Role of the Track Chairs

Role of the Track Chairs

The success of an academic conference like the Australasian Conference on Information Systems largely depends on the commitment and contributions of its Track Chairs. We are very appreciative and honoured to have a prestigious group of national and international IS academics and practitioners as Track Chairs for ACIS. 

ACIS targets an acceptance rate of 35-40% and in 2023 has 15 tracks. Given these numbers, we hope to get approximately 12-15 submissions per track, although this may vary depending on the size of the community that supports each track.

ACIS is a community conference and a chance for the Australasia and Oceania Information Systems communities to get together, as well as welcoming scholars from around the world. Track chairs should be active in marketing their tracks and encouraging submissions.

ACIS will use Easychair for the entire submission management.

The sections that follow outline the responsibilities of an ACIS Track Chair (TC),  Associate Editors, Reviewers and Session Chairs. Please note that these responsibilities may be updated and new responsibilities may emerge from time to time as we continuously work with the Track Chairs on improving the quality of ACIS. 

Before the Submission of Papers

  1. Provide visibility and attract papers by distributing the Call for Papers (CfP) for the track only (!) as widely as possible, within the TCs’ research networks and forums related to the themes of the Track (with the exception of ISWorld, where all tracks are centrally advertised by the ACIS Program Chairs). Other than sending the CfP, we urge TCs to explicitly invite colleagues, and other well-known researchers in the field to submit high quality papers to the Track. 
  2. Ensure that all information related to the Track is up to date on the ACIS web page. Inform the Program Chairs of any required changes.
  3. Secure, if possible, one credible IS journal that is committed to publish a Special Issue relevant to the Track to which best papers from the track can be invited for submission. In addition, selected papers might receive support for fast-track opportunities. Communicate these opportunities to the Program Chairs.These can be recorded on the website as they become available. You also have the option of proposing a special section for our regional flagship journal, The Australasian Journal of Information Systems (AJIS). If you would like to do this, please contact the program chairs in the first instance.
  4. Secure, if possible, industry-sponsored awards for the best papers. Communicate these awards to the Program Chairs.
  5. Support the overall marketing for ACIS (e.g. by including an ACIS email signature).
  6. Respond to requests by the Program Chairs in a timely fashion and enforce required deadlines to all involved Associate Editors, Authors, Reviewers and Session Chairs.
  7. Identify, invite, assign, brief and overall manage Associate Editors (AEs). Note that multiple TC may be seeking reviewers in the same community. Where possible, it is valuable to extend the reviewer network to other regions
    • A TC should not be an Associate Editor or a reviewer of a paper in their own track but may be involved in these roles in other tracks.
    • TCs are encouraged to author or co-author a submission to the conference, however, should that submission topic be best aligned with their own track theme, the paper should rather be directed to the General Track with a note of explanation.
  1. Ideally, all Chairs of a Conference Track will attend ACIS. It is expected that at least one TC will attend the conference.
  2. TCs are expected to receive papers within the official deadline (generally around end of July prior to conference). It is forbidden to individually extend the deadline, unless this is a decision taken by the Program Chairs (in which case this will be promptly communicated to the TCs). TCs should not indicate to potential Authors that an extension of this deadline is likely.
  3. Any proposed change in the management structure of a Track (e.g. involvement of a new TC, withdrawal of a TC or nomination of a co-TC) needs to be immediately communicated to the PCs. If at any stage, a TC is unsure as to how s/he must proceed, s/he should contact the Program Chairs and ask for clarification. The ACIS Organizing Committee and the Program Chairs reserve the right to cancel a Track at any stage if its TCs do not comply with the above guidelines, or repeatedly fail to communicate with the Program Chairs. The Program Chairs reserve the right to replace or supplement a TC for a track.

After Submission of Papers

  1. If an ACIS Conference Track receives a very low number of submissions, it may be amalgamated with another track or assimilated into the General Track. This decision will be made 3 days after the submission deadline. A Track needs to have the likelihood of a minimum of 3 accepted papers (one conference session) otherwise it will be cancelled.
  2. TCs should conduct a first quick assessment of each submitted paper within 3 days after the conference submission deadline. Based on the topic of the paper, the paper may be relocated to another Track. The Authors and relevant TCs need to be informed accordingly. Papers that do not fit into ACIS at all or that do not comply with core quality standards can become ‘deskrejections’. Papers that reveal the identity of authors need to be revised asap. Authors and Program Chairs need to be informed within 3 days after the submission deadline about such papers.
  3. The TCs are responsible to identify, invite, allocate and monitor three reviewers per paper. The entire review process will be double-blinded. Authors may be used as Reviewers. It is the responsibility of the TCs to monitor that all three reviews are submitted by the due date. Reminder emails should be sent out for missing reviews one week before the due date. TCs will be provided with a document that outlines the responsibilities of the reviewer, and the expected quality of reviews. This document must be forwarded to all reviewers. 
  4. TCs are responsible for the reviews. If a reviewer fails to review a paper in time or submits one of poor quality, it is the TCs responsibility to find an alternative reviewer or, in the worst case, review the paper him/herself. Brief or inappropriate reviews are not acceptable. Such reviews need to be replaced by a high quality one.
  5. Based on the recommendations of the reviewers and their own views of the quality of a paper (if required), the TCs will make a joint decision about the recommendations for each paper. TCs have to submit to the Program Chairs their recommendations per paper by the agreed date. The Program Chairs reserve the right to ask for further justification of the TCs’ decisions incl. a request for further reviews. 
  6. The ultimate decision about the acceptance/rejection of a paper rests with the Program Chairs. The Program Chairs will also send out the notifications to all Authors. 
  7. It is the responsibility of the TCs to make sure that the final version of an accepted paper is resubmitted by the due date that it addresses the Reviewers’ comments and suggestions, and that it is in the required format. Although it is not common to reject papers at this point, if authors have not engaged with the review process, it is possible.

Session Preparation and at the Conference

  1. TCs submit a draft program (including optimal clustering and flow of the papers and proposed Session Chairs) for their track to the Program Chairs by the agreed date.
  2. TCs are expected to produce a brief report to the ACIS Program Committee by the agreed date. A template for this report will be provided to all TCs in due time. This report will cover information about acceptance rate, recommendations for the best Reviewer and the Best AE award and any further issues related to the Track.
  3. At the conference, TCs obtain information from Session Chairs about any incidents within the session (e.g. a no-show of a presenter) and communicate these to the Program Chairs.
  4. All TCs are expected to attend the conference dinner, when we will acknowledge all TCs and also hand out all awards (incl. an award for the best Track Chairs).

Important Deadlines for Track Chairs 2023

DateDeadline
7 AugustPaper submission deadline (after ICIS decisions)
10 AugustInitial assessment of papers by TCs
11 AugustAssignment of reviewers by TCs
8 SeptemberTCs to send reminders for all missing reviews (1 month after review assignment)
15 SeptemberReview deadline
22 SeptemberTCs make paper acceptance/rejection recommendation to Program Chairs (1 week)
2 OctoberDecisions finalized and notified
20 OctoberCamera-ready submission deadline (18 days for authors to revise)
27 OctoberTCs ensure all revised papers meet formatting requirements and address reviewer comments (1 week)
3 NovemberTCs submit draft program of their Track to Program Chairs.
19 NovemberTCs submit to the Program Chairs a report on acceptance rate, best reviewer nominations
2 DecemberTCs attend conference dinner and award ceremony

Important Dates for Authors 2023

7 AugustPaper submission deadline (after ICIS decisions)
2 OctoberDecisions finalized and notified
20 OctoberCamera-ready submission deadline (18 days for authors to revise)