Glossary · CFP
Call for papers
A call for papers (CFP) is the open, time-boxed invitation a conference or event publishes to collect talk, session, or abstract proposals — which organizers then review and select for the program.
What a call for papers is
A call for papers — often shortened to CFP, and sometimes called a call for speakers or call for proposals — is how an event sources its content. Organizers publish a submission form with the topics, formats, deadlines, and review criteria they're looking for, and prospective speakers submit proposals. After the deadline, a review team evaluates submissions and selects the ones that make up the agenda. The term comes from academia, where 'papers' are scholarly abstracts, but it's used across tech conferences, trade shows, and community events for any kind of session proposal.
How the CFP process works
A typical CFP runs in four phases: open the call (publish the form and promote it), collect submissions (often with autosaving drafts and required fields like title, abstract, format, and speaker bio), review and score (reviewers rate proposals against a rubric, sometimes across multiple rounds), and notify (accepted speakers are confirmed and the rest are declined). Strong CFP tooling keeps all four phases in one pipeline so a proposal can move from Submitted to Accepted to a scheduled session without being re-entered into another system.
What makes a CFP run well
The difference between a smooth CFP and a painful one is usually consolidation. When submissions live in a spreadsheet, bios in an inbox, and reviews in a side document, versions drift and duplicates slip through. Keeping submitters, proposals, reviewers, and the resulting speakers and agenda in one place removes the handoffs — and lets you see the whole pipeline (including what's missing from it) at a glance.
Key points
- CFP stands for 'call for papers'; it's also called a call for speakers or call for proposals.
- It's the mechanism events use to source and select session content.
- A good CFP process keeps submission, review, selection, and scheduling in one pipeline.
- Reviewing against a consistent rubric makes selection fairer and faster.
See how AgendaForge handles this in practice:
Call for papers →Common questions
Q.01 What's the difference between a call for papers and a call for speakers?
Q.02 What information does a CFP usually collect?
Related terms
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