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[onthemarketnow]

I have a question I haven't quite seen answered in the fora yet.  I'd like to submit 2 different papers to multiple panels at the same conference (MLA field).  The conference allows people to present up to two times and doesn't explicitly disallow multiple submissions (the conf. organizers will say that multiple submissions are fine, but there's no clear statement or FAQ about it like I've seen with other conferences).  My question is this: say I submit to 4 different panels and wind up with the same paper accepted to more than one of them.  Obviously I wouldn't present at both, but what's the etiquette surrounding turning one panel down to present on the other?  Is this frowned upon?  Since the conference has no clear published guidelines about it, I'm not sure.  Is it better to simply submit the two different papers to two different panels even though this gives me less of a chance at being accepted at all? 

[msparticularity]

I think there may be a vocabulary issue here. "Multiple submissions," to me and many others I know, means submitting multiple papers to a single conference, not submitting one paper to more than one area. In my field, it would be quite normal to submit a couple of papers, but one absolutely could not submit the same paper to two different areas.

[bibliologos]

I chair a program unit at my national association.  I hate hate hate it when I accept a paper only to be told "oh, I also submitted the proposal to Unit X and they accepted it."  Sometimes I structure panels around a theme or topic, and so pick the proposal because it fits with the topic.  It makes my life harder when one of my submitters also submits the same paper elsewhere.

Don't do it.  I remember the multiple submitters and I don't give them as much consideration next time round.  Multiple submissions may not be "illegal" but they are definitely impolite.

Submitting different papers, on the other hand, is ok.  There may be rules about how many times you can appear on the program, and that may end up having to be negotiated with the organizers if too many units want to accept your papers.

[onthemarketnow]

Don't do it.  I remember the multiple submitters and I don't give them as much consideration next time round.  Multiple submissions may not be "illegal" but they are definitely impolite.

This is what I was looking for.  I just wasn't sure whether it was a huge pain when people did this or just kind of accepted as something that happens sometimes.  Thanks for the feedback.