First Call for Papers

57th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea
21 – 24 August 2024
University of Helsinki

SLE meetings provide a forum for high-quality linguistic research from all (sub)domains of linguistics. The upcoming edition of the SLE meeting will also host a round table of experts to discuss topics of special linguistic interest.

The deadline for workshop proposals is 20 November 2023 and the deadline for all abstracts is 15 January 2024. Notification of acceptance/rejection of paper abstracts will be given by 31 March 2024.

Call for Papers

Workshop proposals: submission guidelines

Workshops will be organized in 30 minute slots (20 min. presentation, 5 min. discussion, 5 min. room change). Workshops will contain at least 10 slots (including introduction and discussion). Each workshop comprises:

  1. an introductory paper by the convenor(s) or by a keynote speaker, which summarizes previous research, specifies the approach(es) to be taken and sets the scope of the papers to be presented;
  2. at least eight papers;
  3. a slot for a final discussion on the topics covered by the papers, methodological issues and questions for future research;
  4. Further details can be discussed with the SLE Conference Manager (sle.cmATkuleuven.be).

Workshop proposals must contain:

  • five keywords
  • a description of the topic and research questions (between 900 and 1100 words, excluding references and glosses/translations of examples).
  • a (provisional) list of workshop participants and their provisional abstracts (max. 300 words per abstract); at least 8 abstracts. It is recommended to submit 2-3 more.

Workshop convenors are encouraged to announce their proposal on the conference website (please send it to the conference manager sle.cmATkuleuven.be) and on the LinguistList as a session of SLE 2024 (for detailed instructions how to do this, see below), as well as other fora in the linguistic area of the workshop.

Workshop proposals must be submitted as one file in pdf and sent to the Chair of SLE workshops (Frans Hinskens) and to the Conference Manager (Anna Kisiel).

ATTENTION: The deadline for the submission of workshop proposals is 20 November 2023.

Notification of acceptance/rejection will be given by 15 December 2023. After a workshop proposal has been accepted, the convenors will be requested to invite all preliminary workshop participants to submit their full abstracts in Easychair before 15 January 2024. The link for workshop abstract submission will be available in the Third Call for Papers (published by 15 December). Accepted workshop proposals will be published on the conference webpage. Other authors interested in the workshop may submit their papers to the workshop. Finally, all abstracts submitted to the workshop in Easychair will be reviewed individually by the Programme Committee and the workshop convenors.


How to announce a Workshop on the Linguist List:

Go to www.linguistlist.org and select: “Conferences” > “Submit conference info” > fill in the form > submission type: select “conferences” > select “existing conferences” and then “57th Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea” > “Add session”. Enter information, fill in the required fields and submit. Linguist List session calls are limited to 3.800 characters (all included).  


General session papers and posters

The deadline for all abstracts is 15 January 2024. Notification of acceptance will be given by 31 March 2024.

Abstracts are submitted via Easychair. A link will be added by mid December 2022. Some guidelines about how to submit your abstract can be found here. To submit your abstract, please click on the link below. Please note that submitters have to be SLE members to submit an abstract. For SLE membership, please click here. Abstracts submitted by non-members will not be considered.

Abstracts should clearly state the research questions, approach, method, data and (expected) results. They should not contain the names of the presenters, nor their affiliations or addresses, nor any other information that could reveal their authorship. They should not exceed 500 words (including examples, excluding references). Abstracts should have the same title as the entry submitted via Easychair. Some guidelines about how to write a good abstract can be found under the tab “How to write a good abstract”.

Presentations will last 20 minutes, with 5 min. for discussion, and 5 min. for speaker and room changes.

SUBMITTING MULTIPLE PAPERS. In order to guarantee diversity, one person may be the first author of only one submission of any kind (workshop paper, general session paper, poster, or workshop proposal); nobody is allowed to present or co-present more than two papers at an SLE conference (including workshops). You can co-author more than two papers but you cannot figure among the co-presenters at the conference (i.e. if you co-author more than two papers, you will have to play a background role).


Presenting a poster

The SLE 2024 meeting will have one or two poster sessions for both senior and junior researchers. In order to foster interaction, all other sessions will be suspended during the poster session. Posters will be displayed in a gathering area and may remain available during the rest of the conference. The maximum size of the poster is usually 1.20 m (vertical) x 1 m (horizontal). For more information about how to make a good poster, click here.


Reviewing procedure

Abstracts will be reviewed anonymously by three referees. Workshop abstracts receive two evaluations by Programme Committee members and one by the workshop convenors. Abstracts submitted to the general session and to the poster session will be evaluated by three members of the Programme Committee. The threshold for acceptance is the same for general session papers, posters and workshop papers.


Prize for the best presentation and the best poster

At SLE conferences there are prizes for the following categories (see Award winners 2021):

  • best oral presentation by a PhD student,
  • best oral presentation by a postdoc, and
  • best poster.

Applicants can mark their option for each of the award categories in Easychair upon abstract submission.

Rules

PhD students should not have completed their PhD before the conference. Postdocs should have completed their PhD not earlier than three years before the year of the conference (for example 2021 for the SLE 2024 conference). All posters will be eligible for the best poster prize.

A shortlisted paper may be co-authored. Co-authored papers in categories i) and ii) above should be presented at the conference by the nominee, who will also have to be the first author of the paper.

Prizes

The first prize in each of the three categories is 500 Euros. The winners of the first prizes in the PhD and Postdoc categories in 2024 are also awarded a 20+5 mins. plenary talk at SLE 2025 (Bordeaux). The 2nd and 3rd prizes will receive a three-year SLE membership.


Important dates

  • 20 November 2023: workshop proposals submission deadline
  • 15 December 2023: notification of workshop acceptance
  • 15 January 2024: deadline for submission of all abstracts
  • 31 March 2024: notification of paper acceptance
  • 1 April 2024: early bird registration starts
  • 1 May 2024: full fee registration starts
  • 31 May 2024: closing registration date for participants with a paper
  • 31 July 2024: closing registration date for participants without a paper, and for co-authors of papers where at least one author has already registered.

Please note that papers for which none of the authors has registered by 31 May will not be scheduled. The schedule will be published online in June after the registration deadline. The schedule will then be modified only in the event of cancellations.


Registration

Registration will open on 1 April 2024. SLE meetings are member-only conferences. That is, all participants will have to be or become members of the Societas Linguistica Europaea to be able to register.


Social programme

There will be a reception on Wednesday evening (included in the registration fee), a walking tour in Helsinki’s historical city centre (included in the registration fee) and a conference dinner and party on Thursday evening (not included in the conference fee). On Friday afternoon and on Saturday and Sunday, there will be a number of activities.