Events

Paper-A-Thon

Overview

The Paper-a-Thon is a “paper hackathon” aimed to facilitate new research collaborations, help scholars develop their research ideas while making new professional connections, and—for the most promising projects—to accelerate a publication review process. The Paper-a-Thon begins with an intense two-day working session where researchers are organized into interest-related project teams to collaborate under the mentorship of prominent IS scholars. This initial two-day workshop phase concludes with each group pitching their research projects to a panel of senior scholars, who will select up to three papers to be presented during ICIS.

Application Process

If the event is appealing to you and you can commit to attending in full, you are highly encouraged to apply. There are no restrictions on who can apply to the Paper-a-Thon except the commitment to attending the initial two-day workshop and the ICIS presentation if your paper is selected.

The application process includes participation in a survey (see below) to identify what interests, abilities, and resources you can contribute to a project team (e.g., data, methods, perspectives, and domain expertise). We encourage participants to arrive with ideas about potential projects, yet we also ask that you remain open-minded to project ideas that emerge through collaboration with your project team and the mentor. All topics, methods, and approaches are welcome. A cross-section of mentors will be chosen to represent the diversity of the field as much as possible.

Click Here to Apply

The application deadline is September 13, 2026, 11:59 p.m. local time in Lisbon, Portugal (GMT +1).

Agenda

Day 1: Saturday, December 12

13:00	Kick-off and introductions
13:15-14:00	“Brainstorming” — Initial group meeting to brainstorm new paper ideas. Bring your data, theory, phenomenon, good writing skills, and/or eagerness. Meet others who can complement what you have. We ask groups to self-organize and form based upon shared interests. However, we would suggest the maximum group size to be five excluding potential mentors (see below).
14:00-14:15	Matching of mentors and groups
14:15-16:00	In-depth working session of project team and project mentor to brainstorm, filter, and refine paper ideas and identify an “overnight” work plan. ● Mentor and project team should reach mutual understanding about the potential for future mentor involvement in project (e.g., if any continued involvement and/or interest in co-authorship collaboration)
“Overnight”	Project team members work together to craft an extended abstract and prepare the “pitch” presentation. ● Work hard. Have fun. There is less than 24 hours to develop an extended abstract. If applicable, analyze data to prepare preliminary results. Articulate contributions to literature and possible implications for practice. Prepare the “pitch” presentation. ● To facilitate a focused effort on the project, the workshop room (with refreshments and supplies) will remain open overnight.

Day 2: Sunday, December 13

Morning

Continue working as project teams to prepare an extended abstract and the “pitch” presentation.
● It is highly recommended to discuss the project ideas with the mentor to refine the presentation.

14:00-17:00

“Pitch” presentations to the Editor Panel.
● Each project team will have up to 5 minutes to present their work in front of editors and other senior scholars.

● Up to three finalists may receive an “acceptance” in the conference proceedings (as a research-in-progress paper). After further development of the paper during the conference, these project teams will present on the last day of ICIS.