DC Call for Papers

Key Dates

• 25 November 2025 Online Paper Submission System opens.
• 12 January 2026 Deadline for submission of Doctoral Colloquium papers.
• March 2026 Paper acceptance confirmed.
• 6 July 2026 AM Doctoral Colloquium 2026.

The Academy of Marketing Doctoral Colloquium is a forum for doctoral students to meet and discuss their work with each other and experienced research mentors. It will take place on Monday 6th July immediately prior to the Academy of Marketing 2026 conference. The colloquium will run the full day.  It will be held in a collaborative, open, and friendly atmosphere. All topics and methodological approaches within the broad field of marketing and consumer behaviour are welcome.

For this year’s Doctoral Colloquium we follow in line with the theme of the main conference, thereby looking at breaking boundaries and unlocking potential. As a PhD researcher we often have the issues of feeling like an imposter and may not know how we can move forward to become ‘the’ academic that we want to be. This Doctoral Colloquium wants to support you in unlocking your potential and gain the confidence needed to discuss your own research and disseminate it to a wider audience.

Doctoral students in all years of study are welcome, although we would particularly like to encourage students who are not at a very late stage of the thesis—if all decisions have been taken, a mentor’s feedback could be less useful. Students should submit a paper summarising their doctoral research in one of the following areas:

1. Critical review of literature, conceptual framing of the study and development of research question(s), or
2. Justification of research design and methodology, including consideration of research ethics, with appropriate links made to research questions and objectives, or
3. Preliminary analysis of findings and articulation of the proposed theoretical contribution of the study.

We are keen to provide maximum opportunity for discussion and debate, and for you to receive detailed and constructive feedback on your research from our panel of distinguished research mentors. Rather than trying to cram the whole of your study into a short paper, we are therefore inviting you to provide a comprehensive articulation of your doctoral research in one out of the three areas outlined above. Please think specifically about the area(s) that you would particularly welcome feedback upon and concentrate on that, therefore.

You are required to submit a 6-page summary of this particular aspect of your research (excluding abstract, appendices and references). This will allow our panel of experts to gain a detailed understanding of your conceptual thinking and the decisions you have made thus far, which they can evaluate further through judicious questioning and facilitated discussion of your work during the colloquium thus providing you with expansive feedback on your research.

Doctoral presentations at the colloquium will take place in parallel tracks based on substantive topic area of study and particular area of focus (i.e., literature, research design, or analysis of findings).  In addition, there will be faculty presentations designed to help students plan and manage their dissertation process and journey into academia.

A limited number of Bursaries will be available to assist full-time Doctoral Students to attend the Doctoral Colloquium at AM2026. Authors of papers accepted for the AM2026 Doctoral Colloquium will be contacted with details on how to apply for a Bursary.

Doctoral Colloquium Papers

Students at any stage of their research may submit a paper. These must be:

• A maximum of 6 pages excluding the abstract, appendices and references (papers can contain tables and figures)
• Appendices and references must each begin on a new page, but be uploaded as part of the paper
• Submitted without the name of the paper’s author or indication of their institution (the online paper submission system will keep a record of these details). Please also ensure that all identifying information is removed from the document properties
• The online system will ask for an abstract to be inputted separately (maximum 200 words)
• The online system will ask authors of DC submissions to indicate:
  • The stage in the PhD process the student is at (e.g. Early year 1, Middle year 2-3, final year 3-4)
  • The intended submission date for the PhD
  • The methodological approach being proposed/used
  • The potential of the research for impact
  • If the author has previously attended an AM Doctoral Colloquium, and when.
  • What the author hopes to achieve in attending the AM2026 Doctoral Colloquium
• Please see the detailed formatting instructions provided in this document
• Please note that there is a separate online submission system for DC papers – they should not be submitted into the main Conference Submission system

Guidelines

File type: All papers, title pages and reference pages must be submitted as Word documents.

All papers must be submitted online via the AM 2026 DC website. Papers must adhere to the page limits given in the Call for Papers.

A link to the online paper submission system will be provided from this page once the system is open for submissions.

Format

There is a 6-page format:

• A4-page formatted
  • 2.5cm margins on all sides
  • Single spaced throughout
  • 12-point Times Roman font (except for the title, which must be 14-point Times Roman)
  • Figures and tables may be included within the body of the text
  • Footnotes must be at the bottom of the page, kept to a minimum, and numbered consecutively throughout the text
  • Displayed formulae must be numbered consecutively throughout the paper – (1), (2), etc.
  • Appendices should only be included if absolutely necessary. Appendices are additional to the 6-page paper count
  • Authors should ensure that their names or any author-identifying information are not included, either in the text of the document, properties of the file or the file name. There is also no need to reveal the supervisor(s).
• Abstracts: These should state briefly and clearly the purpose, method, results, and conclusions of the work, and should be less than 200 words in length
• E-mails:When submitting, please complete all the registration fields and use the same email address consistently as this is the only way the system can contact you
• Authors must submit a 6-page paper for review. Authors of accepted papers will be asked to upload a final version of their paper into the online paper system.

References:

Reference pages are additional to the 6-page paper count. References must be presented in APA 7 (American Psychological Association) Style. You can find detailed guidelines about exactly how references should be presented from the Instructions for Authors page of the website of the official journal of the Academy of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Management – https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjmm20/current http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/style/reference/tf_APA.pdf

DC Terms and Conditions

Authors agree to abide by the following terms and conditions associated with submitting a paper for the AM 2026 Conference:

1. The deadline for submission of papers is Midnight GMT 12 January 2026. All papers will be independently blind-reviewed by at least two reviewers. Authors should, therefore, ensure that their names or any author-identifying information are not included, either in the text of the document, properties of the file or the file name. The language of the conference is English and all papers should be in English.
2. All papers submitted should follow the submission guidelines provided in relation to references. All author and co-author details will be inputted as part of the online submission form and the Organising Committee will only contact the author who submitted the paper.
3. The submitting author will be asked to warrant that they have the authority of their co-author(s) to submit the paper, and that they have read and agree to the Conference Terms and Conditions, available on the Conference website.
4. The decision of the AM 2026 DC Chair in relation to the acceptance of the papers is final.
5. Authors will be notified of acceptance, rejection, and/or suggested modifications as soon as the review process has been completed. Authors should act on feedback and comments provided by the AM 2026 reviewers. Please keep an exact copy of the final paper for future reference.
6. By submitting a paper to be reviewed, the author(s) are indicating that the author will attend the conference in person and present the paper.
7. All attendant presenters must register for the AM 2026 Conference and pay the registration fee by the required date or their paper will be withdrawn. (Note, a limited number of DC Bursaries are available, and details on how to apply will be provided to accepted authors).

By submitting your paper (Contribution) to the Academy of Marketing Conference:

You warrant that the Contribution will be original, will not violate or infringe any existing copyright or other right (of whatever nature) of any third party; will contain nothing obscene, blasphemous, defamatory, misleading or otherwise unlawful; and will contain no factual statements which are not true or based upon generally accepted research practices; and you further warrant that you have full power to enter into this Agreement.

If the Contribution does not conform to the warranties set out in this paragraph, you will indemnify the Academy of Marketing and The University of Manchester against any claims, loss, injury, damage or costs (including legal costs) that arise as a result of your breach of warranty. You will be responsible (at your expense) for obtaining permission for the inclusion in the Contribution of any third party copyright material.

Copyright in the Conference Proceedings as a whole is with the Academy of Marketing. Authors retain the rights to their individual papers included in the proceedings, and by submitting their work for presentation at the Conference, authors grant a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to the Academy of Marketing to reproduce the Contribution throughout the world in all forms (present, future and contingent, and including all renewals, extensions, revivals and all accrued rights of action).

The Academy of Marketing will have the right, where we consider it necessary, to revise, edit, amend and correct the Contribution in the interests of the relevance, consistency and quality of the style and content of the Proceedings as a whole. The Academy of Marketing will have the right to decline to publish the Contribution if, for any reason, it fails to meet with our full satisfaction.

The Academy of Marketing, The University of Manchester, their publisher and staff take no responsibility and accept no liability whatsoever for the accuracy, impact, or consequences of any paper published in the conference proceedings, whether refereed or not. Papers reflect the authors’ opinions, not those of the Academy of Marketing, The University of Manchester, their publisher, or their staff.

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