Suitability of the format
Rigour of the research
Significance of the proposal for practice, policy or theory

Panel Discussion/ Workshop/ Activity

750 word abstract with an additional 250 words for references.

We are open to all new ways of presenting and demonstrating a non traditional approach to an academic presentation of research. These sessions will be 90 minutes.

Reviewing criteria:
Clarity of the focus of the research
Suitability of the session format
Rigour of the research
Significance of the proposal for practice, policy or theory

Themes

All submissions should indicate the theme which closely relates to the topic when submitting.  BERA reserves the right to reassign your abstract to a different theme than submitted if more relevant for programming purposes. Some themes relate to our Special Interest Groups, details here: www.bera.ac.uk/communities. If your paper abstract does not fall within the remits of the listed themes, please email conference@bera.ac.uk and you will be given instructions how to submit.

  • Alternative Education
  • Artificial and Human Intelligence
  • Babies, Children and Childhoods – covering themes; Children and Childhood & Early Childhood Education and Care
  • Climate and Sustainability Education
  • Creative Approaches – covering themes; Arts Based Educational Research & Creativities in Education & Nature, Outdoor Learning and Play
  • Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy – covering themes; English in Education
  • Educational Effectiveness and Improvement
  • Educational Leadership
  • Educational Research and Educational Policy-Making
  • Higher Education
  • History
  • Inclusive Education and SEND
  • International Perspectives – covering themes; Comparative and International Education & Socio-Cultural and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory & Migrant Education
  • Literacy and Language
  • Mental Health, Wellbeing and Education
  • Ongoing Impact of COVID
  • Philosophy of Education
  • Physical Education and Sports Pedagogy
  • Post-Compulsory and Lifelong Learning
  • Posthumanism and Education
  • Practitioner Research
  • Race, Equity and Social Justice – covering themes; Race, Ethnicity and Education & Social Justice
  • Religions, Values and Education
  • Research Methodology in Education
  • Sexualities and Gender
  • Social Theory and Education
  • Sociology
  • STEM – covering themes; Science, Educational Technology & Mathematics Education & Medical Education
  • Teacher Education and Development
  • Youth Studies and Informal Education

Bursaries

BERA currently runs a number of awards and bursaries in conjunction with the Annual Conference. There are various bursaries available to assist with attendance at the conference. BERA is keen to...

Past conference

BERA Annual Conference – ECR Presentation Award

BERA aims to celebrate and promote the work of our Early Career Researcher Network. We are presenting a prize to the best Early Career researcher presentation at this year’s conference. The top...

AwardClosed

Abstract review process

Each abstract is reviewed blindly by two reviewers drawn from BERA Members, or one of the BERA Committees.

All BERA members will have the opportunity to peer review the abstracts submitted and we rely upon the efforts of our members to ensure we have sufficient capacity to review all abstracts. If you would like to be added to the database please click here.

If the same abstract is submitted under different themes this will only be reviewed once and you will only receive one set of results.

Results

There is limited space on the programme and sessions available at the conference. Each year we are mindful that presenters do not want more sessions as the rooms will not be as full. Therefore there will always be a percentage of papers rejected. In the last few years this is around 30% of papers but it will depend upon the number of abstracts submitted. The Conference & Events Committee continually review the processes to ensure these are fair and transparent.

Authors will be notified of the date and time of the presentation if accepted after the early bird deadline, by when all presenters need to register. This is to ensure once the programme is grouped, this consists of confirmed presenters only.

> For individual and poster submissions

  • Only one individual abstract will normally be accepted per main presenting author, which will be the highest scoring paper. You can still submit more than one paper.
  • Only one presentation style will be accepted for the same abstract
  • This does not apply if you are a presenting co-author on other papers
  • Similarly this does not apply if you have also been accepted for a symposia or alternative format session

> For symposium submissions

  • A minimum of 3 papers and 3 (unique) presenters for each paper need to be registered by the early bird deadline for the symposium to remain in the programme

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