The American Philosophical Association
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716

PACIFIC DIVISION
Submission Guidelines


Papers and posters in any area are welcome. All papers and posters are reviewed anonymously.


Important Notices

The Pacific Division only accepts on-line submissions made through the APA submission web site. Submissions by post and by email are not accepted.

The Pacific Division now invites submissions for poster presentations.


Important Dates

Deadline for membership dues and new applications (dues payments from members who still owe dues for the current fiscal year and membership applications from new applicants who are joining the APA for the first time): August 13

Deadline for submissions: September 1

Deadline for receipt of proof of graduate student status (for travel stipends): September 1


Submission Eligibility

1. Authors (and all co-authors) must be members in good standing of the APA at the time of submission.

2. Each member may be author (or co-author) of one paper or poster. (If Jones and Smith co-author a paper, neither is eligible to submit a second item.)

3. Any paper or poster which is under consideration for publication elsewhere will be considered, provided that it will not appear in print until after the Divisional meeting is held. If this is the case, indicate when and where the paper or poster is expected to be published.

4. A paper or poster that has been on the Main Program at a past APA meeting (any division), or will be on the Main Program at a future Central or Eastern Division meeting, cannot be presented as a Main Program colloquium or symposium paper or poster at the Pacific Division meeting. However, papers not accepted by another Division may be submitted for consideration by the Pacific Division.

5. No one who is scheduled to appear in an invited session on the Main Program of a meeting may also present a submitted paper or poster as part of that same Main Program. Members who have already agreed to participate in invited sessions on the Main Program of a meeting are asked not to submit papers or posters for that same meeting. Please note that this does not apply to sessions organized by APA Committees or by affiliated groups.


Preparation for Anonymous Review

6. Submissions must be prepared for anonymous review. The author’s (and any co-author’s) name, institution, and references pertaining to the identity of the author must be removed from the paper, abstract(s), notes, and bibliography. Papers containing identifying references may be rejected.


Submission Process

7. All submissions must include an abstract of not more than 150 words. Those submitting posters also provide a long abstract of not more than 750 words (the poster itself is not submitted). Colloquium papers must not exceed 3000 words. Symposium papers must not exceed 5000 words. Authors should be aware that only a few papers are selected for presentation as symposium papers. If authors wish to have a shortened version of their paper considered as a colloquium paper, they should submit the appropriately shortened version simultaneously with the submission of the symposium paper. (This will be considered a single submission.)

8. The Pacific Division only considers submissions made through the APA web site. Postal submissions are not longer accepted. Submissions are not accepted by email.


Graduate Student Travel Stipends

9. A stipend of $300 will be awarded to any graduate student whose paper or poster is accepted by the Program Committee in its normal, anonymous review process.

10. Eligibility is restricted to APA members or associate members who are graduate students in residence and in good standing at a MA or PhD program in philosophy. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that a letter verifying that author of the paper or poster is a student in residence is provided to the APA. The letter must be formatted on departmental stationery and signed by the department chair or graduate advisor. It must be uploaded at the time of submission. If appropriate verification documentation is not supplied by the deadline, the submission will not be considered for a Travel Stipend.

11. Co-authored papers and posters are not eligible for Graduate Student Travel Stipends unless all authors are graduate students.


Authors’ Warrants and Permissions

12. In submitting papers or posters, authors warrant that their submissions are entirely their own work or the joint work of the named co-authors, and that, where appropriate, acknowledgement of the contributions of others has been made.

13. In submitting a paper or poster, its authors grant to The American Philosophical Association the nonexclusive worldwide right to publish the abstract of the paper or poster in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Association and on the APA and Pacific Division web sites, in the event that the paper is accepted. Its authors also grant to The American Philosophical Association the nonexclusive worldwide right to post a preprint of the paper, in the form in which it was submitted, on the Pacific Division web site, for up to four months prior to the meeting for which the paper is accepted. (The Division will not publish a preprint provided that the authors so notify the Pacific Division in writing at the time the paper is accepted.)

14. Authors agree to provide accurate email addresses as part of their contact information and must notify the Pacific Division of any address changes that may occur between the time of submission and the meeting.