Conference Organizer Guidelines

Who this is for

This page is written for the people who run a conference — the general chair, programme chair, or organizing committee — and are considering publishing the conference's accepted papers as a GCP volume. If you are an individual author looking to submit a paper, see the Author Guidelines instead; papers reach GCP through your conference's organizers, not through direct author submission.

Requirements before proposing a volume

Before submitting a proposal, a conference should already have, or be able to commit to, the following:

• A documented call for papers and a review process for evaluating submissions (see the minimum review standard below);
• A named volume editor — typically the programme chair — who will be the point of contact between the conference and GCP throughout production, and after publication;
• A realistic estimate of accepted papers, since volume size affects both the production timeline and the publishing quotation;
• Authority to agree a publishing agreement and fee on behalf of the conference, or a clear path to obtaining that authority before the proposed production start date.

From proposal to publication

1. Submit a proposal. Complete the Proposal Submission Form with your conference details, expected volume size, and review model.
2. Editorial review of the proposal. The GCP editorial office reviews the proposal against the minimum review standard and series scope, and may follow up with questions.
3. Publishing agreement and quotation. If the proposal is approved, GCP issues a publishing agreement and a cost quotation based on volume size, timeline, and any additional services requested. This is the only stage at which cost is discussed.
4. Volume scheduled. Once the agreement is signed, the volume is assigned a number and a production calendar, and the organizer receives access to submission and formatting instructions to distribute to authors.
5. Camera-ready collection. The volume editor collects formatted, review-passed papers from authors and submits the completed set to GCP by the agreed deadline.
6. Production and proofing. GCP typesets the volume and circulates proofs to corresponding authors through the volume editor.
7. Publication. The volume is published in full, with DOIs, an ISBN, and permanent open hosting.

Organizer responsibilities

Once a volume is scheduled, the organizing committee, through its volume editor, is responsible for:

• Running the conference's own review process and communicating decisions to authors;
• Distributing the GCP formatting requirements and template to accepted authors and collecting camera-ready files by the agreed deadline;
• Performing a first-pass check that camera-ready files match the formatting requirements before forwarding them to GCP;
• Confirming author lists, affiliations, and any conflicts of interest disclosed during review;
• Acting as the point of contact for authors, and for GCP, on any question about a specific paper before or after publication;
• Meeting the payment schedule set out in the publishing agreement.

Minimum review standard

GCP does not mandate a single review format — single-blind, double-blind, and open review are all accepted — but a volume's review process must, at minimum:

• Involve at least two independent reviewers per paper who were not authors on that paper;
• Be documented well enough that the editorial office can confirm, on request, how many reviewers assessed a given paper and what the review criteria were;
• Apply consistent criteria across the conference rather than ad hoc judgment calls for individual papers;
• Give authors the opportunity to revise in response to reviewer feedback where the review outcome was "accept with revisions," or an equivalent category.

Conferences with an existing, more rigorous review process (for example, a structured double-blind process with a programme committee meeting) are welcome and do not need to change their process to meet this minimum — this is a floor, not a template.

Publication costs

GCP's publication costs are not listed on this site because they are not fixed: they depend on volume size, the production timeline requested, and any additional services (such as expedited production or extra design work) a conference asks for. Costs are set out for each conference individually in the publishing agreement issued after proposal review, and are payable by the organizing committee — never by individual authors. If your institution or committee needs a budgetary estimate before completing a full proposal, note this in the "Additional context" field of the proposal form and the editorial office will respond with guidance.

Typical timeline

These figures are typical starting points for planning, not guarantees; your actual schedule is confirmed in the publishing agreement once volume size and any special requirements are known.

Multi-track and recurring conferences

Large conferences with multiple tracks or workshops can publish either as a single combined volume or as several linked volumes (for example, one per track), each with its own volume editor reporting to an overall conference coordinator. Conferences that recur annually or biennially can set up a standing arrangement with GCP so that each edition proposes a new volume in the same series without repeating the full proposal process from scratch — mention this in the proposal form if it applies to you.