[Air-L] SPIR and IR and internet research and submission policies (was Re: AoIR 14 Announcement. Extended Deadline and More)

[Jeremy hunsinger]

Here I think is where the key point if interdisciplinarity needs to be
addressed.  Rigor varies in meaning per discipline, philosophical
rigor, methodological rigor, theoretical rigor, empirical rigor, etc.
also all vary per discipline and to expect them to conform to our
expectations.  What strikes me is that for several generations of this
conference the application procedures have become more 'rigorous', yet
the complaint about the final presentation/paper quality hasn't been
resolved via increased rigor or increased length.

I personally thought the solution of having some people who needed to
present peer reviewed papers because their discipline or department
required that, was a really great idea.  I don't think the move to
short papers for everyone is a really great idea.  I think it really
constrains the interdisciplinary imagination of the conference and the
organization by constructing a new disciplinary mechanism, SPIRE and
its format.  I support SPIRE as a place to publish for those that want
to submit there, but it should not be the submission model of choice.
Personally, I'd argue that we should go back to the under 500 word
abstract of proposals in order to be able to locate a more plural
sense of interdisciplinarity, to include more graduate students, etc.
We've raised the bar of the conference high enough already, has it
really brought about the interdisciplinary, international with strong
support of graduate students that the organization had?  or has this
focus on rigor of length and argument undermined our capacity for
inclusion, and pluralism of the communities we aim to serve?