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NSTA Conference Reviewers

 

Thank you for your support of NSTA Conferences.

We appreciate your willingness to provide your expertise in reviewing proposals.

 

NSTA National Conference on Science Education Indianapolis 26
Current Status  
Call for ProposalsProposal ReviewsApprovals
April 1 - May 4, 2026May 8 - June 1, 2026July - August 2026

Thank you for considering serving as a reviewer for the NSTA National Conference on Science Education.

Reviewers are integral to the creation, quality, and integrity of the educational content offered at the NSTA Conference. By volunteering, you are also providing NSTA members with a valuable service by providing concrete feedback on their work, regardless of whether a proposal is accepted to the conference. NSTA values its volunteers. As recognition of your work reviewing conference proposals, you will earn activity points towards an NSTA Advocator badge and a downloadable Certificate of Recognition.

Interested candidates must apply to be a reviewer and complete a questionnaire that will guide the proposals that they will be assigned.

Previously Reviewed?

Skip the questionnaire, just enable auto-renewal in My Account > Review Abstracts.

Reviewer Requirements

To be accepted as a reviewer, you must:

  1. Be a NSTA member or have a free NSTA guest user account.
  2. Access your reviews through your NSTA My Account during the review window. Notifications about availability of reviews assigned to you will not be sent through email.
  3. Have experience presenting, reviewing proposals, and/or attended an NSTA or other education conference.
  4. Reviewers are asked to review the number of proposals indicated on their sign-up form (4-10 proposals/week, 10-20, or 20+). It should take approximately 15-20 minutes to read, consider, and complete the online feedback form for each proposal.
  5. Provide comments for each proposal to support their decisions.
  6. Be available throughout the review process.

To support the review process, view our web seminar recording • Reviewing Proposals for NSTA Conference in Anaheim, September 23, 2025

 

Timeline

  

  

April 1, 2026

Official opening to sign up as a volunteer peer reviewer for educator proposals

April 1 – May 4, 2026

Call for Proposals Open

May 4, 2026
  • Deadline to submit educator proposals
  • Deadline to sign up as a volunteer peer reviewer for educator proposals
May 8 – June 1, 2026

Proposal review period

July-August 2026

Proposal acceptance notifications in My Account

August 2026

Session Browser opens

September 2026

Final conference program decisions are made

September 25, 2026

Earlybird Registration Deadline

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the conference proposal review process, and how do I sign up?

You can sign up to review proposals between now and May 4, 2026. Reviews will occur between May 8 – June 1, 2026.

Do I need to be an NSTA member to review proposals? 

NSTA membership is not necessary to review, propose or participate in a conference event. However, all reviewers, proposers, and conference attendees must have a Free NSTA user account.

Can I serve as a reviewer if I plan to submit a proposal?

Yes, you can sign up to review proposals even if you plan to submit a proposal for the upcoming conference.

What are the benefits of reviewing conference session proposals?

  1. By reviewing, you help ensure the conference program's quality and integrity. Recognizing your work reviewing conference proposals, you will earn activity points towards an NSTA Advocator badge.

  2. By reading others’ proposals can help you recognize what makes a strong or weak proposal, thereby helping you improve your own writing skills.

  3. Finally, although reviewing is mainly behind the scenes, reviewing can actually help “get your name out there.” NSTA staff and key volunteers get to know your name and expertise while assigning and reading reviews.

Do the activity points earned toward an NSTA Advocator badge offer any conference registration discounts?

The NSTA Advocator badges do not offer any discounts of any kind for NSTA programs, products, or services. Click here to learn more about the NSTA Advocator badge.

Can I edit my reviews?

Unfortunately, reviews are unable to be modified once submitted.  

How many session proposals would I have to review, and what is the time commitment?

Reviewers are asked to review the number of proposals indicated on their sign-up form (4-10 proposals/week, 10-20, or 20+). It should take approximately 15-20 minutes to read, consider, and complete the online feedback form for each proposal.

What should I write in my comments?

For each category listed on the rubric, reviewers should provide justification for the rating. These comments can include suggestions on how to improve the session, changes that need to be made, etc. 

Will the presenters see my review comments?

No, presenters cannot see reviewer comments. They may request an explanation as to why their proposed education session was rejected, but they will not receive a copy of the comments left by reviewers.

What if I like the content of a session but I believe it should be presented in a different format?

If a reviewer believes a proposed education session should be presented at the national conference but needs to be reformatted, they will have the opportunity to share these thoughts after via the “Internal Notes” section of the Reviewer Submission Form.

Can I review more than the number of applications provided to me?

Absolutely! Please email conferences@nsta.org if you are accepted as a reviewer and want to take on more applications. 

Questions or concerns?

conferences@nsta.org

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