Submission Requirements for Full Research Papers (Individual Research Proposals): 

Templates:

Submission Steps:

To further enhance conference – journal integration, the conference authors can submit their full papers to Data & Policy, to be simultaneously reviewed for both conference presentation and journal publication, with peer review milestones aligned to the conference timetable.

Authors wishing to take advantage of this integrated process should follow the below steps:

  1. Prepare the article using one of the above templates (templates also available for download on Data & Policy website).
  2. To submit via the Data & Policy ScholarOne system, please select the most appropriate article type from the list (Research Article, Translational Article, Commentary, Data Paper, Contested Proposition, Practitioner Cases, Data for Policy Report, Editorial)
  3. If you are submitting to one of the standard focus areas, please select it from the list.
  4. In the Conferences and Collections section, for the first question, please select “Data for Policy 2026″.
  5. Next, if your submission is related to a special track, please select the relevant special track from the list. If it is not related to a special track, please select N/A.
  6. Finally, you will have the option to associate your paper with one of the ongoing special collections in the Data & Policy journal. If you wish to do so, please select the appropriate collection from the drop-down list. Otherwise, select N/A and continue with your submission.
  7. If the paper is part of a panel, include a note on the first page indicating its inclusion.

See this short guide for how to ensure your paper is recognised as a DfP 2026 conference paper.

Note: For full research submissions accepted to the conference and invited for journal publication, final approval for journal publication will be granted after the second review process. 

    Use of AI contributions in material submitted: Please read our policy on this page.

    Post-Acceptance Actions

    Register for conference:

    Presenting authors must register to attend in-person. Please note that each speaker can only present at one session during the conference. If you are an author with more than one submission accepted for oral presentation, co-authors will then need to present. If this cannot be arranged, please get in touch with our team as soon as possible to make a final decision on which paper(s) to include in the final programme.

    Please check the DfP’26 registration page.

    Prepare and submit video presentation (compulsory multimodal dissemination):

    Full paper presenters, including panel participants, must submit a video before the conference. Videos will be shared with all registered attendees via the Data for Policy YouTube channel .

    Please note that after the conference, all video presentations will be published on our YouTube channel with no viewing restrictions, unless you inform us that you do not want this.

    Video Preparation and Submission Guideline:

    • Orientation: Landscape
    • Background: Neutral virtual or natural with adequate lighting.
    • Introduction: Presenter should introduce themselves, their submission number, and title.
    • Length: 15-25 minutes.
    • Resolution: Minimum 720p; optimum 1080p.
    • Format: YouTube-supported format (see YouTube page for details).
    • Naming Convention: [submission number]_[family name of presenter], e.g., 1_gardner.
    • Video Submission: Submit the record via Data for Policy OneDrive (submission details will be sent to the first author prior to the conference).

    Please notify us as soon as possible if you cannot meet any of these requirements.

    Submit updated abstract (compulsory multimodal dissemination):

    We are producing a book of abstracts in collaboration with our partner journal Data & Policy (Cambridge University Press). Authors of full papers are asked to review, update and submit their abstract for inclusion in the book by the deadline for submission of pre-conference materials.

    Summary Presentation for the Conference: 

    At the conference, presenters will give a summary presentation, lasting 5 – 7 minutes. This format has been used very successfully at the last three conferences, and aims to maximise time for discussion and audience questions. The summary presentations should be uploaded to the Data for Policy OneDrive before the conference. (the details will be sent to the the presenter before the conference.)

    Please note that the full-length video will not be played during the conference. 

    Submit other pre-conference material to Zenodo (optional multimodal dissemination):

    For all authors, other materials that they wish to share can also be uploaded to the Data for Policy community page on Zenodo – such as their presentation slides, or any related data sets. Any material submitted to Zenodo is citable, so it can be referenced in any future publications.

    Zenodo templates and formatting instructions:

    Instructions for uploading to Zenodo:

    • After logging in to Zenodo click on the ‘Upload’ tab. Following this select the ‘New Upload’ option.
    • After ‘Dragging/Choosing files’, search ‘Data for Policy’ under the ‘Communities’ section (users will need to scroll down the options and identify the Data for Policy logo).
    • The next step is to select from the ‘Upload Type’. Here, those submitting Discussion/Forum Papers should select the ‘Publication’ option. Then, select ‘Conference Paper’ from the ‘Publication Type’ option. Those submitting Presentations should choose the ‘Presentation’ option.
    • Zenodo will generate a DOI, as such under the ‘Basic Information’ section authors should fill only the ‘Tile’, ‘Authors’, ‘Description’ and ‘Key Words’.
    • The default option under ‘Licencing’ is Open access. This option is encouraged, however, when appropriate authors can select the restricted options.
    • At this point, authors will be able to ‘Publish’, all other information is optional.

    Submissions should align with the instructions provided by the Data & Policy Journal. Please name your file as [submission number]_[family name of corresponding author] for the paper, e.g., 1_gardner.

    Please refer any questions to our team at team@dataforpolicy.org