Contributions are to be submitted as a fully anonymised abstract (one document in PDF format; maximum 5,000 characters including spaces, excl. bibliography; please also anonymise the automatic file information in the PDF!) from 27 February 2023 to 24 April 2023 via the following platform: https://www.conftool.net/prok2023/.

The symposium 2023 aims to bundle different academic approaches and current research on the manifestations, function and effect of discourses in PR and organisational communication as well as on the consequences of discourse research for the subject as well as for practice in the various fields of action of PR and strategic communication and to discuss them with practitioners. In addition to an open panel, which is intended for current research on PR and organisational communication outside the focal topic, the following thematic blocks will be addressed:

Topic block 1: Language as a PR instrument in discourses

Topic block 2: Discourse, management and strategies

Topic block 3: Trends in language change in organisations, the media and the public sphere

Topic block 4: Methods of language and discourse research for PR and organisational communication research

In addition to the above-mentioned thematic blocks, one open and one interactive panel will again be facilitated, each with a time frame of 90 minutes. Submissions from the field and/or practical references are also expressly desired here.

Up to three proposals will be accepted for the conference, with the interactive formats taking place simultaneously. In addition, submissions are welcome for a maximum of two possible open panels that will take place in parallel. A maximum of eight submissions will be accepted for this.

Submissions for the open and interactive panels will also be peer-reviewed and the best rated will be accepted. The review process is based on the same formalities and evaluation criteria as for the thematic panels. In the case of submissions for the open panel, the criterion of relevance to the conference theme does not apply. Submissions for the interactive panel should include information on the topic and relevance as well as information on the planned format and the proposed content structure and practical references and their connectivity to the scientific discourse. These submissions should allow a large part of the time for open discussion. Formats that consist entirely of predefined presentations, for example, are not welcome. Furthermore, the interactive formats must be open to all conference participants. The formalities of the submissions are otherwise based on those of the other contributions.
 

The conference contributions must be original contributions that have not previously been published in this form or presented at a conference. This must be explicitly stated on the cover sheet. However, it is possible to pick out individual aspects from papers that have already been published and presented in order to deal with them in greater depth in a new context. This approach must be made clear in the abstract. Abstracts of presentations should explicitly address the following aspects:

(a) Aim and research question of the paper,

(b) detailed information on the approach, e.g. on the methodological design in the case of empirical submissions (in particular, information on the sample as well as on the stage the study is at at the time of submission and which results are realistically to be presented at the conference), as well as

(c) a justification of why the contribution represents a relevant advance in knowledge in the respective discourse.
discourse.

Proposals for interactive formats should explicitly address (a) the goal, the research question and the topic, (b) a possible structuring and the planned format, (c) the relevance and (d) practical references following the scientific discourses. With the submission, all authors agree to participate in the conference if the abstract is accepted. The conference contributions will be selected in accordance with the statutes of the respective specialist group in an anonymous peer review process (the content of the contributions will be assigned to a specialist group by the submitters; at least two reviewers for the specialist group "Media Language - Media Discourses", at least three reviewers for the specialist group "PR and Organisational Communication"). The usual DGPuK selection criteria apply (relation to the conference topic (except for submissions to the open panel), theoretical foundation, relevance of the question, originality, appropriateness of the method or approach, clarity and conciseness of the presentation). It is planned to publish the contributions in a conference volume.

The results of the review process will be communicated to all submitters by early July 2023. The programme is expected to be published at the end of July/beginning of August 2023. At that time, all further information on the conference venue, conference fee and hotel proposals will follow. The conference will start with a get-together on Wednesday, 25 October 2023, at 19:00 and end on Friday, 27 October 2023, at around 15:00. If you have any queries, the organising team can be reached by email prok2023.fbmd@h-da.de.