Conference Collaboration

Conference Collaboration Programme Overview

The Criterion: An International Journal in English

Extending Scholarly Dialogue Beyond the Conference

The Criterion: An International Journal in English invites academic conference organisers working in English studies and allied humanities disciplines to explore a formal scholarly collaboration through the RCELL Conference Collaboration Programme. This initiative provides a structured pathway for research presented at qualifying academic conferences to be developed into peer-reviewed contributions to a curated special issue of the journal.

The programme is grounded in a straightforward academic principle: a conference is a beginning, not an endpoint. Scholarly dialogue initiated in a conference setting — arguments tested, perspectives challenged, ideas refined through engagement with peers — represents work in progress. The Conference Collaboration Programme exists to support the development of that work into fully realised, rigorously reviewed, and permanently archived scholarship.

Collaboration with The Criterion is not a publication service. It is a scholarly partnership, entered into with care on both sides, governed at every stage by the journal’s independent editorial standards and the ethical publishing practices to which RCELL is committed. Approval of a collaboration proposal establishes eligibility for scholarly collaboration only and does not constitute a commitment to publish a special issue.

What a Special Issue Collaboration Involves

A special issue produced through the Conference Collaboration Programme is a themed collection of peer-reviewed journal articles, originating in scholarly work presented at an approved conference, compiled and published as a distinct issue of The Criterion. It is not a conference proceedings volume. Each article in a special issue has been independently reviewed, has met the same scholarly standards applied to every paper published in the journal, and has been accepted solely on the basis of academic merit.

The collaboration follows a clear sequence. The conference takes place independently, organised and managed entirely by the host institution. Following the conference, selected presenters are formally invited by the journal to submit substantially developed extended papers for editorial consideration. These submissions enter the journal’s standard double-blind peer review process. Those manuscripts that satisfy the review criteria are accepted for publication; those that do not are declined. Accepted articles are then compiled, edited, and published as a themed special issue of The Criterion, assigned individual DOIs, and made available on an open-access basis under a Creative Commons Attribution licence.

The journal’s role is that of an independent scholarly curator — bringing editorial rigour, peer review expertise, and archival permanence to research that originated in the conference setting. Conference participation does not create any entitlement to publication. An invitation to submit is an invitation to compete for publication through the journal’s standard review process, not a preliminary acceptance.

Academic Scope and Thematic Eligibility

The Criterion publishes scholarship across the breadth of English studies and the broader humanities. Conferences proposing collaboration are expected to align substantively with the journal’s established areas of editorial interest. The journal welcomes proposals from conferences working in English literature across all periods and genres, literary theory and criticism, world and comparative literature, Indian writing in English, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, linguistics, English language teaching, digital humanities, and interdisciplinary humanities research with a clear connection to English studies.

Thematic alignment is assessed through the collaboration proposal process. Organisers are encouraged to review the journal’s published scope and recent issues before submitting a proposal, and to articulate specifically how their conference theme intersects with the journal’s editorial interests. A compelling scholarly rationale — one that identifies a genuine research question, a field-level gap, or a productive critical debate — is the foundation of a strong proposal. Proposals that describe a conference theme in general terms without articulating its scholarly significance are unlikely to meet the evaluation criteria.

In addition to research articles, The Criterion publishes poetry, short fiction, book reviews, and author interviews. Special issues arising from conference collaborations are ordinarily composed of peer-reviewed research articles. Organisers who wish to propose the inclusion of other content types should discuss this with the editorial office at the proposal stage.

Editorial Independence and the Scholarly Curator Model

The defining feature of the RCELL Conference Collaboration Programme is the journal’s absolute editorial independence at every stage of the process. The Editor-in-Chief of The Criterion holds final and binding authority over all editorial decisions. No other party — including the conference organiser, the guest editor, the conference organising committee, or any sponsoring institution — may direct, influence, or seek to influence any decision regarding the acceptance, revision, or rejection of a submitted manuscript.

This is not a formality. It is the structural condition that allows a special issue to constitute genuine scholarship rather than a conference publication rebranded as journal content. Peer reviewers are independent of the conference and are selected by the editorial office without input from the organising body. Review criteria are identical to those applied to any paper submitted to a regular issue of the journal. The threshold for acceptance is not adjusted to achieve a target number of publications, and the programme makes no commitment to producing a special issue of any particular size.

Conference organisers entering this collaboration accept these terms fully and without qualification. The editorial office will not enter into arrangements that require, imply, or structurally create an expectation of guaranteed publication. Any communication to conference participants about the journal collaboration must make clear that submitted papers are subject to full independent peer review and that acceptance is not guaranteed. Draft communications should be submitted to the editorial office for review before dissemination.

Who Should Consider Applying

The Conference Collaboration Programme is designed for established academic conferences with a clearly articulated scholarly purpose, a credentialled organising committee, and a demonstrated commitment to academic quality. Proposals are most likely to succeed when the conference has a rigorous abstract or paper review process, the organising body is affiliated with a recognised academic institution, and the proposed special issue theme is specific and intellectually coherent, making a genuine contribution to the relevant field.

Organisers of inaugural conferences are eligible to apply, and proposals from emerging scholarly communities are welcome. However, the absence of a prior track record means the proposal must carry the full weight of demonstrating the collaboration’s academic credibility, thematic focus, and operational readiness. Organisers in this position should invest particular care in the academic rationale section of the proposal and in documenting the organising committee’s scholarly profile.

The programme is generally unsuitable for commercially organised events whose structure prioritises participation volume over scholarly review, for conferences that accept all submissions without academic screening, or for organisers who seek a guaranteed publication pathway for their participants. The editorial office applies a structured evaluation process to every proposal received, and proposals that do not meet the programme’s academic and ethical standards are declined.

The Guest Editor Role

Each approved collaboration is supported by a Guest Editor, nominated by the conference organiser and appointed by the journal following the Editor-in-Chief’s assessment. The Guest Editor is a specialist in the relevant field who brings thematic expertise to the special issue process — advising on scholarly coherence, recommending potential reviewers, and, upon completion of the review process, drafting an editorial introduction to the published issue.

The Guest Editor’s role is advisory. It is not editorial in the decision-making sense. Guest Editors do not hold authority to accept or reject submissions, to assign reviewers independently, or to communicate editorial decisions to authors. These functions remain with the editorial office and the Editor-in-Chief. The advisory role is a genuine scholarly contribution; it is not a mechanism for the conference organiser to influence publication outcomes.

Full details of the Guest Editor role, eligibility criteria, and responsibilities are set out in the Guest Editor Guidelines, available as part of the Programme Documents accessible through this site.

Programme Governance and Documentation

The Conference Collaboration Programme is governed by a suite of institutional documents that establish the responsibilities of all parties, the standards applied to submissions and review, and the ethical framework within which the collaboration operates. These documents — the Guest Editor Guidelines, the Special Issue Review Protocol, the Extended Paper Requirements, the Manuscript Submission Standards, the Publication Ethics and Peer Review Framework, and the Collaboration Agreement — collectively constitute the formal basis of every approved collaboration.

Organisers are expected to read the Programme Documents in full before submitting a collaboration proposal. The proposal evaluation process assumes familiarity with these documents, and proposals that reflect a misunderstanding of the programme’s governing principles are unlikely to meet the evaluation criteria. All documents are available for download from this site.

Expressing Interest and Submitting a Proposal

Organisers who consider their conference a suitable candidate for collaboration are invited to review the Proposal and Application Guidelines, which provide a comprehensive account of the required information, the evaluation criteria applied, and the documentation that must accompany a formal submission. Queries that cannot be resolved by consulting the Programme Documents may be directed to the Editor-in-Chief through the contact details available at rcell.co.in.

Proposals are evaluated by the editorial board on a rolling basis. Acknowledgement of receipt is issued within ten working days of submission. A decision is communicated within sixty days. The editorial office reserves the right to request additional information at any stage of the evaluation process and to decline proposals that do not meet the programme’s standards without a detailed explanation of the evaluation outcome.

Collaboration with The Criterion is an academic opportunity, not a transactional arrangement. The journal is committed to partnerships that generate genuine scholarly value — for the research community, for the field, and for the authors whose work is developed and published through this process.

Programme Documentation

The following pages provide full details of the application process, submission requirements, and editorial workflow governing special issues produced through the Conference Collaboration Programme.

Published by: Research Centre for English Language and Literature (RCELL) · rcell.co.in
The Criterion: An International Journal in English · Conference Collaboration Programme

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