Call for papers

Conference theme: Conflict and cooperation in a changing world

Recent years have seen profound political, social, and economic upheaval. These shifts present serious challenges as well as new opportunities. Existing institutions are transforming or failing by the wayside. At the same time, new areas of both competition and cooperation are emerging. This conference seeks new ways to understand and transcend current political realities across a wide range of perspectives and approaches. These include, but are no means limited to, changes in the international system, increasing violence, vulnerability and risk, the rise of artificial intelligence and the fast pace of technological change, enduring inequalities between the Global North and Global South, and the dangers of climate change. We invite submissions that seek to deepen our understanding of this global moment, how it has emerged, and potential futures. We aim to identify the potential for positive changes as well as pitfalls to avoid. We also seek to integrate how our teaching and research both influences and is influenced by these shifts.

01 What we’re looking for

Professor Juanita Elias gives some top tips for the best chance of proposal acceptance at #VirtualBISA2027, and invites submissions in innovative formats.

Juanita focuses on good titles and what you should go into your abstract. This includes what the proposal is contributing and why it matters.

For panel submissions it should be clear how they papers speak to each other and the conference more broadly.

02 How it works

Conference platform

The conference platform will be Zoom. Zoom can be accessed in almost all countries, with just a few exceptions. You can use Zoom free of charge either in browser without an account, or download to your computer, laptop or phone. Each session will take place in a different Zoom room, and there will be simultaneous sessions. We will send the Zoom links for each day at the beginning of that day so that you can join sessions in which you are a participant, and any other sessions you’d like to attend.

We will be available to assist you with any problems joining sessions. Please get in touch by email during the conference: virtualconferences@bisa.ac.uk. The email account will be monitored throughout the conference sessions and before each session begins.

Further information will be provided to registered attendees prior to the conference.

Time zones 

Inevitably with a global virtual conference, there may be sessions running outside of standard working hours in your time zone. However, during the submission process you will be asked to choose your time zone. When the conference programme is drafted, we will take account of your time zone to ensure that participants are not due to present during the night in their location.

03 Submission instructions

For our 2027 virtual conference we will accept three submission types through our conference submission platform:

• Individual paper submissions
• Panel submissions
• Roundtable submissions

We will also accept submission of alternative formats via email (see below for further instructions).

Panel - A panel is an opportunity for a group of experts working in a specific area to share papers or papers in progress. Panel submissions should ideally include four papers, a discussant and a chair, however you may also submit panels with no discussant and either four or five papers with a chair.

Roundtable - A roundtable is an opportunity for a group of experts to discuss a particular issue in depth without the constraints of having to speak to a paper. Roundtable submissions should include a minimum of four participants and a chair, up to a maximum of six participants and a chair.

Across panels and roundtables, you must give due consideration to diversity of participants including (but not limited to) gender, ethnicity, career stage, methodological approach, institution, and geographical location. Manels and panels/roundtables which include participants from only one institution will not be accepted. We strongly encourage panels which demonstrate international diversity of participants.

Each submission (whether a paper, panel, or roundtable) may only be made to one working group. On the proposal submission form this is called a 'track'.

Instructions for individual paper submissions

All submissions must be in English, and will require a title, at least one speaker, and an abstract, which we suggest is no more than 200 words. You will also be asked for the time zone in which you will be based during the conference. Submissions can be made via the conference management system.

Instructions for suggesting alternative panel formats

We are open to suggestions for alternative panel formats, including more creative formats, providing these are feasible within the context of a virtual conference. If you would like to propose an alternative panel format, please contact us with a description of your idea at: virtualconferences@bisa.ac.uk

Conference tracks

We accept scholarly research papers and policy analysis on any topic related to International Studies in its broadest definition. At the point of submission, we will ask you to choose one of the conference tracks (all of which should be read as broadly defined):

• Understanding conflict, insecurity and vulnerability
• Environmental degradation, development and transformation
• Justice, inequality and exclusion 
• Cooperation and contestation in the Global North, South, and beyond
• Connections and disconnections in borders, mobility and technology
• Understanding the past, present and future of global politics
• Teaching and pedagogy in a changing world.

04 The review process

Once the online submission process is closed, submissions within each track (as well as proposals for alternative formats) will be peer reviewed by the conference programme committee. The committee can accept, decline or refer submissions during this process. They can also build panels composed of individual papers submitted to their track.

Where there are individual papers with scholarly merit but for which there is no good panel fit within a track, the conference chair will attempt to construct interdisciplinary panels.

Three key points to note are:

• Selection is first and foremost based on academic quality
• There is no limit as to the number of times an individual can appear, but we would like to give as many people as possible an opportunity to participate, and will bear this in mind when making selections
• Where there are two papers of equal academic quality and one is not a BISA member, the BISA member will be given preference.

05 Timeline

• Tuesday 5 May 2026: Submissions open
• Friday 19 June 2026, 11.59pm (UK time): Deadline for all submissions
• Mid-August 2026: Provisional programme published and notification emails sent out
• Friday 16 October 2026: Presenter/Speaker, Chair, and Discussant registration closes
• Friday 16 October 2026: Last day for changes to the programme (please check name/affiliation are correct)
• Late November 2026: Final programme published
• 5 January 2027: Registration for non-presenting delegates closes
• 11 January 2027: Conference begins.

06 Costs

As always, BISA members will receive a big discount on the fees paid by non-members. For our virtual conference, we have heavily subsidised the cost of tickets for Global South scholars. This applies for both members and non-members, as we understand that the cost of a membership can be prohibitive. We hope this will encourage broader international participation. Take a look at this year's prices.

07 Our conference management system

We currently use a conference and event management system called Indico. When you click to submit your proposal you will be taken to the conference management system where you will be prompted to create an account. Once you are logged in you can submit abstracts (single paper), panels or roundtables. If you want to submit a proposal for an alternative format this should be done via the email address below.

We will be on hand to help with any system queries. Please contact virtualconferences@bisa.ac.uk should you experience any difficulties.

08 Conference programme committee

The 2027 conference is ‘virtually hosted’ by the Department of International Politics at City St. George's, University of London. We are extremely grateful for their support. The virtual conference programme committee comprises:

• Dr Geoffrey Swenson (Conference Chair, City St. George's, University of London)
• Dr Una McGahern
• Professor Andrew Dorman
• Dr Marianna Charountaki
• Professor Simon Rushton
• Dr Jamie Hagen

09 What else is taking place around the virtual conference?

Review of International Political Economy (RIPE) is honoured to be partnering with BISA for its virtual workshops. RIPE will hold an additional virtual ECR workshop in January 2027 to run alongside the BISA virtual conference. We particularly encourage scholars from the Global South to apply and will send out the call for participants later in the year, but participants will need to have a paper accepted to the BISA virtual conference to take part. Those accepted to the workshop will have their BISA virtual conference fees paid and will also receive a year’s BISA membership.