DiGRA Australia 2022 National Conference – Call For Papers

We invite you to contribute to a two-day game studies conference to be held on the 14th and 15th of February, fully online. Registration is free.

Important dates

• 1 November 2021 – Submission deadline
• 6 December 2021 – Notification of submission outcomes
• 14–15 February 2022 – Online conference

Details

The DiGRA Australia 2022 National Conference is an opportunity for academic and non-academic games researchers, critics, designers, developers and artists to share their work. We aim to provide an inclusive forum that reflects the diversity and vibrancy of game studies in Australia, and that allows newcomers and veterans alike to meet other people who are critically engaged with games, players and the culture that surrounds them.

There is no theme for this year’s conference—we want to hear about whatever you in the Australian game studies community have been working on. We welcome submissions describing research projects that are completed or still underway. Tell us about that idea you’ve been turning over in your mind that you’d like to test out in front of an audience.

Following the success of 2021’s online conference, DiGRAA 2022 will once again be held fully online via Zoom and Discord, with a variety of playful social events and opportunities to chat with other attendees.

Submission process

There are two options for submitting to DiGRAA 2022: Extended Abstract or Short Abstract. All submissions are to be made via EasyChair at this link.

All submissions will be reviewed by the organising committee. Submissions do not need to be anonymous.

Extended Abstract submissions

This is the standard format for submissions to the DiGRAA conference. Between 400 and 800 words (excluding references) on the DiGRAA template. Accepted Extended Abstracts will be presented at the conference as a 10-minute pre-recorded video followed by a live group question time. Accepted Extended Abstracts will be archived on the DiGRAA website.

Short Abstract submissions

This is a format to tell us about your research in brief. What are you working on? What has you stumped? Between 100 and 200 words on the DiGRAA template or in plain text. Accepted Short Abstracts will be presented at the conference as a 5-minute pre-recorded video followed by a live group question time. Accepted Short Abstracts will not be archived on the DiGRAA website.

Submission rules

To ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to present their work, only one submission may be made per lead author, and individuals may present only one paper during the conference. There is no limit on secondary authorship.

The DiGRA Australia conference has a ‘grey list’ policy for accepted submissions that are withdrawn with no reason provided, or for which the presenter simply does not attend. Please familiarise yourself with the specifics of this policy here.

Publication

Accepted Extended Abstracts will be archived on the DiGRAA website. Video presentations (subject to permission) will be published on a dedicated YouTube channel. Aligning with DiGRAA social media policy, you will have the option not to have your video archived.

Tips for authors

We advise potential authors to review the papers from previous DiGRA Australia conferences [see here] as a guide to the expected tone and quality. Some further tips:

• We welcome submissions that explore both in-progress and complete works, but they should represent novel (unpublished) scholarship. If the submission resembles previously published work, we recommend the author explicitly identify the additional contribution of their DiGRA Australia submission.
• Papers can present any kind of research, analysis or commentary, but should be written so that the importance of the work can be understood by reviewers working in different disciplines or using different approaches.
• We recommend that submissions articulate the issue or research question to be discussed, the methodological or critical framework used, the findings or conclusions to be presented, and/or the relevance to the wider game studies discipline.
• Submissions from academics are typically expected to have references to reflect the author’s engagement with existing scholarship.

Conference Organising Committee

Jane Mavoa, University of Melbourne
Fraser Allison, University of Melbourne
Madeleine Antonellos, University of Melbourne
Premeet Sidhu, University of Sydney
Harriet Flitcroft, University of Sydney
Brendan Keogh, Queensland University of Technology
Erin Maclean, Griffith University
Gawain Lucian Lax, Monash University