Rules, Guidelines, and Deadlines

See the IAHR 2025 timeline

The 2025 IAHR World Congress in Kraków is an in-person only event. The organizers do not provide the possibility to present a paper or participate in the Congress virtually.

The official languages of the IAHR Congress 2025 in Kraków are English and French. A proposed abstract should be written in the language of the presentation.

The 2025 IAHR World Congress welcomes the following presentation formats:

All individual papers and suggestions for open and closed panels and roundtables are subject to review before acceptance.

Please note: Each participant can submit only one proposal in a given category (and therefore give only one individual paper, convene only one panel or roundtable, and present only one film). If a proposal in any category is rejected, there is no possibility to submit a revised or a new proposal.

Note that there is no restriction on the number of closed panels in which a participant can serve as a respondent or discussant.

[submissions closed]

Open panels are convened by one or more participants who openly invite scholars interested in a particular topic to present a paper. The announcement of an open panel acts as a call for papers. The conveners of the open panel decide which papers, previously accepted by the Congress committee, are included in the panel. Papers not accepted in panel will still be included in the Congress and will be treated as individual submissions (see below).

Each open panel comprises a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 4 papers. Presenters of each paper are allowed 15–20 minutes (depending on the number of participants) for their presentation. The duration of a panel is 90 minutes. Open panels which receive a large number of submissions are permitted to organize a maximum of 5 panel sessions, each with a maximum of 4 papers.

Topics of open panels must be consistent with the scientific theme of the congress, “OUT OF EUROPE: Studying Religion(s) in Interconnected Worlds” and fit one of its subthemes, i.e.:

Please check the list of accepted open panels here.

Closed panels are convened by one or more participants and include, from the beginning, the complete list of scholars presenting papers in the panel.

Closed panels must be consistent with the scientific theme of the Congress and in line with one of its subthemes. The closed panels consist of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 4 panelists presenting a paper, with a panel convener as the chair. Further responders or discussants are allowed. The duration of a panel is 90 minutes. The conveners of the panel must contact panelists and prepare a single proposal for the entire panel.

The panel conveners must submit a title of no more than 20 words and description of the panel of  200 to 250 words; the complete list of participants, including the panel chair and all presenters and discussants (if any). The panel conveners are tasked with collecting and submitting the abstracts for all papers in the panel as part of their single proposal. The paper abstracts, of 200 to 250, must include the title of the paper (of no more than 20 words), the name of the presenter, his/her academic affiliation, and 3–6 keywords. When submitting a proposal, authors should assign it to one of the six thematic streams.

Deadlines:

Scholars are welcome to submit individual papers. They must be consistent with the scientific theme of the congress and fit one of its subthemes. Each presenter is allowed 15 minutes for their presentation.

Proposals for individual papers should include the name of the presenter, their academic affiliation, the title of their paper (of no more than 20 words), an abstract of 200 to 250 words, and 3–6 keywords. When submitting a proposal, authors should assign their paper either to one of the fifty-one open panels and one of the six thematic streams.

Deadlines:

Roundtables are pre-arranged sessions in which a group of up to 5 scholars discusses topics of general academic interest consistent with the scientific theme of the Congress and in line with its subthemes. The duration of a roundtable is 90 minutes. It may contain short, 5–10 minute presentations, but the general goal must be to spark a vibrant discussion among the panelists and with the audience.

The convener of a roundtable must contact the discussants and prepare a single proposal for the entire session. The proposal for a roundtable session must contain a title of no more than 20 words, a 200 to 250 word description of the roundtable topic, 3–6 keywords, the name and academic affiliation of the chair, and a complete list of participants, including their  names and academic affiliation. When submitting a proposal, authors should assign it to one of the six thematic streams.

Deadlines:

We welcome films created by academics studying religion/s created no earlier than 1st January 2020. While there is no running time limit, we give priority to short and medium films (up to 60 minutes). All films shall be in the original language(s) with English subtitles. 

Deadlines:

Each open panel, closed panel, roundtable, individual paper, or film submission is first assessed for compliance with formal requirements. If these requirements are met, the submission is forwarded for peer review to two members of the Academic Programme Committee. As a result of the review, the proposal is accepted/rejected. The author is informed about the decision within the above-mentioned deadlines. See the criteria for reviewers.

Please note: Proposals that do not meet the Congress’s formal requirements will not be sent for peer review.

Submit an abstract now

Read the Regulations of the XXIII IAHR World Congress