Important Dates: Please take note of the changes to the CIES 2026 submission and programming timeline.

• Deadline for all submissions: August 26, 2025, 11:59pm ET (No extensions.)
• Notification of acceptance/rejection: Mid-October 2025
• Conference registration deadline for participants included in the program: November 24, 2025, 11:59pm ET
• *All presenting authors, chairs, discussants, and any other attendees whose names should be listed in the program must register between October 15- November 24, 2025 at 11:59 pm, ET. Registration remains open until the last day of CIES 2026 (April 1, 2026) for those whose names are NOT listed in the Program.
• Deadline for conference registration refund request: January 15, 2026, 11:59pm ET
• CIES 2026 conference program released: January  20, 2026
• Deadline for reserving a CIES special-rate-room at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square: March 6, 2026, 11:59pm ET
• Online Meeting Hub: Opens on March 13, 2026

Important: Each member of a co-authored paper or group presentation (panel or roundtable), must create their own membership account at members.cies.us/general/register_member_type.asp before a submission can be started. Free Submitter-Only accounts are available.

General Information and Policies: The CIES Annual Meeting Program consists of paper and poster presentations, workshops, and book launches selected through this open call and based on review processes guided by unit planners and committees. The Program also includes featured events such as the Presidential Address, invited keynote speeches, and other special events, including institutional receptions, SIG business meetings, and exhibits. In submitting to the Annual Meeting, presenters acknowledge and adhere to the following policies:

1. Adherence to the standards of academic integrity, such as originality and/or giving proper acknowledgements within your work.
2. Compliance with the standards of professional conduct, including equity, diversity, and inclusivity (e.g., non-discrimination, non-exploitation, non-harassment, non-microaggression). For more details, see the CIES Annual Meeting Policy Guidance on Inclusive and Welcoming Meeting and Event Environments.
3. Adherence to the latest measures of health and safety, guided by the United States Centers for Disease Control. The City of San Francisco has lifted its indoor mask mandate, its proof of vaccination requirement, and has no COVID related capacity restrictions; however, we highly encourage you to take appropriate health and safety measures during the duration of the Conference.
4. Supporting the professional obligations as a CIES member, such as serving as a volunteer peer reviewer for other submissions and or as a Chair or Discussant.
5. Should your work be accepted, committing to:
   1. Present the accepted submission at CIES Annual Meeting at either an on-site or virtual session on the date and time that the Program committee schedules it.
   2. Sign up or renew as a CIES member and register as a CIES Annual Meeting conference attendee no later than November 24, 2025 to appear on the Conference Program.

   *Please note that all presenting authors, chairs, discussants, organizers and any other attendees whose names should be scheduled and included in the conference program must become a member of CIES and register for the Conference between October 15 and November 24, 2025. Conference registration is not mandatory for non-presenting authors if they will not attend the conference. The two fees must each be fully paid through the CIES online payment systems by November 24, 2025. After November 24, 2025 all non-registered presenters’, chairs’ or discussants’ submissions will be removed from the conference program.

6. General conference registration opens on October 15, 2025 and will remain open until the last day of the Annual Meeting conference. Registration will only be available on the CIES conference webpage. Please note that participation in the conference requires both a current CIES membership (https://cies.us/membership-guide/)  and registration for the CIES Annual Conference.

7. Follow and adhere to the Submission Information and Guidelines provided here.

Submission Information and Guidelines

1. Submission is open to CIES members and non-members. Any CIES member or non-member may advance a submission to any SIG, General Pool or committee regardless of CIES membership or membership in a specific SIG or committee. Please note that non-members will need to become members to present at the CIES Annual Meeting.
2. Submissions will be made and managed online at conference.cies.us. Click “Submit Now” (above) and follow the instructions to complete the submission process in All Academic. A step-by-step tutorial on How to Submit Proposal is available.
3. Submission limits on first authorship. To promote broader participation in the CIES Annual Meeting, individuals listed as “Presenting Author” will be limited to one paper/poster presentation but can appear as “Non-Presenting Authors” on other (co-authored) submissions, as well as participate as a chair, organizer and/or discussant. Submission limits do not include workshops, book launches, New Scholar proposals or other special sessions (e.g. invited speeches).
4. Submission limits to a single SIG, General Pool or committee. Should an individual or group submit a proposal to multiple SIGs, General Pool or committees, all submissions will be removed from consideration. It is crucial to determine which SIG or Committee is suitable for the submission.
5. Submission languages. A proposal may be submitted in a non-English language but must also include an English language version to facilitate the review process (the non-English language texts do not count towards the word limits). To foster a climate of inclusion, diversity, and interdisciplinarity, presenters are encouraged, when possible, feasible, practical, and/or pertinent to present bilingually or multilingually, with English being one of the languages included. For example, a presenter may speak in one language facilitated by a PowerPoint presentation in English, or vice versa (bilingual/multilingual presentations have the same time as those that use only English). Language interpreters will not be provided by the CIES Annual Meeting.
6. Originality of submissions. Submissions must represent original work.
7. Anonymized submissions: Submissions in the formal paper, roundtable (individual and group), poster, formal panel/symposium, will be single-blind peer-reviewed. For this reason, no identifiable information about the author(s) can be included in the submitted abstract or proposal. Failure to exclude author identification from the abstract or proposal will automatically disqualify the submission(s) from consideration. References may include citations from the author(s) if applicable, but must be kept in line with the anonymization format in the APA style (7th ed.), e.g., replacing actual author names with (Author, 2023). The anonymization policy does not apply to workshops, book launches, or special sessions such as an invited keynote speech.
8. The Online Submission System opens May 2025 and will close on August 26, 2025. No late submissions will be accepted, nor will any exceptions be made.
9. Types of research contributions: While there are no strict distinctions between different types of research, authors are asked to indicate which type of research best describes their submission, guided by the following questions:
   1. Applied research: A report on a project or program intervention;
      • What is the need, topic, interest or issue that the program or intervention tries to address?
      • What methods and guiding frameworks were used, and how can they address similar challenges elsewhere?
      • What was identified as successful; and/or what could have been done differently, knowing what is now known?
      • What was the project’s impact on the need, topic, interest, or issue it targeted? How was its impact assessed?
   2. Conceptual/theoretical research: A critique of literature, a program, or an institution;
      • In reviewing literature or alternative perspectives, how does the contribution build on existing work?
      • How is the theoretical contribution situated in terms of linguistic, national, or geo-political contexts?
      • What are the implications of the critique for future practice, policy, or theory?
      • How original is the contribution? What do we learn that we did not know, and why is it important?
   3. Empirical research: an evidence-based qualitative, quantitative, and/or historical analysis.
      • What framework guided the research questions?
      • How are sources of information used to inform choices about data collection and analysis?
      • How do the research methods and results support the conclusions drawn from the data?
      • How original is the contribution? What do we learn that we did not know, and why is it important?

The submission types described above will be single blind peer-reviewed using the following criteria:

1. Relevance: Relevance of topic as related to the field of comparative and international education, the Annual Meeting Conference Theme, and/or SIG/Committee;
2. Theory/Context: Strength of theoretical framework or contextualization;
3. Mode of Inquiry: Strength of critical analysis or research methods (including research question, design, data, collection, analysis, etc.);
4. Findings: Clarity and coherence in the presentation of findings or argumentation; and
5. Contribution (note A or B):
   1. Scholarly originality or contribution to existing knowledge; or
   2. If this submission is a project report or a practice-oriented presentation, evaluate its application of existing scholarly knowledge.

Additional information

 

• Participants from the Global South who have distinguished service to the CIES field, particularly those who work on educational reforms, are invited to apply for the CIES International Travel Award (ITA). Candidates who have received the award in the past are not eligible. Further information will be available soon.
• Important: Each member of a co-authored paper or group presentation (panel or roundtable), must create their own membership account at members.cies.us/general/register_member_type.asp before a submission can be started. Free Submitter-Only accounts are available.

Contact

• Inquiries about SIG or committee-specific themes and calls for submission, please contact the related chair(s). Information is available here: for SIG chairs and for Committee chairs.
• For inquiries about your submission and/or the CIES Annual Meeting Program, please write to the Organizing Committee at conference@cies.us with the subject line “Submission” or “Program.”
• For other general inquiries, please contact the CIES Office of the Executive Director at oed@cies.us.