Workshop Chair Guidelines

To ensure a high work quality and a smooth process of research, drafting, review, and submission, Workshop Chairs are to actively participate in the workshop through the following criteria:

Solicitation of Papers:

• Leverage networks across different institutions, think tanks, and universities to solicit papers. GSS will also do the same.
• Aim for 25+ paper abstracts to select the best 20 for a well-rounded workshop.
• Select authors with a focus on achieving diversity and inclusion.

Paper Selection:

• Along with GSS, review abstracts promptly upon receipt and provide feedback and suggestions for amendments, if necessary, to ensure high-quality papers.
• Follow preset deadlines for papers.
• Encourage a variety of proposals to avoid duplication or redundancy in the topics selected.
• Refer to the paper submission criteria during the review process to maintain consistency.
• Prioritize solicitation of papers and quality submissions over including low-quality papers solely to increase the number of submissions. Low-quality papers can affect the quality of the workshop and the publication.
• Select 20+ participants, considering several dropouts may occur before the workshop, with dropouts possible until the week before the workshop.
• Accepted applicants should confirm their participation in writing to the chairs through their account on GSS website, acknowledging the submission terms and guidelines.

Drafting Period:

• Communicate deadlines and guidelines to contributors to avoid confusion.
• Discuss publication plans and timelines with contributors to align expectations.
• Maintain open communication with participants during the drafting period to address questions and prevent delays.
• Emphasize that paper submissions must align with the proposed topic stated in the abstract, and submissions deviating from the topic will not be accepted.

Execution:

• Have a work plan with all accepted participants and coordinate with GSS staff to draft schedules for their workshops.
• Moderate discussions and keep the flow of the workshop going.
• Ask paper presenters to adjust the focus of their papers if necessary for potential publication.
• Discuss the publication plan with the participants. This will keep them committed to the workshop and lessen the chances of dropouts.
• GSS reserves the right to proceed with the workshop and appoint replacement Chair(s) should one or both chairs withdraw at any time during the GSS process, with or without modifications to the workshop topic.
• All workshops are expected to be a day and a half long, with full engagement from Chairs and presenters.

Publication Plan:

• GSS encourages Workshop Chairs to provide a publication plan in their applications for the role.
• GSS encourages Chairs to consider papers with potential publication in mind. This means that they should aim to solicit and select paper proposals that fit into their publication structure.
• A collective publication is the final goal for papers, GSS presents an opportunity for Chairs and presenters to publish papers through different mediums:
  1. Gulf International Forum reserves the right to solicit papers for publication as reports in agreement with presenters and Chairs.
  2. Chairs can solicit outside publishers for edited books.
  3. For select cases, Gulf International Forum can publish edited books.
  4. Chairs have an option to contact academic journals for a series of journal articles.
  5. Individual journal articles are viable options for academics who were unable to secure a journal series with the workshop.
  6. Suggestions for other forms of publication are welcome, but ideally, these would be published collectively in the aforementioned formats.
• Any paper published from the GSS workshops should ensure the following:
  1. Acknowledge the Gulf Studies Symposium in all paper drafts and publications.
  2. Provide complimentary copies of the publications to GSS coordinators.
  3. GSS reserves the right to promote and feature the publication.

Logisitics:

• All Chairs must attend the workshops in-person in Doha, Qatar.
• Chairs who require a visa to enter Qatar are encouraged to apply three months before the workshop date, and GSS will provide a visa support letter upon request.
• GSS will arrange and cover the travel and lodging expenses for two Chairs only.
• Chairs are required to keep the GSS portal updated with the status of all submitted abstracts and papers to ensure presenters are informed of their review outcomes in a timely manner.
• Chairs are expected to maintain active communication with their workshop presenters—either via email or through the GSS messaging portal—to provide guidance, feedback, and important updates throughout the process.