Turning to The Index of Digital Humanities Conferences (Eichmann-Kalwara, Weingart, and Lincoln 2020) and drawing on our experience as program committee chairs for DH2020, the international Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations annual conference, we consider the disciplinary and regional conventions that surround the status of conference papers and their submission to a conference, review, and (in some cases) publication. Focusing on national and international digital humanities conferences (such as this CSDH conference), while also acknowledging disciplinary conferences that inform digital humanities, this paper responds to Christine L. Borgman’s call for self-reflection on digital humanities practices when it comes to publication (2009). This paper blends close-readings of conference calls for papers with analysis of conference practices to reckon with what constitutes a conference submission and its status in relationship to disciplinary conventions, peer review, and publication outcomes. Ultimately, we argue that the best practice for digital humanities conferences is to be clear on the review and publication process so that participants can gage how to accurately reflect their contributions. 

Authors: Jennifer Guiliano (IUPUI) and Laura Estill (St. Francis Xavier University)

Session: The Work of DH

Date: Monday, May 31

Time: 1245-215 pm