CALL FOR PAPERS

ARARA invites proposals for presentations at the 2026 Conference. 

Presenters must register for the conference by the pre-registration deadline. Conference presentation approvals are competitive due to the limited number of available presentation slots. The review committee will be making difficult decisions for presentation selections, based on your abstracts of 200 words or less. Please polish your abstracts to perfection.

All questions about the submission process should be directed to the Program Coordinator at araraprogram@rockart.us.

Presentations: Presentations can be given as a paper, report, or poster (see below). All presentations, including posters, require abstracts of 200 words or less. Applications to present must be submitted via the online form below by end of day April 1, 2026, for consideration.

Applications must designate presentations as one of the following:

Regular Paper*: 20 minutes total – can be organized as 15 minutes speaking plus a 5-minute question/answer period or 20 minutes speaking with no questions.

Report*: 15 minutes total – can be organized as 10 minutes speaking plus a 5-minute question/answer period or 15 minutes speaking with no questions.

Poster**: Research project results or preliminary information about a site or topic presented as text and photos in large, printed format. Displays should not exceed 3 ft. x 6 ft. in size to be set up at a designated area. Several time periods will be scheduled for presenters to be available at their posters to interact with viewers.

*Papers and Reports must be created in PowerPoint and delivered to assembled conference attendees during a set time slot.
**Poster authors must be present in front of their displayed research during allotted blocks of time to discuss results and answer questions one-on-one with conference attendees.

Please note that if your abstract is not selected for presentation at the conference, you are still eligible to submit your research paper or report for consideration of publication in our annual volume, American Indian Rock Art. Contact the Publications Co-Chairs at ararapublications@rockart.us for instructions for submission.

Additional considerations:

• English is the preferred language for presentations. If your presentation will be given in a different language, information written on the PowerPoint slides should also show English subtitles. ARARA does not provide interpreter services. An English-speaker should be available with the presenter on the day of the presentation to help deal with technical difficulties and answer questions.
• IF YOU NEED AN EARLY DECISION FOR FUNDING PURPOSES OR TRAVEL PERMISSION, please contact the Program Coordinator at araraprogram@rockart.us as soon as possible.
• For international authors, we will make provisional acceptance of an abstract if it is of sufficient quality, but we must be provided a copy of the travel visa and a travel itinerary (including the airline reservation) to araraprogram@rockart.us before we can make final official acceptance and assign a time slot in the program.
• ARARA encourages student participation. Please indicate on the application form which of the authors are students so that the Education Committee can contact you with information about membership benefits and possible travel or registration assistance.
• All Conference papers and reports must be standard PowerPoint presentations (.ppt or .pptx format). Other digital formats for papers and reports are not supported.
• ARARA reserves the right to reject abstracts from authors who have been no-shows at past conferences after being accepted to present or who have otherwise displayed behavior inconsistent with ARARA’s Code of Ethics.
• All questions regarding paper submissions should be directed to Jenny Rilk, Program Coordinator, at araraprogram@rockart.us.
• All presenters who indicate that they intend to submit their paper for publication will receive the ARARA Style Guide and instructions for submitting before the conference.
• Any student is eligible for a Student Travel Award ($500) if presenting a paper or poster at the Conference.