FAQ: Using the Proposal Submission Site

Below are frequently asked questions for using the proposal submission site.

How do I log in to All Academic submission site?
How do I navigate the submission site?
What do I do if I need help?
What kind of proposals am I allowed to submit?
How do I begin a proposal entry on the submission site?
How do I submit an individual paper?
How do I submit a session proposal?
How do I submit a sponsored session for a standing committee, caucus, task force, program committee, or affiliated society?
How can I edit my proposal?
How will I know if I’ve successfully completed my submission?
Whom should I contact if I have further questions?

1. How do I log in to the All Academic submission site?

Members may submit proposals to All Academic by using their ASA username and password.

After logging into the ASA website, members will see a call-to-action button to “submit a proposal,” which links to information about preparing your proposal and using All Academic. From that page, members can access the ASA's All Academic proposal submission site, where they'll re-enter their ASA username and password.

Please note: Prior to logging into All Academic, we recommend that all members who are submitting proposals renew their ASA membership if they haven't already. Members whose annual dues have expired will receive an alert and will be redirected to renew their membership and update their profile prior to entering the proposal submission site. To add or update your institutional affiliation for the program, click on edit my profile, select my addresses, and edit institution. Once dues have been paid and your profile verified, you can navigate back to the submission site to begin creating your proposal.

If you have questions about your membership status and log in credentials, please refer to the FAQs maintained by Johns Hopkins University Press, which hosts the ASA's membership system of record. You can also send an email to: asasupport@jh.edu.

2. How do I navigate the submission site?

The All Academic submission site has its own learning curve. We offer the following tips to help especially new members in submitting their proposals.

Before you begin, you will need: 1) your proposal’s title and abstract; 2) your author or presenter’s information (name, affiliation, email address, and short biographical statement); and 3) all paper abstract(s). For both titles and abstracts, please refer to the word-count limits listed below. These should be ready to “cut and paste” where requested in the online form.
Once logged into the site, each page in All Academic includes its own instructions. Many of the instructions below are also listed in the gray “help” sections.
Always use the navigation menu at the top of the All Academic page. In the top right corner, you will see three tabs: "Logout," "Main Menu," and "Help." These three options will be available throughout the submission process.
Avoid using the “back” button on your web browser. All Academic has its own “back” button that members should use. Please note: if you use your browser’s “back” and “refresh” buttons, you will not always land on the page you would expect and you may be booted out of the system altogether.
Save often. If you make changes by typing information or clicking links to move items around a page, you will lose those changes if you do not save them. Your actions are also saved each time you click "Accept and Continue."
When you create sessions or edit proposals, you must click all the way through the process until you land on the status menu. Your changes are not written to the database until you complete the process.
If you need to return to your proposal prior to completing the submission process, click on "Submission Menu" (the menu bar option at the top left corner of every page) followed by the red "Work on Current Submission" link. (This will only work if you have not logged out, closed your browser, clicked on the "Main Menu" tab, or started another submission). Again, do not hit "back" or "refresh" or “reload” while working on a submission.
Your submission is complete and ready for review only when you have clicked the "Accept and Continue" button on the Submission Summary page at the end of the process. You must finish this process without logging out, closing your browser, or beginning another submission.

3. What do I do if I need help?

The All Academic site offers help throughout—and organizes it by the specific process you wish to complete. Within each category, the "help" link appears at the top of the page beneath the ASA logo. If you need additional help beyond what's provided, contact us at annualmeeting@theasa.net.

4. What kind of proposals am I allowed to submit?

Members are invited to submit proposals addressing the conference theme. There are two primary submission types: individual papers and session proposals. Session proposals may be submitted for sessions with alternative formats, including sessions with papers and sessions without papers.

Proposals for sessions with papers, including traditional paper sessions as well as those in talk, online, or exhibit formats, require:

Session title (maximum of 15 words)
Session abstract (maximum of 500 words)
Session keywords
Special requests
Individual paper or presentation titles from each session participant (maximum of 15 words per title)
Paper abstract from each session participant (maximum of 500 words per abstract)
A 350-word (or less) biographical statement for each participant

Abstracts for sessions without papers, such as professional development panels, workshops, roundtables (dialogues), skill- and resource-sharing sessions, and performances, should indicate the session subject/s and the proposed format. Additionally, the abstracts should include:

Session title (maximum of 15 words)
Session theme (maximum of 500 words)
Session keywords
Special requests
Contact and short bio from each session participant including: first name, last name, affiliation, e-mail address, and a 350-word (or less) biographical statement for each participant. They need not include individual presenter abstracts.

Abstracts for off-site and virtual sessions should indicate the session subject/s and the proposed format. Additionally, the abstracts should include:

Session title (maximum of 15 words)
Session theme (maximum of 500 words)
Session keywords
Details regarding format
Special requests
Contact and short bio from each session participant including: first name, last name, affiliation, e-mail address, and a 350-word (or less) biographical statement for each participant. They need not include individual presenter abstracts.

5.How do I begin a proposal entry on the submission site?

To begin the process of submission, select "Submit or Edit a Proposal."
Continue the process of submission by selecting "Create New Submission."
Please see "Edit an Existing Submission" instructions for help in editing previous submissions.
Select the appropriate submission type (paper, panel, etc.).

The next steps for your proposal depend on whether you're submitting an individual paper or a session proposal, both of which are detailed below.

6. How do I submit an individual paper? Select this option if you are submitting an individual paper, independent of any other collaborators or participants. Do NOT select this option if you are part of a proposed session.

Once you've selected “Individual Paper” as the appropriate submission type, you are ready to add your proposal information. You will need to fill in the title, abstract, and any other fields that are marked with a red asterisk. Complete all of the relevant fields before clicking "Accept and Continue."

Submitters typically have issues completing submission due to problems encountered during the “Search for Author” phase. In order to append an author to the paper submission, you must search for your name in the All Academic database. If your name does not appear, your name may be misspelled or is not in the database. If you do not find your name, you may choose to “Add Unlisted Author,” which requires that you provide your first name, last name, affiliation, and email and click "Add Author." Once you have completed the process of selecting and adding an author, click "Accept and Continue."

After you’ve provided all necessary information and added an author, you will land on a “Submission Summary” page. This page allows you to review all input information. Check your submission information for accuracy. On the right-hand side of the submission summary form, directly across from the input data type (title, abstract, etc.), you can edit data by clicking "Edit." Edit the desired data and follow the forms back to the submission summary form clicking "Accept and Continue" on each page. Once all the data on the form is accurate, click "Accept and Continue."

At this point you will have successfully completed the submission process and will now be on the confirmation page. You will find more information on submission confirmation in the last section of this FAQ.

7. How do I submit a session proposal?

NEW INSTRUCTIONS: “Session Organizer” is no longer an option for participants. The person submitting the session is automatically designated as “Submitter” and must serve as the primary contact person for all participants. Because the “Submitter” is a non-presenter role, you (the “Submitter”) will only appear on the program if you also add yourself as a chair, panelist, or comment.

From the “Submission Menu,” select “Submit a New Proposal.” For the “unit,” select “American Studies Association Annual Meeting.” Under “Session Type,” you will find multiple “paper” and “non-paper” sessions. Select whichever format is most relevant to your proposed session.

You are now ready to add your proposal information. You will need to fill in the title, abstract, and any other fields marked with a red asterisk. Pay careful attention to the onscreen instructions for each field. Please fill out all relevant fields before clicking "Accept and Continue."

To add participants to your session you must follow the steps below:

Step 1 (Adding Abstracts/Descriptions): Click "Add Papers." At a minimum, add paper abstracts/descriptions and titles. Click "Accept and Continue." To add an author to each paper, you must search for the author(s) in the convention database. In order to append an author to the paper submission, you must search for their last name in the All Academic database. If the name does not appear, you may have misspelled the name, or the name is not in the database. If the latter is true, you should confirm that person’s membership status with the ASA. This step need not halt your submission, though. If, for whatever reason, you do not find a name in the All Academic database, you may choose to “Add Unlisted Author,” which requires that you provide a first name, last name, affiliation, and email and click "Add Author." Once you have selected and added (or entered) an individual author, click "Accept and Continue." After you have completed this process for all of your authors, click "Accept and Continue." On the next page, you may change the author order by clicking "Up" or "Down" in the "Author Order" field.
Step 2 (Adding Other Participants): To add other participants, including session commenters or chairs, you will be required to search for their name in the All Academic database. SEARCH BY LAST NAME ONLY. A participant search will produce a list of participants under the "Choose From List of Participants" table heading. To select a listed participant, click "Add" in the "Action" field to the right of the participant affiliation. Continue this process until you have searched and added all of the applicable participants from the convention database. You may change the participant order by clicking "Up" or "Down" in the "Participant Order" field. Once you have selected the appropriate order for participants and papers, select a role for each participant by clicking on the appropriate hyperlink in the "Role" field (Chair, Discussant, etc.). Session organizer is the default role selection, so please pay close attention to the assigned participant role. If you cannot find a participant for your proposal using the “search” function, click "Add Unlisted Participant" at the bottom of the page. (Please note: This option will only appear after you have performed a search.) Fill in all the appropriate fields (first name, last name, affiliation, and email) and click "Add Participant."If you wish to add someone who will serve as both a Chair and as a Commentator, you must enter the person twice (once in the role of Chair, and once in the role as Commentator). You will be listed by default in the role of session organizer. If you are playing multiple roles, such as presenter, commentator, or chair, you must also add yourself to the session for each of your roles.
Step 3 (Accept and Complete): Once you have added all the papers and participants to the session, review the information and click "Accept and Continue." The submission summary form allows you to review all input information. Check your submission information for accuracy. To the right of each of the input data types (title, abstract, etc.), you can edit data using "Edit." Edit the desired data and follow the forms back to the submission summary form using "Accept and Continue" on each page. Once all the data on the form is accurate, click "Accept and Continue." At this point you will have successfully completed the submission process and will now be on the confirmation page.

8. How do I submit a sponsored session for a standing committee, caucus, task force, program committee, or affiliated society?

The program committee, other standing committees, caucuses, task forces, and affiliated societies are welcome to submit sponsored sessions, typically one professional development session and two scholarly sessions. To submit these proposals, members should follow the steps outlined above for session proposals, with the exception that the "title" field must be completed to include the name of sponsoring group at the beginning of the session title.

9. How can I edit my proposal?

Session submitters may edit their proposals prior to the February 1 deadline. To edit a session that you have already submitted, click "Submit or Edit a Proposal" on the Main Menu. A list of your submitted proposals by title will appear at the bottom of the page. Select the desired "edit" link. The next page will display the Submission Summary. You can edit data using the “Edit” link to the right of each item of session information (title, abstract, etc.). Edit the desired data and follow the forms back to the Submission Summary using "Accept and Continue" on each page. Once all the data on the form is accurate, click "Complete Submission.”

10. How will I know if I’ve successfully completed my submission?

Once you have completed a submission you will receive an automated email from "do_not_reply@allacademic.com." The email will arrive within minutes of completing your submission. If you do not receive the email, it may be because of one of the following reasons:

You did not complete the submission process properly. Go back and review the above notes to make sure you have completed the process. Make sure that you have completed the session submission steps.
Your email address is incorrect. If you log in with an email account you no longer use, or if there are typos in the address you entered, you will not receive email notifications. Please update your email.
Your email has very sensitive spam blockers that are blocking the incoming email. You can check your "junk" email inbox, add the domain "@allacademic.com" to your safe list, and talk with your email provider to resolve this issue. Once you receive your email confirmation, please, DO NOT REPLY to All Academic. The email will not be viewed or answered.
Only session submitters may view a proposal. They may check online that the proposal was properly uploaded by logging in to their user account and selecting "Submit or Edit Submission." Your proposal was successfully uploaded if, on the Submission Summary form under the "Proposal" sub-heading, you see the file name that the system assigned to your proposal.

11. Whom should I contact if I have further questions?

For All Academic questions, you should contact the conference director (annualmeeting@theasa.net), who will be able to answer more technical questions about the proposal submission site. For questions about your membership status and log in credentials, please refer to the FAQs maintained by Johns Hopkins University Press, which hosts the ASA's membership system of record. You can also send an email to: asasupport@jh.edu.

We also invite you to read more on preparing your proposal or planning for your panel.