Pennsylvania Music Educators Association

Submission Deadline: Friday, October 3, 2025

The PMEA Research Committee announces a call for research for presentation at the PMEA Annual In-Service Conference to be held at the Kalahari Convention Center in the Poconos, April 23 - April 25, 2026. The PMEA Research Committee will blind review submission materials corresponding with the indicated option at time of submission:

• Option 1, Poster Only Abstracts of completed or in-progress research of any type (i.e., quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, philosophical, historical) for Poster Session presentation.

• Option 2, Poster and Research Presentation If abstract is accepted for poster presentation, primary author requests its consideration also for paper presentation at one of two Research Forums.

• Option 3, Poster and Research-to-Practice Workshop If abstract for completed research project is accepted for poster presentation, primary author requests review of additional workshop submission materials for consideration also for presentation as one of two Research-to-Practice Workshops. (Workshop presenters actively involve attendees in applications of the submitted research procedures, outcomes, and/or implications.)

The window for submitting proposals for research session presentations is August 29 – October 3, 2025

Instructions for Submission

• Deadline: 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), October 3, 2025

• Create an account in PMEA's Open Water Platform (*Please note that the platform will look like you are on the PMEA website, however you will need to create a login specific to this program. Please select the "Create a Login" option to set up your account.)

• If you are proposing more than one research project for presentation, please complete separate Submittable forms for each proposal.

• Once logged in, you will be prompted to provide the following required information:

  • Primary author’s name, institutional affiliation, current status (i.e., undergraduate student, master’s student, doctoral student, PK-12+ educator, college/university educator, or other), primary e-mail address, and cell phone.
  • Secondary author’s name, institutional affiliation, current status (i.e., undergraduate student, master’s student, doctoral student, PK-12+ educator, college/university educator, or other), and primary e-mail address.
  • If submitting on behalf of more than two co-authors, name of each additional author, each author’s institutional affiliation, and current status (i.e., undergraduate student, master’s student, doctoral student, PK-12+ educator, college/university educator, or other).
  • Whether the research is in progress or complete.
  • Whether the research on which the proposal is based has fulfilled requirements for an undergraduate honors paper or thesis, master’s thesis, or doctoral dissertation. *If so, upload a pdf of the official signatory page. Such research submissions are automatically accepted for poster presentation, and also will be considered for Option 2 or 3 if author indicates those during submission process.
  • For Options 1, 2, & 3: *Submit a one-page abstract in Word doc or docx format, that includes:

    • no identifiable information about the author(s) in the Word file name or body of the abstract,

    • the title of the research,

    • theoretical framework,

    • the purpose of the research,

    • questions or problems of the study,

    • participants/subjects (if applicable), and

    • design/method, and analysis.

    • For completed research, also provide the findings/results and how they inform practice.
  • For Option 3 (Must be completed research.): *In addition to the abstract, provide Workshop Title and Workshop Description (20 words, maximum for each) *Upload in Word doc, docx or pdf format, again without identifiable information about the author(s) in the name of the session outline file name or within the following required content: A one-page proposed workshop session content outline divided into 2 parts: 45 minutes (maximum) focused on active engagement in applications of the completed research, and 15 minutes for a Question & Answer session.

Note the following additional requirements:

1. Submitters should not have published the results of their submitted research, and must disclose the name of conference, location, and presentation date if the submitted research has been simultaneously submitted for a separate presentation or already presented at one or more conference.
2. Submission of a research proposal is a commitment by all co-authors to register for the PMEA conference, and attend the session(s) for which the research is accepted.
3. All researchers presenting on PMEA programs must be members of NAfME, or register for the PMEA conference at the non-member rate.
4. Submission of a research proposal assumes acceptance of the scheduled time.
5. The primary author of a research proposal with multiple authors will be responsible for informing all additional authors of all notifications and specifics relating to the session(s).
6. For accepted research, primary author agrees to prepare an updated abstract with additional information for distribution at the poster session presentation.

Details to include on the updated abstract will be provided in the notification of acceptance. Abstracts and outlines will be blind-reviewed and notifications will be sent electronically to primary authors the week of October 20th, 2025. Accepted primary authors will be asked to confirm attendance by 11:59 p.m., EDT, October 29, 2025.. Presenters at the 2026 PMEA Annual In-Service Conference have the option of sharing their updated abstract for our posting to the PMEA Research webpage.

Thank you! We look forward to your submission(s).