What Type of Presentations Occur at AABSS?
Generally, presentations fall into one of three strands: (a) Research presentations, (b) Scholarship presentations, (c) Application of scholarship to practice. In this context, “research” refers to generating new information of some type. A study was conducted and the presenter shares the findings with the AABSS audience. "Scholarship" is the integration of previous research findings, such as might occur in a literature review. The value exists as the author shares new insights, turning points, or perspectives on a topic of interest. "Applied scholarship" takes this process a step further and suggests how presented data could and/or should impact society, individuals, organizations, structures, and the like. While AABSS reviewers value the role of authors’ own experiences, the conference is not the right venue to merely present “personal tips,” as the mainstay of a presentation; rather the conclusions should be contextualized in some type of scholarship and grounded in the overarching research literature.
All research methods are valued at AABSS, including empirical (both qualitative and quantitative) and non-empirical (e.g., historical analysis, case study, and archival). The scholarship of teaching is aptly recognized and encouraged, again, assuming the presentation is grounded in data and not only personal experience. The purpose of the juried AABSS review process is to ensure the presentation’s applicability to the conference and that sufficient rigor is evident as is expected in a national research conference—not to rank the proposals or allow only a limited quota of submissions for presentation. We view a conference presentation as the first step toward potential journal publication—at which stage a second level of more stringent screening is applied. Most potential topics deserve a plenary hearing before peers as part of the overall evaluation process.