Note: Submissions to the 2026 DiGRAA national conference are not subject to this policy, which applies to all DiGRAA-affiliated conferences advertised from August 22, 2025, onwards. Submissions to the 2026 DiGRAA national conference are instead subject to the earlier Accepted Submission Withdrawal Policy.
1. Purpose and Scope
The Digital Games Research Association of Australia (DiGRAA) is committed to the production of high quality scholarship, and to creating an environment in which members are supported to do so and thrive intellectually. As a community, DiGRAA promotes a culture of depth, quality, novelty, and integrity in our academic work. We encourage collegiality and collaboration, and acknowledge the varied disciplines that games research draws from. We recognise that different authors will have different valid approaches to academic work.
This authorship policy governs a distinct area within DiGRAA that is separate to our Code of Conduct with the purpose of ensuring academic integrity and high quality scholarship. It aligns with The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, as well as other ARC codes and guidelines, and is superseded by any other policies that may apply to authors from research institutions or funding agencies.
Submission to the DiGRAA conference or other affiliated conferences requires individuals to abide by the Authorship Policy, and acknowledge that DiGRAA may take disciplinary action for breaches of the Policy.
2. Authorship / Writing your paper
Authorship must be an accurate reflection of contribution. In general, it is expected that listed authors were meaningfully involved in at least one of the following activities:
- Conception and design of the research
- Analysis or interpretation of the data
- Drafting of the paper
Authorship must be agreed to by all listed parties. DiGRAA does not tolerate misrepresentation of authorship, or coercive authorship. DiGRAA encourages the recognition of non-author contributions, where persons do not meet the above criteria (such as supervisors or other collaborators), in the Acknowledgements sections of submitted papers.
To ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to present their work, only one submission may be made per lead author per track (ie. you may submit as first author to both the Extended Abstract track and the Practice track, as long as this represents meaningfully different work). There is no limit on secondary authorship.
DiGRAA has a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism. It is common for members of the community to have research areas in common, and authors are encouraged to openly discuss these overlaps, cite generously, and actively contribute to the collegiality of the community.
Authors are expected to only submit work that has not been previously presented at a DiGRAA conference. If the submission resembles previously published work, it is recommended that authors explicitly identify the additional contribution of the new submission. In-progress works are welcome, as are submissions from non-academics who feel their work contributes to critical game studies and has relevance to the DiGRAA community.
Submissions to the Extended Abstract track are peer-reviewed against the following criteria:
- Contribution to knowledge: Does the proposed research make an appropriate contribution to game studies knowledge relative to the stage of the author’s career and the research project? Does it reference existing game studies research where it is appropriate to do so? Does it credit source of knowledge originated from outside of academia such as community or First Nations’ knowledge appropriately?
- Rigour: Is the proposed research appropriately rigorous in the ways that is expected in its disciplinary context? For instance, if an empirical research project, does it clearly articulate and justify the chosen methods and data analysis? If a theoretical project, does it clearly reference the appropriate theories engaged with?
- Ethics: Has the research been cleared for ethics approval? Are participants anonymised where appropriate?
- Novelty: Is the research proposed by the abstract appropriately novel in game studies relative to its disciplinary knowledge? How similar is this research compared to what this author has previously presented at DiGRA Australia conferences?
- Style: Does the submission correctly adhere to the submission guidelines as published in the CFP, including correct usage of the DiGRA Australia submission template?
Submissions to the Practice track are assessed against the same criteria but in the context of their physical presentation at the conference, additionally assessed against:
- Feasibility: Is the physical work in a state where it can be displayed at the conference? Does it comply with any requirements set out by the local organising committee? Has the author requested support in terms of hardware or material requirements for display?
3. Presenting Your Accepted Submission
Individuals should present only one paper during the conference (in line with the guidance around authorship). However, there may be circumstances in which this is not feasible, including that the intended presenting author is sick. You do not need to be the first author on a submission to present the work, and authors may present together. Presenters must adhere to the expectations set by the conference organising committee by keeping their presentations to the allocated time.
To present at DiGRAA you must be a member of DiGRA Australia. You do not need to be a member at the time of submission, only at the time of the conference. Membership is optional for non-presenting authors.
DiGRAA actively supports hybrid participation. As such, authors may present virtually. In this instance, presenters are required to pre-record and submit their presentation to the organising committee in advance of the conference to minimise the risk of tech issues derailing the rest of the session. Presenters must be online during the session in which their work is scheduled and present for the Q&A. Failure to attend will result in your presentation being skipped and considered withdrawn.
4. Withdrawal of Accepted Submissions
DiGRA Australia seeks to avoid the withdrawal of accepted papers at short notice (or with no notice), as our acceptance rate often means good papers have been rejected due to the sheer number of submissions. A last-minute withdrawal denies an opportunity for another deserving scholar to have had a place in the conference programme.
Authors who wish to withdraw their submission must do so within 7 days of acceptance notifications being sent out. Withdrawals after this date are acceptable in cases where:
- Authors have had to withdraw for health reasons.
- Authors have had to withdraw for bereavement reasons.
- Authors provide another reason deemed appropriate by the conference organising committee.
The purpose of this rule is to ensure only serious and committed submissions are made to DiGRA Australia Calls for Papers. The purpose is not to make precariously employed and junior academics afraid of submitting because they don’t know where they will be in 6 months. As such this rule does not apply to current students, sessionally-employed academics, or unemployed academics.
5. Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence
Intellectual responsibility for academic work lies with human authors, and as such, use of gen-AI and associated software must be fully and properly disclosed.
- The use of AI for writing assistance or editing should be described in the Acknowledgements section of a paper.
- Use for more substantial work such as research design, generation of research questions, investigation of related work, data collection, analysis, or figures should be described in the body of the abstract (including, where possible, prompts used and justifications) with reference to the methods.
- AI may not be listed as an author on a paper, as it cannot be responsible for accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work—the standards to which we hold authors.
- Reviewers are not to use AI to evaluate submissions under any circumstances. AI is not capable of making a judgement about the quality of work or its suitability for DiGRAA, and submission (or publication) does not equate to consent from authors to have their work uploaded into a model.
Additionally, Artificial Intelligence is highly energy and water intensive, contributes to skills and confidence erosion, draws on data obtained without consent, and is generally biased and perpetuates hegemonic thought. As an academic community, it is important to be cognisant of the potential impacts that long-term use of AI may have on individuals and on academia as a whole. We ask that authors take the time to understand how this technology works and its implications, and reflect on their use of AI tools in this context.
6. Reporting
If you experience or witness a breach of this Policy, we encourage you to contact any of:
- The current DiGRAA president
- Any board member you feel comfortable speaking with
- The current track chairs
- The local organising committee
Reports may be made in writing or verbally.
7. Breaches of the Authorship Policy
DiGRAA reserves the right to take actions it deems appropriate in response to violations of this Policy, including but not limited to:
- Adding your name to a grey list: Authors on the grey list will have their submissions deprioritised in the following year’s conference reviewing process, after which their name will be cleared.
- Retracting your paper from DiGRAA proceedings and removing it from the DiGRAA website.
- Making a report to your university or other relevant bodies.
- Other disciplinary action as outlined in the DiGRAA Constitution and Code of Conduct.
This action may be taken immediately or in the future. All reports will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and DiGRAA retains sole discretion in how these matters are handled. Generosity in these matters will be afforded to junior scholars, those for whom English is a second language, and persons facing hardship as much as is reasonably possible.
All involved parties have the right to appeal disciplinary actions made by DiGRAA by contacting the DiGRAA Secretary in writing no more than 48 hours after a decision is made (as outlined at Section 23 in the Constitution).
Version history
DiGRAA Authorship Policy V1, updated 11/07/2025