Criteria and Instructions for Paper Submission and Selection

Instructions for full paper submission

Deadlines

  • Last date for full paper submission: 15 April 2025 Extended to 16 May 2025
  • Last date for notification of full paper approval: 1 May 2025 13 June 2025

All papers should be submitted online in EasyChair. A link will be provided for accepted abstracts only. Do not upload full papers to the abstracts/proposals submission link.

Please ensure your paper meets the following requirements: 

  1. the document must be saved in .DOC, .DOCX, .ODT, .ODF, or .RTF file format
  2. the font type and size must be Times New Roman, 10pt, in single-spaced format
  3. the title must appear at the top of the first page
  4. the paper must be between 3,000 and 4,000 words in length

Paper review process

All papers will go through blind review by peer reviewers identified by the Programme Committee of PCF11. The criteria for acceptance of the papers will cover the following: 

  • the paper is related to the sub-theme 
  • the paper is complete, clear and well-organised
  • the significance, applicability and interest to the field (relevance beyond the case presented) are clearly articulated 
  • the problem is clearly described within a theoretical framework (where appropriate) 
  • the literature review demonstrates a clear relationship between the problem and learning for sustainable development and other relevant literature 
  • the research design and methodology are appropriate for the study 
  • the discussion of the results is accurate and useful 
  • the paper uses sound argument and analysis 
  • the conclusion describes implications for practitioners in learning for sustainable development practice 
  • the paper is written in an acceptable standard of English 

It is important that where Generative AI has been used in the preparation of the paper this is declared and explained in the submission. For a typical paper, this would be included in the ‘Methods’ section. Examples of use would include help with the initial literature review, with data analysis and/or for editing. We discourage use of Generative AI for the creation of images in PCF11 papers due to uncertainty about the source content.

The corresponding author, who must be registered in the system, will be notified of the results of the review within four weeks of submission. Reviewers may make recommendations for improvement of a draft submission that has received preliminary acceptance. These recommendations must be adequately addressed by the author (or authors) to ensure final acceptance.

Submission of full papers/ presentations 

There will be no print publication of papers submitted at PCF11. Authors whose proposals are accepted will be requested to submit their papers and presentations online using a link to be provided.

Find examples of previous conference papers on the COL Oasis website.

Approved papers may be shared by COL on its online open access repository of learning resources, OAsis. For COL OAsis, papers should not exceed 4,000 words. All papers shared on COL OAsis will be licensed Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Submission pre-requisites

Kindly ensure that you adhere to the following while submitting your full paper: 

  • The paper must be an original contribution that has not been published before and is not being considered for publication elsewhere 
  • The paper must demonstrate sound research principles and include complete and adequate referencing (In accordance with APA 7.0 style)
  • The paper must be between 3,000 and 4,000 words in length (excluding title and author details) and well written — that is, clearly structured to facilitate readability and free of spelling and grammatical mistakes. Use single space, A4 size, text font type, and the size must be Times New Roman, 10pt, in single-spaced format. Follow three levels of headings, where applicable 
  • Your paper must not contain third-party copyright content 
  • The name and affiliations of the author (or authors) must be included at the top of the paper between Title and Abstract 
  • At least one author must be registered to attend the Forum. If paid conference registration is still incomplete by the last date for registration, the paper will not be included in the Forum schedule 
  • By submitting a paper, authors give consent for that paper and the authorship details to be featured in the Forum programme book 
  • You will also have the option of submitting your presentations (only if the full paper is accepted/accepted with modification for presentation). Please note that you must follow the guidelines you receive when you upload your presentation (in . PPT or . PPTX formats).

Guidelines for panel discussion/workshops

Please provide an extended outline of what will be covered, for example, background to the discussion/workshop, key issues/questions to be addressed, running order, e.g. time for presentations, time for Q&A. Please include short bios for each workshop presenter/panellist.

Please note that space for Workshops and Panel Discussions may be limited depending on the number of paper submissions received, given that a 1-hour panel discussion/workshop could take the same time as 3-4 paper presentations.

Guidelines for poster preparation

The Poster Session provides an alternative for authors to share and present brief summaries of their work to all conference participants and attendees. It is required that at least one presenter per accepted poster be registered to attend the Forum. While submitting the poster, we recommend that the poster be submitted as a single A4 size document in PPT or PPTX or PDF format. 

We expect to provide presentation space for the poster presentation. Authors are expected to bring their poster in 420 X 594 mm size.