BEA2026 Call for Papers

BEA’s interest divisions invite submissions of original, non-published media related research papers to be considered for presentation at BEA’s annual convention in Las Vegas, April 18-21.  BEA accepts papers from academics, students and professionals. 

SUBMISSION SITE OPENS: Early August
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: December 1, 2025

Submission and Account Information: Submission and Account Information: LOGIN or CREATE an account to submit Panels & program submissions online (AVAILABLE IN EARLY AUGUST):
For BEA Members: If you are a BEA Member, submit papers to BEA’s convention site through with your BEA membership login and password.   If you know your BEA login information, use it to login to the “All Academic” submission site. If you forgot your BEA membership password, click here to reset. 
For BEA Nonmembers: If you ARE NOT a BEA member, please create an account in BEA’s database BEFORE you visit All Academic by clicking here. After you create an account, login to All Academic and follow the directions below.  If you have trouble, please email help@BEAweb.org.   

 Membership & Convention Attendance:
To enter a paper competition, you do NOT need to be a current member, but at least one (1) author of an accepted competitive paper MUST attend, and register for, the BEA convention to present.  

Accepted Paper Notification:
Winners will be notified by late January 2026. If you have questions regarding the submission process, please email the appropriate Interest Division paper chair. 

A FEW REMINDERS:  

• Blind Review: Any submission that is uploaded with author’s identifying information will not be considered for review and will automatically be disqualified.  Do NOT include a cover page with author and contact information and remove ALL author information from internal pages. Judges need to blindly review your papers.
• Conflict of Interest Policy: The author submitting the paper will be required to read and accept BEA’s Conflict of Interest Policy.  Authors that do not adhere to the policy will be removed from the competition.
• Editing Abilities: You can edit and/or re-submit papers up until the deadline.
• Length & Style: The paper is not to exceed 30 double-spaced pages, including references & tables, and use of APA style or a style suited to the discipline is expected.  

Submissions are accepted for peer review on the understanding of the following conditions:
-BEA does not accept dissertations. 
-The research can be submitted to only ONE BEA interest division. 
-Submissions must not be currently under review for other conventions, conferences or publications. 
-The paper should not have been presented at other conventions and conferences, EXCEPT for BEA’s On-Location conference. 
-Submissions should not have been published in print or online prior to BEA’s convention. 

Submit Your Paper
Once you login with your BEA login and password, follow the steps below:  

1. Submit a paper… Click on the link for “Submit or Edit a Paper or Program Proposal.”
   2. Select an Interest Division… Read the division descriptions and select the division to which you wish to submit your research. NOTE: A paper may NOT be submitted to more than one division in the same year.  Authors can submit one paper per division – but not multiple papers to the same division.
   3. Submit the title & abstract… Follow the guidelines to add a title and abstract 
   4. Adding co-authors… At the prompt, add any co-authors to the paper.  Note: If your co-author(s) aren’t BEA members, have them create All Academic accounts first so you can easily search and link them to the paper.  
2. Review & Upload… Review your information and upload your paper.

Categories & Competitions – Submit your research to the relevant BEA interest division as a Debut or an Open paper.  

The Debut paper category is open only to those who have never presented a paper at a BEA convention. To help defray costs, 1st and 2nd place Debut winners receive $200 and $100 respectively.  BEA will award one check to the individual who submitted the paper.   

The Open category is available if you have previously presented a paper at BEA.  To help defray costs, most interest division will award the 1st and 2nd place Open winners with $200 and $100 respectively.  Regardless of the number of authors, divisions will award one check to the individual who submitted the paper.   

About BEA’s annual convention: BEA2026, co-located with NAB Show, is a hybrid academic media convention with over 250 virtual and on-site sessions on media pedagogy, collaborative networking events, hands-on technology workshops, research and creative scholarship and the Festival of Media Arts.  BEA2026 will be an in-person convention with limited virtual participation opportunities for presenters and attendees.      

The BEA2026 Convention Spotlight is….. An AI Society 
This year’s convention spotlight begins a three-year exploration of artificial intelligence, including An AI Society (2026), The AI Effect (2027), and AI Futures (2028). The themes in these spotlight topics can engage recursively with each other. They can both broadly and specifically consider the unfolding of artificial intelligence in our industry, whether part of or about media content, production, consumption, regulation, individual and societal effects, technology, education, or research. An AI Society in BEA2026 encourages scholars to think about AI in the media industry (and how that connects to society/culture writ large) from any number of vantage points. Let’s consider the full range of opportunities and challenges that AI might bring. 

The convention spotlight serves as a spotlight for the convention, but program proposals are not limited to this area of research and presentation.  All sessions must adhere to the goals and objectives of the interest division(s) to which they are submitted (descriptions are listed on the submission site).    

Questions? Visit www.beaweb.org or email Help@BEAweb.org.