Minitrack Chair Responsibilities

HICSS has been known worldwide as the longest-standing working scientific conferences in Information Technology Management. HICSS provides a highly interactive working environment for top scholars from academia and the industry from over 60 countries to exchange ideas in various areas of information, computer, and system sciences.

HICSS operates sessions with the following areas of research concentration, known to the conference as tracks. A Track consists of minitracks, each focusing on different topics/aspects in a particular research concentration. 

1. Workshop-like Setting
A HICSS Minitrack consists of a set of 90-minute sessions conducted in a workshop-like setting. A full day Minitrack is 4 sessions; a half-day is 2 sessions. Each session should consist of 3 or 4 papers, with each paper briefly summarized by the Author(s), leaving adequate time for good discussion and questions. A full-day Minitrack should accept 9-12 papers, and a half-day Minitrack should accept 5-6papers, less if allowing for an “open forum” discussions. In a full-day Minitrack, the last session may consist of an “open forum” which typically is a lively, open dialogue on the issues raised in the presentations. Please note: Papers authored by any Minitrack Chair in their own minitrack are limited to one paper for a half-day, and (2) for a full-day minitrack.

There are no “panels” at HICSS. This is because those involved in panels are usually “walk-on/walk-off”and often do not participate in the full slate of conference activities. They typically involve people that have little connection to the written record of the conference. If you have a topic that seems suited for a panel discussion, please contact the conference co-chair Tung Bui (tungb@hawaii.edu ) for guidelines for developing a special session.

2. Solicit Manuscripts for the Minitrack

  • After your Track Chair has approved your Minitrack proposal, you are encouraged to publicize your Minitrack. Please observe the guidelines in the HICSS Publicity Plan (below #8)
  • Solicit manuscripts, have them refereed, collaborate with the Track Chair in determining which manuscripts to accept, structure the sessions, introduce the speakers in your sessions, and actas the moderator of the forum. Follow the instructions from your Track Chair regarding how many papers you are allowed to accept for your Minitrack.
  • You should solicit high-quality manuscripts from people who are known to do excellent work in the field.
  • Advertise wherever you think is appropriate, including on ISWorld if you are a member.
  • We recommend you contact potential Authors and Referees/Reviewers to describe the overall objectives of HICSS and of your Minitrack. You will be soliciting their ideas, a manuscript, or a commitment to referee.
  • Each manuscript should be up to ten pages, single-spaced. Authors are given submission instructions on our web site. Do not accept submissions that are significantly shorter or longer than this; work with the authors to shorten to ten pages before final publication.
  • The material must contain original results and not have been submitted elsewhere while it is being evaluated for acceptance to HICSS. Manuscripts that have already appeared in publication are not to be considered for this conference.

3. Acquire Referees Who Will Critically Review all Manuscripts Submitted to You
Quality refereeing is essential to ensure the technical credibility of HICSS. Each manuscript should be stringently reviewed by at least 4 qualified people who are actively working in the topics dealt with in the paper. You are responsible for having each manuscript submitted reviewed by at least four people in addition to yourself. The Author should only be given reviews that are technically substantive.

If you wish to submit a paper to your own Minitrack, you must submit to your Track Chair (“Papers Submitted by Minitrack Chairs”). The Track Chair will then manage the refereeing process for these papers. Papers authored by minitrack chairs in this process are limited to (1) for your half-day minitrack, and (2) for your full-day. If you wish to submit to another minitrack, please submit as normal.

HICSS does not have “invited” manuscripts; all submissions go through the peer review process.

4. Accept Manuscripts for the Minitrack
To ensure excellent accepted papers, typically more than two to three times the number of papers needed must actually be solicited. Many papers will not meet HICSS quality standards (i.e., will not make it through the refereeing process) and some authors may not be able to fulfill their initial commitment and complete the paper for you. If nine technically solid papers do not survive the refereeing process, the full day Minitrack can be changed to a half-day session.

5. Republication of the Manuscripts
We encourage you to work with an Editor-in-Chief of a professional society periodical to use your accepted papers as the basis of a special issue of the publication. Such an arrangement encourages quality submission and requires good refereeing standards. Enter into such agreements as soon as possible.

6. Write an Introduction to the Minitrack
After all Authors have been notified of their Final Acceptance, then the Primary Minitrack Chair should submit a one-page introduction to the Minitrack to the publication site as if it were a paper. The Introduction should not be merely an overview of abstracts of the papers, but should introduce the reader to the important issues that exist in the research area.

7. Select Best Paper Nomination
You should indicate your minitrack’s nomination for your track’s Best Paper Award in the review system.

8. HICSS 1-2-3 Publicity Plan
It has become necessary to develop a standard approach to the announcements and calls for papers at HICSS. This is important so that all the announcements for the many tracks and Minitracks are consistent and accurate, and that redundancy in bulletin boards and other channels is controlled. All Minitrack leaders should follow these policies and procedures:

  1. HICSS Call for Papers: In November, Track Chairs submit highlights for the general conference HICSS Call for Papers (CFP). A version of this Call for Papers is placed on the web site and mailed to a mailing list of about 2,500 names in early March. If you have a journal to suggest, please send the name and address to the Conference Office. By March 1 the conference office will post the HICSS CFP for the overall conference on IS World. On our web site we will post a description of each Track and eachMinitrack, and the primary contact for each Minitrack, as well as an alpha list of all Minitracks toassist Authors in their submission.
  2. Minitrack Calls for Papers: Each Minitrack Chair is encouraged to prepare their Call for Papers, explaining the scope, purpose, and emphasis of thetrack in more detail. (If you are an AIS member, you may also post an individual Call for Papers for your track or Minitrack on the IS World listserv.)
  3. Minitrack Websites: If you set up a website for your Minitrack, please send the URL to the HICSS office hicss@hawaii.edu so that it can be included on the HICSS website. Also, please remember on your site to put a link back to http://www.hicss.org