Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 1

ECER 2008: Number of Submissions,

Results of Reviewing procedure

When submission time ended, EERA had received 1364 contributions, during the
reviewing procedure some late proposals were still accepted, while others were
withdrawn, so that we ended up having 1370 proposals for the main and pre-conference.
Compared to ECER 2007 there are small changes in the proportions of different
presentation formats. Percentages of Posters and Symposia remain constant, we have
slightly less papers (88% compared to 90%) and more roundtabels and workshops ( 2%
each compared to 1% each in 2007)
ECER 2008 will have about 1220 presentations, 165 in the Pre-Conference and 1055 in
the Main Conference. (Symposia Papers excluded)

Proposals by presentation formats (2008)

Round Tables: Workshops: 22

23 2%
Symposia: 55
2%
4%

Posters: 53
4%

Paper: 1217
88%

Number of Submissions by Network

The number of submissions by network differ a lot. The four smallest networks (less than
20 submissions) are NW 12 “Libraries and Information Centres in Educational Research”
(5 proposals), NW 25 “Research on Children’s Rights in Education” (12 proposals), NW 20
“Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments” (14 proposals), NW 6 “Open
Learning, Media, Environment and Culture (18 proposals)” and NW 15 “Research
Partnerships in Education” (19 proposals).
The four largest networks (more than 100 proposals) are NW 22 “Research in Higher
Education” (103 proposals), NW 27 “Didactics – Learning and Teaching” (110 proposals),
 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 2

NW 10 “Teacher Education” (142 proposals) and the largest: the Postgraduate Network
(165 proposals). Network 14, which had been considered to be closed last year, was quite
active this year and received 42 proposals.

Number of submission by network after redirections

Numbers of submission per network after redirections were processed are slightly
different, as some late submissions had been accepted, some papers were withdrawn and
all redirected proposals changed their sponsoring network.

Nr. Submissions by Network

180
164
160

140 132
124
120 109

100
83 82
77
80 69 69
60
60 52 54
49
36
40 29 29 30 29
23
19 16 16 15
20
4
0
NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW NW
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27

Rejection rates
The overall rejection rate is quite high this year. About 89 % of the proposals were
accepted, 11% were rejected. Papers show the highest rejection rate (about 10,7%), the
other presentation formats are rarely rejected (between 0,16% – 0,45%) Last year 95% of
all proposals were accepted, 5% rejected. The higher rejection rates of 2008 might be
linked to the usage of the resubmission option. Networks could ask authors to resubmit
within a given time. If they did not, submissions were rejected. Secondly, at the end of
the reviewing process submissions were rejected after they had been suggested for
redirections for the second time. We have had 4 Networks who did not reject at all (NW 9,
12, 20 and 21) and others who rejected quite a lot (NW 13, 14, 27).
A lot of network did not reject at first, but rather redirected to another network. On the
 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 3

other hand, some convenors were dissatisfied to hear that proposals which they had
redirected were rejected by the second network.

Rejections rates within the networks

Network Accepted Rejected Sum Rejected%
NW 1 46 6 52 11,5%
NW 2 77 6 83 7,2%
NW 3 47 2 49 4,1%
NW 4 78 4 82 4,9%
NW 5 18 1 19 5,3%
NW 6 15 1 16 6,3%
NW 7 60 9 69 13,0%
NW 9 29 0 29 0,0%
NW 10 107 17 124 13,7%
NW 11 47 7 54 13,0%
NW12 4 0 4 0,0%
NW13 49 20 69 29,0%
NW14 28 8 36 22,2%
NW15 22 1 23 4,3%
NW16 58 2 60 3,3%
NW17 25 4 29 13,8%
NW19 26 4 30 13,3%
NW20 16 0 16 0,0%
NW 21 164 0 164 0,0%
NW 22 106 3 109 2,8%
NW 23 65 10 77 13,0%
NW 25 13 2 15 13,3%
NW 26 27 2 29 6,9%
NW 27 93 39 132 29,5%

Rejections Rates and presentation formats

Format / Network rejections rates
Paper 10,64%
Posters 0,41%
Round Tables 0,16%
Workshops 0,41%
Symposia 0,33%

Redirections
 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 4

Proposals were redirected a lot; some of them not only to a second but also to a third
network. So, many of them had been redirected more than once, until we learned that
after the second network decides to redirect a proposal, it should be rejected.
Two problems here: Redirections are firstly quite tedious to process. Secondly it was
sometimes not visible enough for the convenors/reviewers that a submission had already
been redirected once.
Networks used the option to redirect to different extents. We can not tell how many
redirections we processed in total or who redirected how many proposals to whom. The
only thing we can say is how the original submission numbers per networks changed after
all redirections had been processed. The problem with this numbers: a network who
received as many redirected proposals as they suggested themselves for redirections will
have a “0” count in this list. We know for example the Network 23 received a lot of
redirections but also redirected a lot themselves.
There are major changes in NW 1, who ended with 21 proposals less than originally, NW
10 (18 proposals less) and NW 27, who received 22 extra proposals.

Proposal gain/loss after redirections

NW 27; 22

NW 26; 1

NW 25; 3

NW 23; 0

NW 22; 6

NW 21; -1

NW 20; 2

NW 19; 3
NW 17; -1

NW 16; 1

NW 15; 4

NW 14; -6
NW 13; 3

NW 12; -1

NW 11; 6

NW 10; -18

NW 9; -4

NW 7; 3

NW 6; -2

NW 5; -3

NW 4; 5

NW 3; 2

NW 2; 2

NW 1; -21

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 5

How to streamline the process

The office would like to suggest at two-stepped review procedure. In the first round of
reviewing proposals should receive on of the following status:
Accepted, rejected, redirect, resubmit.
After this all authors would receive an email with their review results. Authors who are
asked to resubmit their abstract will need to do so in a given time. Authors of redirected
proposals would get an interims report on their proposal.
Proposals which were redirected will then be reviewed by the new network
Like that, it would be clearer to reviewers that they are reviewing a redirected proposal
and/or a proposal that had been resubmitted. In addition to that, authors of redirected
proposals would get an interims report on their proposal.

Reviewers have started reviewing late this year, as the call for proposals had been issued
late as well. Submission period lasted 11 weeks. Most networks started working on the
proposals on 20 February and completed reviewing within 7 weeks
If the Call for Proposals is issued earlier next year, submission period could end by
January 31. The first round of reviewing could then last 6/7 weeks, which would leave 3
weeks for the second round with the redirected proposals and the resubmissions.
 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 6

Number of Submissions ECER

2008

Format / Network Accepted Rejected Sum

Paper 1085 130 1217
Posters 48 5 53
Round Tables 21 2 23
Workshops 17 5 22
Symposia 51 4 55
1222 146 1370

NW 1 46 6 52
NW 1 Paper 36 6 42
NW 1 Posters 5 0 5
NW 1 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 1 Workshops 1 0 1
NW 1 Symposia 4 0 4
NW 2 77 6 83
NW 2 Paper 65 5 70
NW 2 Posters 1 0 1
NW 2 Round Tables 1 0 1
NW 2 Workshops 3 1 4
NW 2 Symposia 7 0 7
NW 3 47 2 49
NW 3 Paper 42 2 44
NW 3 Posters 1 0 1
NW 3 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 3 Workshops 1 0 1
NW 3 Symposia 3 0 3
NW 4 78 4 82
NW 4 Paper 75 4 79
NW 4 Posters 1 0 1
 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 7

NW 4 Round Tables 1 0 1
NW 4 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 4 Symposia 1 0 1
NW 5 18 1 19
NW 5 Paper 17 0 18
NW 5 Posters 1 0 1
NW 5 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 5 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 5 Symposia 0 0 0
NW 6 15 1 16
NW 6 Paper 11 1 12
NW 6 Posters 1 0 1
NW 6 Round Tables 2 0 2
NW 6 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 6 Symposia 1 0 1
NW 7 60 9 69
NW 7 Paper 58 8 66
NW 7 Posters 0 0 0
NW 7 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 7 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 7 Symposia 2 1 3
NW 9 29 0 29
NW 9 Paper 27 0 27
NW 9 Posters 0 0 0
NW 9 Round Tables 1 0 1
NW 9 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 9 Symposia 1 0 1
NW10 107 17 124
NW 10 Paper 87 14 101
NW 10 Posters 9 1 10
NW 10 Round Tables 2 2 4
NW 10 Workshops 1 0 1
NW 10 Symposia 8 0 8
NW11 47 7 54
NW 11 Paper 43 7 50
NW 11 Posters 3 0 3
NW 11 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 11 Workshops 1 0 1
NW 11 Symposia 0 0 0
NW12 4 0 4
NW 12 Paper 0 0 2
NW 12 Posters 2 0 0
NW 12 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 12 Workshops 2 0 2
NW 12 Symposia 0 0 0
NW13 49 20 69
NW 13 Paper 43 19 62
NW 13 Posters 1 0 1
NW 13 Round Tables 1 0 1
NW 13 Workshops 2 0 2
NW 13 Symposia 2 1 3
NW14 28 8 36
NW 14 Paper 26 8 34
NW 14 Posters 1 0 1
NW 14 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 14 Workshops 0 0 0
 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 8

NW 14 Symposia 1 0 1
NW15 22 1 23
NW 15 Paper 18 1 19
NW 15 Posters 1 0 1
NW 15 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 15 Workshops 3 0 3
NW 15 Symposia 0 0 0
NW16 58 2 60
NW 16 Paper 52 2 54
NW 16 Posters 3 0 3
NW 16 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 16 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 16 Symposia 3 0 3
NW17 26 3 29
NW 17 Paper 22 3 25
NW 17 Posters 0 0 0
NW 17 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 17 Workshops 1 0 1
NW 17 Symposia 3 0 3
NW19 26 4 30
NW 19 Paper 23 4 27
NW 19 Posters 0 0 0
NW 19 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 19 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 19 Symposia 3 0 3
NW20 16 0 16
NW 20 Paper 15 0 15
NW 20 Posters 1 0 1
NW 20 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 20 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 20 Symposia 0 0 0
NW 21 164 0 164
NW 21 Paper 149 0 149
NW 21 Posters 10 0 10
NW 21 Round Tables 2 0 2
NW 21 Workshops 2 0 2
NW 21 Symposia 1 0 1
NW 22 106 3 109
NW 22 Paper 98 3 101
NW 22 Posters 4 0 4
NW 22 Round Tables 4 0 4
NW 22 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 22 Symposia 0 0 0
NW 23 65 10 75
NW 23 Paper 53 8 61
NW 23 Posters 0 2 2
NW 23 Round Tables 6 0 6
NW 23 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 23 Symposia 6 0 6
NW 25 13 2 15
NW 25 Paper 13 1 14
NW 25 Posters 0 0 0
NW 25 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 25 Workshops 0 1 1
NW 25 Symposia 0 0 0
NW 26 27 2 29
 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 9

NW 26 Paper 23 2 25
NW 26 Posters 1 0 1
NW 26 Round Tables 1 0 1
NW 26 Workshops 0 0 0
NW 26 Symposia 2 0 2
NW 27 93 39 132
NW 27 Paper 86 32 118
NW 27 Posters 4 2 6
NW 27 Round Tables 0 0 0
NW 27 Workshops 0 3 3
NW 27 Symposia 3 2 5

List of Networks
1. Continuing Professional Development for Teachers & Leaders in Schools
2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
3. Curriculum Innovation by Schools and Teachers
4. Inclusive Education
5. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
6. Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures
7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
9. Student Assessment
10. Teacher Education Research
11. Educational Effectiveness and Quality Assurance
12. Libraries and Information Centres in Educational Research
13. Philosophy of Education
14. Communities, families, and schooling in educational research
15. Research Partnerships in Education
16. ICT in Education in Training
17. Histories of Education
18. Comparative Education
19. Ethnography
20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
21. Postgraduate Network
22. Research in Higher Education
23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
25. Research in Children's Rights in Education
26. Educational Leadership
 Council Meeting, Berlin 2008/ Convenors Meeting, Göteborg 2008 10

27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching

Angelika Wegscheider,
2. June 2008