/Join us, along with global leaders, from Wednesday, October 30th to Friday, November 1st, in Livingstone, Zambia./

The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organisation dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). The NDLTD has organised the ETD annual symposium since 1998 to promote the ideas of ETDs as a global concern, aiming to foster the development of ETDs.

The theme for ETD 2024 is "Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Visibility at a Global Scale". In recent years, significant strides have been made in mainstreaming of ETDs, with a number of national and international initiatives initiated, however, the online visibility of ETDs in other parts of the world is still low. In addition, the potential of ETDs beyond research and academia has not been extensively explored, presenting opportunities to enable more access to the knowledge contained within ETDs. Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence techniques, such as Large Language Models and, additionally, more traditional approaches such as training and sensitisation present opportunities for making ETDs accessible and visible through automation and awareness.

*Journal of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (J-ETD)*

The NDLTD Board has launched an online journal—Journal of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (https://scholarworks.uaeu.ac.ae/j-etd)—to publish quality papers and associated content. Selected papers of those accepted to ETD 2024 will be published in the Journal of Electronic Theses and Dissertations J-ETD. Your conference paper may be invited for publication in J-ETD.

*Topics*

Topics of interest for ETD 2024, as they relate to ETDs, include, but are not limited to:

- Application of Large Language Models to ETDs
- Automatic Analysis of ETDs
- ETD Implementation Use Cases
- ETD Policies and Practices
- ETDs and e-Infrastructures
- ETDs and Long-term Preservation
- ETDs and Open Access
- ETDs and Open Science
- ETDs and Persistent Identifiers
- ETDs and Research Data
- General Issues Related to ETDs
- Global Visibility of ETDs
- Graduate Education and Training
- Institutional Repository Platforms
- National and Global ETD Initiatives

*Submission Types and Formats*

Submissions are invited from participants who wish to present a paper or a poster at ETD 2024. All submissions must start by submitting an English extended abstract with a maximum of 800 words. The extended abstract should clearly deal with the problem/motivation/goal, the methodological approach, and anticipated results. The abstract MUST also inclu de the title of the paper or poster, name(s) of the author(s), and full address information. Each submitted abstract will be reviewed in double-blind by at least two members of the program committee.

*Paper and Poster Submissions*

Authors may choose between two formats:
- /Full papers/ have at most 10 pages and report on mature work, or efforts that have reached an important milestone. They will get presentation slots of 15 to 20 minutes.
- /Posters/ highlight efforts that might be in an early stage, but are important for the community to be made aware of; they can also present theories or systems that can be described concisely in the limited space. Posters should be in A0 format (portrait). The PDF file should be provided two weeks before the conference. A poster session will be organised to enable authors to discuss their work with ETD 2024 delegates.

*Workshop and Tutorial Submissions*

- /Workshops/ are intended to be avenues for discussions and exploration of new or emerging issues.
- /Tutorials/ provide an avenue for offering in-depth education on a topic or theme relevant to research or practice related to ETDs.

Workshops and tutorials can span a half-day or a full day.
Workshop and tutorial proposals should not exceed two (2) pages in length and MUST include: the title of the workshop or tutorial; a description of the workshop/tutorial, including whether it is planned as a half-day or full-day event; a topical outline of the workshop/tutorial; anticipated audience for the workshop/tutorial; expected outcomes of the workshop/tutorial and short biographies and contact information of the proposers.

*Submission Guidelines*

Abstracts for full papers and posters must be submitted via the ETD 2024 Microsoft Conference Management Toolkit (CMT) site: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/ETD2024.

All submissions must be original works, not previously published or under review for publication elsewhere, in English, in DOC or DOCX format, and in the APA 7th Edition Professional Paper format. A suitable Microsoft Word template is available: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/professional-paper.docx

Complete papers are required for the conference; submissions consistijng solely of an abstract or those that are otherwise incomplete will not be included in the conference. For all formats, references do not count toward the page limit. Submissions are to be made via: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/ETD2024

- All abstract submissions will be rigorously peer-reviewed in a double-blind reviewing process.
- Abstract submissions must be anonymous and all references to authors’ works have to be anonymised.

All ETD 2024 conference papers, posters and presentations will be published on the NDLTD Document Archive (http://docs.ndltd.org). Selected papers will be included in a Special Issues of the Journal of Electronic Theses and Dissertations J-ETD. At least one author of each accepted paper is required to register for, and present the work at the conference on-site in Livingstone.

*Submission Deadlines*

All deadlines are 23H59 Anywhere on Earth (UTC-12).

- April 26, 2024 – Research paper and poster abstract submissions; and workshop/tutorial proposal submission deadline
- May 17, 2024 – Abstract and workshop/tutorial proposal acceptance notification
- July 19, 2024 – Full paper and poster submissions deadline
- August 16, 2024 – Final camera-ready deadline for all submissions

*Contact*
For any questions about paper submissions you may contact the program chairs by email at etd2024-submissions@unza.zm.