Welcome to TCDL 2026 Papers! This page is dedicated to supporting short paper authors at the conference. If you have any questions along the way, please don’t hesitate to contact tcdl-papers@utlists.utexas.edu.
Additional information about short papers:
Papers should not have been previously published.
Editors reserve the right to reject submitted papers.
Papers will be published open access in the TCDL Proceedings.
Short papers are to contain no more than 2,500 words, not including abstract, references or additional information.
The paper must be submitted as a Microsoft Word file.
When saving your file, please use the following naming convention: “shortened-paper-title_TCDL2026.docx”
Double space the body, tables, and figures. Use 1.5 spacing for the abstract, disclaimer, and references.
Use left justification only.
Use the built-in styles to designate heading levels to structure and organize your document. Ensure that all heading styles are applied in a hierarchical order.
Use concise and descriptive heading language.
Use the sans-serif font Arial.
Use font size 12 points (for tables as well as text).
For unordered lists, use standard bullets for unordered lists (custom bullets may impact screen readers).
For numbered lists, select the text you want to present as a list and use the application's built-in functionality to apply a proper ordered list format. Do not type out the numbers yourself.
Embed links within normally written text, using specific and descriptive language. Do not use "Click Here", "Learn More" or similar language.
For email addresses, type out the full address and then link to the email address.
Use APA style for citations.
Include alt text for images, tables, charts and graphs.
Include captions (labels) for images, charts and graphs.
Align images, charts and graphs as “In Line with Text”.
Any AI tools used in writing the paper, the production of images, or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data must be disclosed within the paper.
Edit Document Properties: Adding information to the document properties of your article helps identify your word document and add additional metadata. In Word, select “File” then “Properties.” Add the title of your article in the title field and your name in the author field.
New versions of Word offer an “Accessibility Checker” feature to easily check for accessibility issues in your document. In Word, select “Review” then “Check Accessibility.” The accessibility checker will appear and list any issues found in your document. Please address as many of these issues as possible. (See PKP’s guide onHow to check an MS Word document for accessibility.)
Peer Review Details
All submissions are subject to review and publication at the discretion of the editors. Submissions within scope will be reviewed by at least two reviewers.
TCDL Papers uses an anonymous peer review process, which means that the identities of the authors are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process.
Editors will not assign reviewers who work at the same institution as submitting authors, thus creating a conflict of interest, and will ask reviewers to recuse themselves if they believe that they may have a conflict.
Anticipated Timeline
On completion of the submission process, usually within three weeks, the editors will notify authors of their decision via the journal system and provide review guidance or additional editing if deemed necessary.
Submission Preparation Checklist
Below are general instructions for submitting your short paper for review in the Open Journal System (OJS). Please note, instructions may be updated at any time to provide more clarity and information:
This submission meets the requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
To submit your short paper, you must register a user account with the journal and log in.
Once you have registered, you will be taken to the New Submission form.
You can also make a new submission by clicking the Start a New Submission button on the left side menu. In either case, you will be taken to the submission wizard where you can upload and describe your submission. (For more information on the submission wizard, please see the OJS’s Author Learning Guide or see PKP’s video on Submitting an Article.)
Finally, you can review all the information you’ve entered for your submission. If there are any required fields not filled out, you will be warned on this screen and given the opportunity to make corrections. After reviewing the details of your submission, you will be asked to read and agree to the copyright terms for submissions to the journal.
Click the checkbox to agree and click the Submit button.
A box will pop up asking you to confirm you are finished. Click Submit to finalize your submission.
After clicking submit, your submission is now complete and the editor will be notified of your submission. From the submission page, you can follow the links to review your submission, create a new submission, or return to the dashboard.
Once you complete a submission, you cannot make changes to it. If you wish to replace the file you submitted or make other changes to the submission, you will need to contact the editor through the Pre-Review Discussions tool.
Revising Your Short Paper
Once the review process has been completed, you will be notified of the editor’s decision via email.
After receiving the email with the decision, click the provided link or login and access your paper from the dashboard. In the Review tab of the paper, you will also see a copy of the Editorial Decision under Notifications.
If your paper has been accepted but needs to be revised, you will make the necessary revisions and upload the revised document. To upload the revised file:
Scroll down to find the Revisions Uploaded panel
Click Upload File to upload your revised manuscript.
Use the dropdown menu to indicate that you’re uploading a revision of an existing file. Then upload the revised file and hit Continue
Check the file details and hit Continue again.
If you have any additional files to upload, do so now. Otherwise, hit Complete. The editor will receive a notification about the new file(s) being uploaded.
In the event that the revisions you’ve made to your submitted manuscript are accepted, you will receive an email notification as well as a notification on your dashboard.
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