Submissions

The call for submissions is CLOSED. Please see Program instead.

Wikimania 2018 Cape Town will be the 14th in the series of annual international conferences discussing the Wikimedia projects, the Wikimedia Communities, and the Free Culture movement. This is the call for submissions for the main conference, which will be held on July 20–22, and will consist of several concurrent tracks, including workshops, presentations, roundtables, invited speakers and lightning talks. There will also be a preconference on July 18–19, which will include a technical hackathon and other workshop and community events. The preconference is organised separately and is not part of this call for submissions.

The Deadline for conference submissions is 23:59 UTC on Sunday March 18, 2018

The form where you can make a submission is linked at the bottom of this page. Please read this information first.

Thank you for your interest in presenting at Wikimania 2018.
Sincerely,
The Program Committee

Key information

Proposals will be reviewed by the program committee. After the review has concluded and authors of accepted presentations have been notified, the titles, abstracts, and authors of all submissions (accepted and rejected) will be published on the conference wiki.

The Deadline for conference submissions is 23:59 UTC on Sunday March 18, 2018.

Authors will be notified in early May, 2018 of submissions acceptance or rejection.

This Wikimania, the theme of the conference will be a crucial criteria in selecting and designing the conference program. All submissions must address the theme and explain how they relate to it.

Bridging knowledge gaps, the ubuntu way forward

You can learn about this theme, why and how it was selected for Wikimania, at this blogpost.

Submissions will be asked to describe their Relationship to this Theme and select one more relationships from a list – Language & literacy, Access & accessibility, Participation & representation, Community health, Content quality, Legal & policy, and Knowledge forms. The meaning of these options provided should be understood as broadly and innovatively as you like - to encourage imaginative proposals.

There will be several presentation tracks running in parallel, known as Topics. Submissions are asked to group themselves into one or more topics from the following list - Advocacy & Communication, Communities & Collaboration, GLAM & Education, Governance & Strategy, Research & Academia, Science & Medicine, Technology & Software. Again, the meaning of options provided should be understood as broadly and innovatively as you wish – to encourage imaginative proposals.

There will be four main session Formats – presentation, panel, roundtable, workshop, and poster. These are described below. All presentations and discussions are encouraged to be as interactive as possible and facilitate learning and sharing by the attendees. Lightning talks and Meetups will be included in the conference but they will be organised very close to, or during, the event. If you have suggestions for keynote/plenary speakers, or ideas for formats which do not fit into these categories please contact the Programme Committee.

Submission form instructions

In the proposal form, you will be asked to provide the following information in English (although the proposed session can be delivered in another language):

Author Information

Answers to all questions in this section, except "website", are mandatory (required).

First Name (your given name) and Last name (your family name or surname).
Email. Your contact address to be informed by the Wikimania program committee if you have been accepted. This will not be published.
Country. The country where you live. This will not be published.
Organisation. Please indicate if your submission is presenting on behalf of a Wikimedia affiliate, community or professional organisation. If not, write "none".
Website. Your personal or professional website, or Wikimedia userpage.

Title and Abstract

Answers to all questions in this section are required (mandatory).

The Title of your proposed session. This should be descriptive, interesting, and short enough to fit on the conference schedule.
The Abstract or description of your proposed session. Maximum 300 words. In this you must also include:
- An explanation of how this proposal relates to the conference theme. If your session does not correspond to the conference theme, please describe why you believe it is sufficiently important that it should still be included. Submissions which neither fit the theme nor explain why they should be exempt from the theme will not be accepted.
- If you are proposing a session in a language other than English please indicate which language, the expected audience for the session, and whether providing the session in English would be possible if the audience proved to be insufficient. Note, no professional interpretation services will be provided.
- The full URL of any project pages or important websites relevant to the proposal.
Some Keywords. Write at least three important words or concepts which best explain the subject of your proposal. One word per line.

Other information (mandatory)

Answers to all questions in this section are required (mandatory).

Wikimedia usernames of yourself as well as those of any other participants in your proposed session. In the format: user:presenter1, user:presenter2 etc.
Desired outcome of the session. Include a brief explanation of what you hope will happen as a result of this session. Sessions which only describe an event or project which has now concluded, without explanation to what the audience will gain from this presentation, will not be accepted.

Topic, also known as the track or category that your presentation fits into best. You may select more than one, or “other”. If you select "other" please explain what it is in the abstract. The options are:
- Advocacy & Communication
- Communities & Collaboration
- GLAM & Education
- Governance & Strategy
- Research & Academia
- Science & Medicine
- Technology & Software
- Other - please describe in the abstract

The Session format you are proposing. Generally, they are as follows but if you would like a different presentation format or duration, please mention this in the “special requests” field at the bottom of the form.
- Presentations/lectures will be a single or pair of presenters accompanied by visual aids. They have a duration of 25 minutes including questions.
- Panel discussions are 4-6 presenters having a moderator-guided conversation for 25 minutes including questions
- Roundtables are a forums for the audience to have a moderator-guided conversation discussion a particular issue for a 55 minute session
- Workshops will be practical teaching sessions or classes, and have a duration of 85 minutes
- Posters are printed descriptions of a topic on A0, A1, or A2 size paper, displayed in the communal area of the conference. Presenters will be available to answer questions at a specific session during the program.

Relationship to the theme. Choose which "knowledge gap" or gaps your session will help to bridge. You may select more than one, or "other/none". If you select "other/none" please explain what it is in the abstract. Submissions which neither fit the theme, nor explain why they should be exempt from the theme, will not be accepted. You are encouraged to think imaginatively in understanding these options:

- Language & literacy
- Access & accessibility
- Participation & representation
- Community health
- Content quality
- Legal & policy
- Knowledge forms
- Other/None – please describe in the abstract

The Wikimedia project or projects your presentation is most relevant to (Wikipedia, Wikidata, Commons...), You may select more than one, or “all”. If it is not applicable to a specific Wikimedia project chose "other" and explain in your abstract.

Other Information (optional)

Information gathered in this section will not be published on the conference wiki and the questions may be left blank (they are optional).

Past presentation. If you have presented previously at Wikimania, please give the Full URL link to the session description from that Wikimania's program page. If there is no link to the slides or recording of your session on that page, and one exists, please link to it as well. If you have presented more than once, please link to the most recent. If you have NOT presented at any previous Wikimania conference, please leave this field blank. The purpose of this question is to identify statistically how many "first time Wikimania presenters" are accepted this year, and to cross-reference past-presenters previous submission descriptions with their current submission.
Gender. Please indicate your gender, or leave blank if you prefer not to say. The purpose of this question is to determine the gender-ratio of accepted speakers at the conference.

Language. Please indicate your native language or "mother tongue", or leave blank. The purpose of this question is to determine how many different native languages are spoken by the accepted speakers of the conference. Equally it will determine what proportion of accepted speakers will be presenting in English as a native language or as a second (etc.) language. If you feel you speak multiple languages natively, choose the one with the smaller number of speakers!
Scholarship. Please indicate if you have received a full, or partial, scholarship from the Wikimedia Foundation or a Wikimedia Chapter. Or leave blank if you prefer not to say. The purpose of this question is to determine what proportion of accepted speakers are scholarship recipients.
Special requests. If you have any special requests, such as a non-standard presentation format or duration, please mention it here.

Terms

Please be informed that the title, author, and abstract of all submissions will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 License on the conference wiki. Presentations at the conference may be recorded, and any recordings would also be published under the same license.
Please make sure that your presentation is aligned with the Wikimedia Friendly Space policy.
Presenters at Wikimania are encouraged to share their slides and other materials online and with a free-license as soon as possible after the event. Wherever possible, these slides should use free-licensed source materials to facilitate that sharing.
Please contact the Programme Committee if you do not understand or are uncomfortable with any of these terms (for example, if you would prefer your presentation not be filmed).

Make a submission

To make a submission for Wikimania 2018, clicking the link below and follow the instructions.
Submissions will be made privately via the EasyChair conference management software. If you have used EasyChair for a conference submission in the past, including for Wikimania 2016 Esino Lario, you can re-use that username/password.

Click here to submit your proposal for Wikimania 2018
The Deadline for conference submissions is 23:59 UTC on Sunday March 18, 2018

Authors will be notified in early May, 2018 of submissions acceptance or rejection.
If your proposal is accepted and you need an invitation letter to apply for a visa, please read and follow the instructions on that page.

If your submission is not accepted, please do not be discouraged. Wikimania 2018 will have time set aside in the schedule for participants and attendees to participate in unofficial, self-organized talks and working groups. You will have many opportunities to bring topics forward on-site, as well as socializing and sharing ideas casually. Presenters that are not accepted are also welcome to submit lightning talks and posters, which will be considered as space permits.

FAQ

Why is there a theme, and must all presentations relate to it?
- Please read the blogpost about the Wikimania theme to learn about it, and why it was chosen. All presentation submissions must relate to the theme or, if they do not, they must explain in the session description why they are sufficiently important topics to justify an exemption. Therefore, the theme will be "tightly held, but loosely defined" - the program committee encourages applicants to make submissions which respond to the theme in innovative ways. For example: 'software localisation' is a topic which can be described in the 'access and accessibility' framework for the theme.

Why are we using a separate website to accept submissions, rather than on-Wiki like in previous years?
- The most important piece of feedback from last year's program committee was that the "Wiki submission and email tools completely failed". This meant a LOT of extra manual work and delays. As a result we have moved to using software dedicated for the purposes of conference submission management. Because it is a private form (not public on-wiki) this also means we can ask non-public information to help improve the diversity of the conference presentations. To mitigate the loss of transparency that the on-wiki system provided, we will be publishing the title, author, and abstract of ALL presentation submissions on this wiki after the program committee has made its decisions. We are using the software EasyChair which does require submitters to register an account. However, it was also used for Wikimania 2016, meaning that if you submitted a proposal for that Wikimania you can re-use those login details.

Can I propose a session in a language other than English?
- English will be the standard language of the conference, however you may make a proposal for a presentation in a language other than English. The proposal itself must still be in English so that the committee can review it. If you wish to present in another language you should explain why you believe there will be sufficient audience attending Wikimania Cape Town who will understand, and benefit from, a non-English presentation. One way you can do this is by linking to a discussion on your home-wiki where a lot of people express interest in attending such a session. It would be helpful if you could also demonstrate that the probable attendees of your session come from multiple countries. If several popular sessions for a specific language are submitted, the program design may accommodate placing all those sessions together in a group together. Please be aware, that professional translation/interpretation services will not be provided at Wikimania Cape Town.

Is there a water shortage in Cape Town? Will this affect Wikimania?
- See Water shortage.
Will making a proposal for a presentation help my chances in receiving a scholarship?
- No. There is no relationship between the selection criteria for scholarships and the program. One of the [optional] questions for program submissions does ask if you received a scholarship, but this is only for statistical purposes - so we can report what proportion of submissions are made by people with scholarships, and what proportion of the eventual program is being presented by scholarship holders.

Reviewing criteria

At least two members of the Program Committee reviewed each submission, more if there is a wide gap between their qualitative and quantitative responses. The quantitative 'scores' and qualitative reviewing comments will not be made public - as to do so would impede the ability of the committee to review honestly and (especially in the case of the quantitative review) would give a misleading impression of "numerical rank" being the only criteria. Whereas instead many other factors (including timeslots available, presenters who can no longer attend, duplicate presentation subjects, and convenient grouping of subjects) come in to play. If you are a submitter and wish to receive specific feedback on your proposal, please contact the committee. Unfortunately, the "EasyChair" system does not allow the submissions themselves to be made publicly - if it were we would have chosen that option, as that would have reduced the number of submissions on the same subject by different people.

Notwithstanding the above, in order to provide some transparency into the process, the rubric that all committee members use for the first round of reviewing is as follows:

"Link to theme: Does the proposal respond to the theme 'bridging knowledge gaps'? If not, does it justify why the proposal is sufficiently significant to justify inclusion nonetheless?"
- 4: Very strong and clearly explained link to theme
- 2: Acceptable link to theme, adequate description
- 1: Not linked to theme, but with adequate justification for being an exception
- 0: Loose or poorly described link to theme
- -2: No obvious link to theme, no justification for exception made

"Clear session outcome: Will the attendees (or the presenter) learn or create something as a result of this presentation? Is there a clear benefit for this presentation being delivered in person at this event?"
- 3: Strong expected outcomes for audience and presenter, clearly thought through
- 1: Some learning outcomes described
- 0: Relevant submission, but unclear who would benefit an in-person presentation
- -2: Merely a description of a past or ongoing project, no expected learning outcomes
- -4: Not relevant for this event

"First time presenter: If accepted, will this be the author's first time presenting at any Wikimania?"
- 1: Yes
- 0: No

"Presenter from the local region: Is the presenter from sub-Saharan Africa?"
- 1: Yes
- 0: No

"General evaluation: What is your overall impression of this submission for this event?"
- 4: Strong accept
- 2: Accept
- 1: Weak accept
- 0: Can't decide
- -1: Weak reject
- -2: Reject
- -4: Not relevant for this event

Following these quantitative fields, the reviewer is also asked to provide the following qualitative review:

"Evaluation comment: A short overall review comment. Why should this be accepted or rejected? Add any comments to other reviewers"

Finally, the reviewer is also asked to confirm the format type/length, and language.