What are the conference proceedings?
The simple definition of conference proceedings goes something like this: a collection of academic papers presented at a professional association meeting or conference. However, many of the words, such as appointment and conference, that make up that definition are interchangeable with other terms … and often are. If you are not an academic or an engineer, you will benefit from the following expanded explanation.
To start the term conference It can also be redeemed with the following terms:
- Appointment
- Symposium
- Exposition
- Colloquium
- Workshop
- Exposition
- Conspiracy (yeah conspiracy, I didn’t figure it out)
The term proceedings It can also be redeemed with the following terms:
- Documents
- Manuscripts
- Abstracts (one short article, one paragraph up to 1 page)
- Extended summaries (2-5 pages)
- Presentations
And the term association It can be exchanged with any organization, such as: society, agency, research foundation, council, institute, corporation, etc.
While lectures can focus on any academic subject, from humanities and social studies to natural and applied sciences, they often focus on a specific discipline. For example, a conference hosted by the International Society for Veterinary Acupuncture will include 30-40 articles all focusing strictly on, well … veterinary acupuncture. This approach provides deeper coverage than any other scientific publication. In fact, one of the truly unique qualities of conference proceedings lies in the fact that they are made up of research papers by many people, which makes their character distinctly different from scientific books, textbooks or magazines.
The title of the conference proceedings can include between 5 and 10 articles or up to 2000 articles. Some conferences are held every year, or every two years, three years, etc. Most publication of proceedings are called “monographs” (stand-alone) and others are part of a series. For example, the Materials Research Society Symposium Series of Proceedings may have a symposium titled “Nano and Three-Dimensional Microphotonics,” which is volume # 1014 in the series.
They are relatively profitable sources for academic research, as they are less expensive than their higher-priced relatives, magazines, and generally have more content than magazines, although a little less prestigious. Conference proceedings often include new advances in research, innovations, methodologies, and best practices, particularly in the fields of science, engineering, and technology. They provide a platform for researchers to identify potential collaborators and can influence work in related disciplines. It is at these important national and international conferences that research results are first reported and discussed, long before their formal publication in journals and textbooks.
Hopefully the next time someone brings up the conference proceedings, they won’t have a blank look on their face.