Submission Guidelines

The portal for submissions is now open!

To contribute a presentation, please create an account and submit the abstract(s) through ConfTool: https://www.conftool.org/mcls-2026.

Welcome to MCLS 2026! Please find below the guidelines for submitting presentations to the conference in Padua.

To allow as many people as possible to contribute, we are limiting the submissions to one presentation per person. That is, each conference attendee is allowed to be the presenting author on only one submission. Being a discussant in a symposium is not considered having a presenting author role; there are no limits on submissions as co-authors.

Depending on the number of submissions, we may not be able to accept all presentations or switch submission types. Submissions that follow open science practices (e.g., pre-registration/registration) and a-priori sample size justification will be preferred even though these aspects are not required. In addition, the stage of completion of the study will be taken into account, with completed studies being favored over those still in progress.

Types of submission

There are three types of submissions:

Symposium. A symposium consists of either four presentations OR three presentations and one discussion (i.e., total four speakers). The chair of the symposium may serve solely as chair, or additionally as a speaker or discussant. The inclusion of authors from different affiliations/countries, as well as those that include speakers at different career stages (e.g., early career and senior researchers), will be considered an added value.
Individual presentation. This consists of an oral presentation, not included in a symposium, and that will be included in separate additional sessions.
Poster. Poster sessions will be spread across all conference days. A small number of posters may be selected as lightning talks. Submitting authors have the option to indicate whether they would be interested in presenting their poster as a lightning talk.

The duration of each talk (either submitted within a symposium or as an individual presentation) will range between 15-20 minutes; lightning talks will last no longer than 7 minutes. More detailed information will be shared once the program is defined.

We understand that some funding bodies require a conference contribution to allow conference expenses to be covered. Therefore, in case a symposium proposal or an individual presentation is rejected, we will do our best to offer the presenters the opportunity to present their work in another format (e.g., poster).

Submission requirements

All types of submission (symposium, individual presentation, or poster) require:

Providing the names and surnames, emails, and affiliations of all authors and, if included, the discussant
Selecting of up to three thematic topics (below)
Entering up to five keywords
Providing the title of each individual presentation (in sentence case)
Uploading the abstract for each individual presentation (max. 400 words, references excluded)

Some more information:

Abstracts are expected to include the following sections: Introduction, Research Aim(s), Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion.
Figures or images cannot be included in the abstracts
Indicate whether you would need Sign Language Interpretation or other support for your presentation. This information will only be used for organizational purposes and will not be available to reviewers.

Symposia additionally require:

Title of the symposium
Symposium overview and theoretical relevance (max 150 words). The chair of the symposium is responsible for collecting all abstracts and submitting them together, along with the required details for each contribution. Symposia will be evaluated as a whole, based on the overall quality and coherence of the included abstracts.
List of authors for each presentation and/or discussant.

Thematic topics include:

Arithmetic and Beyond: Arithmetic, Algebra, Fractions, Decimals
Atypical Development: Dyscalculia, Mathematics Learning Difficulties
Cognitive Neuroscience
Comparative Research: Animal, Culture, Gender, Race/Ethnicity
Computational modelling
Development: Math Cognition across the Lifespan
Emotion: Math Attitude, Math Anxiety, Math Identity
Home Math Environment: Caregivers, Parents, Families
Mathematics and Beyond: Language, Space, Executive Function, STEM
Numbers: Basic Number Processing, Counting, Number Concepts, Number Sense
Perception and Embodiment
Schooling and Intervention: Education, Curriculum, Evaluation, Psychometrics
Strategies: Problem Solving, Flexibility
Others_______________________________

To contribute a presentation, please create an account and submit the abstract(s) through ConfTool: https://www.conftool.org/mcls-2026. Please note: You will have to make a new registration even if you submitted for the 2025 conference.

If needed, the local committee can be contacted at the following email address: mcls2026padova@gmail.com