Submission Policies and Ethics
Academy of Management Annual Meeting Submission Policies and Ethics
The Academy of Management Annual Meeting submission policies outline the requirements, ethical standards, and participation guidelines for all program contributors. These policies are designed to ensure fairness, promote rigorous scholarship, and support a high-quality conference experience for both presenters and attendees. Before submitting, participants should review these policies carefully to understand eligibility, submission limits, attendance expectations, and professional conduct standards.
Participation and Attendance
To participate in the Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting program, you must be an AOM member and register for the conference. The registration fee is in addition to the membership fee. Presenters are strongly encouraged to deliver their submissions in person.
- All Professional Development Workshop (PDW) participants listed on a submission must be available to participate from Friday through Sunday.
- All participants of Paper and Symposia submissions must be available to participate from Sunday through Tuesday.
- All authors of Poster submissions must be available to participate Friday through Tuesday.
- All participants of Caucus submissions must be available to participate from Sunday through Tuesday.
The Rule of One for Papers
Authors should submit each paper to only one DIG.
Scholarly Program Rule of Three
No one may submit or be associated with more than three scholarly submissions (papers and/or symposia) to an Academy Meeting. No one may appear on more than three sessions during the refereed Scholarly Program. Scholarly Program appearances include all roles that are listed on the Scholarly Program, including but not limited to session moderators, organizers, special guests, discussants, speakers, presenters, and authors.
The Rule of One for Posters
Authors should submit each poster to only one DIG.
The Rule of One for PDWs
PDW proposals can be submitted to only one DIG or Affiliate. Prior to submitting a proposal, submitters are strongly encouraged to contact the preferred sponsoring DIG or Affiliate to discuss the proposal. During the submission process, the submitter will have the opportunity to suggest other DIGs or Affiliates that may also be interested in the proposal as co-sponsors. Submissions cannot be transferred or recommended to different DIGs or Affiliates after the submission deadline.
The Rule of Three for PDWs
No one may submit or be associated with more than three PDW submissions for an Academy Meeting. No one may appear in more than three PDW sessions during the PDW program from Friday to Sunday, regardless of whether the sessions are held onsite or offsite.
The Rule of Three + Three
The Rule of Three + Three (no more than three scholarly submissions + three PDW submissions) serves to ensure broad participation of members. It reduces the likelihood of the program being dominated by a small handful of people, and it helps ensure that no one is committed to appear at more than one place at a time.
When people make too many commitments to participate in the conference program, scheduling conflicts often arise. Consequently, participants may find it difficult to honor their commitments, and the program and the experiences of the attendees suffer.
People who agree to participate in an all-day consortium, for example, are expected to participate for the entire day. They should not leave after an hour to attend another session. No presenter should have to arrive late to one session or leave early to present in another one. Organizers, other participants, and especially the attendees are all frustrated by such behavior.
The Rule of Three + Three helps reduce these problems. Participants are better able to fully honor their commitments, and attendees can attend sessions knowing that the featured speakers will actually be there throughout.
If a person appears in more than one role in a single session (e.g., moderator and speaker), it counts as one session for purposes of the Rule of Three + Three.
Who is exempt from the Rule of Three + Three?
The following are exempt from the Rule of Three + Three:
- Academy, DIG, and Affiliate officers.
NOTE: AOM program chairs may not be listed as an author for proposals submitted to the DIG in which they serve as chair - Academy and Division general session presenters (meetings, social events, plenary sessions).
- AOM publication editors (current and incoming editors-in-chief) when participating in sessions devoted exclusively to publishing and other AOM journal activities.
- Poster submission authors.
- Caucus organizers (maximum of two organizers per caucus are exempt).
AOM Code of Ethics
Members should notify the appropriate division, interest groups, or affiliate chairs regarding the practices or actions of members they believe are in violation of AOM policies, rules, or general standards of ethical conduct.
Standards of conduct that are particularly relevant to participation in the Annual Meeting are summarized below. More information about the AOM’s professional norms on conference presentations can also be found on the Ethics Video Series on AOM’s YouTube channel.
- Participation. To encourage meaningful exchange, AOM members should foster a climate of free interchange and constructive criticism and be willing to share research findings and insights fully with other members.
- Original Work and New Work. Submitted papers must not have been previously presented at an AOM Annual Meeting at the time of submission. Additionally, papers must not have been published or accepted for publication by AOM or non-AOM publications. If a paper is under review, authors must not publish it in print or online in AOM or non-AOM publications before the AOM Annual Meeting.
- Attendance and Commitments. ALL program participants must be AOM members AND registered (separate costs) for the conference in order to attend. AOM is a voluntary association whose existence and operations are dependent on cooperation, involvement, and leadership from its members. Members should honor all professional commitments, including presentation of accepted papers and participation in scheduled roles, such as chair, discussant, or panelist. Program participants are highly encouraged to personally present their submissions. If an absence is unavoidable, members must contact appropriate individuals and pursue suitable alternative arrangements. Leaders have the same responsibilities and should perform their obligations in a timely, diligent, and sensitive manner, without regard to friendships or personal gain.
- Rigorous Scholarship. It is the duty of AOM members conducting research to design, implement, analyze, report, and present their findings rigorously. Research rigor includes careful design, execution, analysis, interpretation of results, and retention of data. Presentation of research should include treatment of the data that is honest and that reveals both strengths and weaknesses of findings.
Plagiarism
Authorship and credit should be proportional to the various parties’ contributions. Whether published or not, authors should acknowledge ideas or concepts derived from others, as well as any advice and assistance they received. Authors should also guard against plagiarizing others’ work.
Plagiarism is defined as:
Failure to give sufficient attribution to the words, ideas, or data of others that have been incorporated into a work, which an author submits for academic credit or other benefits. Attribution is sufficient if it adequately informs and, therefore, does not materially mislead a reasonable reader as to the source of the words, ideas, or data. Attribution (or the lack thereof) is materially misleading if it could cause a reasonable reader to be mistaken as to the source of the words, ideas, or data in a way that could benefit the author submitting the work. (Worthen, 2004: 444.)