Author Guidelines
Follow these steps to prepare and submit your work for HLCONF.
Submit your abstract
through the online form, with an optional full paper
Peer review
double-blind, decision within 7–14 business days
Decision
sent to the corresponding author by email
Register
if accepted, register to confirm participation
Present
in person in Paris or live online
Optional full paper: send it with your abstract or later, at any point before the full-paper deadline, a few weeks after the conference. If reviewers request revisions, follow the instructions and deadline in their email.
Abstract Requirements
- Length:
- 200–250 words
- Keywords:
- three to five, separated by commas (for example: adult learning, higher education policy, assessment)
- Language:
- English
- Content:
- state the aim, approach or methods, main findings and implications
- Author details:
- enter them in the submission form only, not in the abstract text, so that review remains double-blind
Full Paper Requirements (Optional)
A full paper is not required for acceptance or presentation. It is needed only if you wish to be considered for the Conference Proceedings.
- Structure:
- Purpose → Methodology → Findings → Conclusion → References
- Length:
- maximum 12 pages
- Formatting:
- use the Full Paper Template, which sets the required font, spacing and margins
- Language:
- English
- File formats:
- pdf, doc, docx, maximum 50 MB
The abstract can be submitted now and the full paper uploaded later, before the proceedings deadline. For an existing submission, use the update link in your confirmation email; do not submit it again as a new paper.
Review and Research Ethics
- All submissions go through double-blind peer review.
- Work must be original, unpublished and not under review elsewhere.
- The corresponding author confirms that all co-authors have approved the submission.
- All submissions are checked with Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate) before review. Plagiarised work is rejected.
- Research involving human participants, including students, staff and adult learners, should have appropriate ethical approval and informed consent.
- Presentation type: if you select Oral or Poster presentation, the Scientific Committee may assign the final in-person format based on the review. A Virtual presentation remains Virtual.
Copyright and Publication Agreement
- Authors keep full copyright of their work.
- Accepted work is published open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).
- Accepting the copyright and publication agreement is required when you submit.
Preparing Your Presentation
- Oral and virtual presentations: standard presentation allocation is 15 minutes. Your exact slot and Q&A arrangements are included in your presenter instructions.
- Poster presentations: poster presenters receive the poster requirements with their presenter instructions.
- Virtual presentations: you present live online; joining details are sent to registered presenters.
Using Generative AI in Your Submission
- For manuscript writing, generative AI may be used only to improve the language and readability of your own text.
- If you use it, disclose the tool, what it was used for, and that the authors checked the output.
- Basic spelling, grammar, punctuation and reference-formatting checks do not need to be declared.
- If AI is part of your research method, describe it in your methodology. For an abstract-only submission, describe it in the methods wording of your abstract.
- Abstract submissions: use the separate AI-use declaration in the submission form. It does not count toward your abstract word limit.
- Full papers: include the same declaration in the manuscript, immediately before the References.
- Revised material: include any applicable declaration with your revision, following the update instructions in your email or in Help & Support.