The 2026 CLA Online Research Conference, co-sponsored by the Children's Literature Assembly of NCTE and the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia, will be held on Friday, February 20th, 2026. The theme of the conference is Care, Advocacy, and Children's Literature Research in Theory and Praxis.

The conference will feature research presentations, a journal editor session, and a keynote talk from Dr. Jonda McNair, Charlotte S. Huck Endowed Professor of Children’s Literature, The Ohio State University.

We invite you to submit proposals for individual papers, symposiums, or research-in-progress that relate to this year's theme of care and advocacy in children's literature research, theory, and praxis.

• Individual Paper Proposal: An individual paper presentation of 15 minutes, reporting on completed research.
• Symposium Proposal: Three (3) individual papers of 15 minutes each, unified by topic or theme. If accepted, this symposium will be allotted a 1 hour time slot in the program (approx. 45 mins of presentations, 15 mins for Q&A).
• Research In Progress Proposal: An individual presentation of 15 minutes, reporting on an ongoing study that has made sufficient progress towards results. If accepted, this presentation will be combined with similar presentations and will be a part of a larger session focused on research-in-progress.

Submit a proposal: https://forms.gle/RC6rTEQ7dDaChX558

Proposal deadline has been extended to Monday, October 6, 2025. Proposals will be peer reviewed and decisions will be announced in mid-November.

To develop a conference program that is diverse in prospectives and approaches, we welcome students, early career, established, and independent scholars from every country to submit proposals. We will do our best to accomodate presentation times in accordance with your time zome. You do not need to be a member of CLA to submit a proposal nor to attend the online conference. However, all presenters and attendees will need to register for the conference (regular rate $30USD, discounted student rate $15USD).

For more information, visit: https://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/conference.html

If you have any questions, please reach out to conference@childrensliteratureassembly.org.