Q: Is it possible to submit an abstract/paper to a conference but not publish it in the conference proceedings?
Is it possible to send an abstract and paper to a conference, and even if they are accepted, ask them not to publish the paper in any proceeding, because my goal is only to get feed-back, and publish the paper in another journal as an original research paper?
In most fields, it is acceptable to publish the same research in conference proceedings and a journal provided that the journal submission is revised considerably and has a substantial amount of new content. This is because a conference paper is usually considered as work in progress. The journal submission is expected to be improved based on the feedback of the conference review process and the discussion at the conference.
If you plan to revise your manuscript considerably and then submit it to a journal with at least 30% new content, publishing it in conference proceedings might not be a problem at all. However, please check if the conventions of your field or the policies of your target journal allow such submissions.
Each conference has its own set of policies and guidelines. Please ensure that you go through the conference website carefully to check whether it is mandatory to publish every accepted abstract/paper in the conference proceedings. If the guidelines do not mention anything, I think it would be better to wait till your abstract is accepted. Once it is accepted, you can write to the conference organizing committee informing them that you are happy to have the opportunity to present your paper but do not want the abstract/paper to be published in the conference proceedings.
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This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage