The 2nd International Online Conference of the Journal Philosophies
The 2nd International Online Conference of the Journal Philosophies
Philosophical Unification of Diverse Forms of Inquiry
Part of the International Online Conference of the Journal Philosophies series
Event's Timezone: Central European Time
30 June 2026
28 August 2026
20 October 2026
Metaphilosophy, Tradition and innovation in philosophy, Integration as a tool for understanding
The IOCPh 2026 is Now OPEN for Abstract Submission and Registration!
Instructions for authors are available online.
Submit your abstracts HERE.
Looking Back: IOCPh 2025 Highlights
Explore the success of our inaugural conference through the Book of Abstracts and Live Session Recordings.
For any inquiries, please contact us at iocph2026@mdpi.com.
Call for Contributions
We invite contributions to the metaphilosophical discussion of the philosophical unity in the methodological and thematic diversity of inquiries as a way to facilitate understanding of reality. The theme of unity includes questions about the methods of its achievement, the adequacy of the present philosophical methodology, and the possibility of its enrichment by new mathematical, statistical, or computational methods. The complete conference announcement file is attached for further reference here.
We invite structured extended abstracts of presented works to be submitted by 30 June 2026. We welcome your submissions of extended abstracts prepared as explained below to: https://sciforum.net/user/submission/create/1628.
More details of the submission procedure can be found in the Instruction for Authors.
The extended abstracts of 300-500 words in English should include:
1. The title of the presentation;
2. Intended format of presentation (oral, poster, or either) – the number of accepted oral presentations will be limited, so the choice means a preference that may not be accepted;
3. Names and affiliations of all authors;
4. Name and email address of the contact author;
5. A succinct description of the content of the work (as it is an extended abstract, it can include references);
6. Short explanation of the philosophical issues addressed in the work.
The journal Philosophies invites contributions to its upcoming Second International Online Conference, “Philosophical Unity of the Diverse Forms of Inquiry,” to be held on October 26-30, 2026. This event has a broader theme than the First International Conference of the journal Philosophies “Intelligent Inquiry into Intelligence” held in 2025 (The 1st International Online Conference of the Journal Philosophies - Intelligent Inquiry into Intelligence-Contributing to the 2025 IS4SI Summit), but it can be considered a continuation of its very successful predecessor. Not only does its design follow the same main features, such as the focus on engagement in interaction involving invited speakers, panelists, and the audience, ample time for moderated discussions, and early dissemination of materials presenting all contributions, allowing all participants to prepare for exchanges of views and opinions. Its theme, From Ontic Unity to Epistemic Defragmentation, directs the attention of the philosophical community to the facilitation of understanding in epistemic processes through the integration of inquiries and possibly by the enrichment of philosophy by new methods. Naturally, understanding presupposes some form of intelligence and can be placed in the sequence intelligence – rationality – understanding. However, its relation to knowledge is much more complex, and even the status of the steps in this sequence is debatable. Are these distinctions a matter of quality or degree?
The theme of the Second Conference is more general and metaphilosophical in its call for reflection on the role of philosophy in searching for a unified view of reality derived from various forms of inquiry, and overcoming the barriers created by differences in their methodological tools. The First Conference had a similar objective of searching for the common ground, but in a more restricted context of the study of intelligence. Now, we invite contributions with reflections on a more general subject of the role of philosophy in integrating studies in more diverse contexts, of course, including the study of intelligence as one of them.
All accepted extended abstracts will be displayed on the website of the Conference. Proceeding papers (5-8 pages) developed from accepted extended abstracts can be published without APC but based on peer review in the Proceedings after the Conference. More extensive works without any limit of volume developed from these contributions may be published in Philosophies after the usual peer review carried out by the journal with a 20% discounted APC.
More details of publication can be found in the Publication Opportunities.
Prof. Dr. Marcin J. Schroeder
Professor Emeritus, Akita International University, Akita, Japan
Editor-in-Chief, the journal Philosophies of MDPI
Event Chair
Professor Emeritus, Akita International University, Akita, Japan,
Editor-in-Chief, the journal Philosophies of MDPI
Registration
The registration for IOCPh 2026 will be free of charge! The registration includes attendance to all conference sessions.
If you are registering several people under the same registration, please do not use the same email address for each person, but their individual university email addresses. Thank you for your understanding.
To apply for the Distinguished Female Author Presentation Award 2026 and the Young Researcher Award at IOCPh 2026, please select the "Distinguished Female Author Presentation Award 2026 Application" or "Young Researcher Award" option during registration, and upload the following documents:
1. A detailed curriculum vitae (CV);
2. A short biographical note presenting your educational background, academic degrees, affiliation, and membership of professional and academic organizations, and a succinct description of your publication record.
NOTE: Female authors who are not comfortable with public references to their gender are advised to choose "Free Registration for Everyone" without the gender distinction which makes them eligible for other awards that do not refer to gender.
Please note that the submission and registration are two separate parts. Only scholars who registered can receive a link to access the conference live streaming.
The deadline for registration is 20 October 2026.
Instructions for Authors
IOCPh 2026 will accept extended abstracts only. The accepted extended abstracts will be available online on Sciforum.net during and after the conference.
Important Deadlines
Deadline for abstract submission: 30 June 2026.
Abstract Acceptance Notification: 28 August 2026.
Please note:
An abstract acceptance email only confirms that your abstract has been accepted. Oral or poster presentation invitations are determined separately by the conference chairs, and you will receive an additional email with the presentation result.
Certificates of Participation are available in your logged-in area of Sciforum.net, under “My certificates” after the conference.
Abstract Submission:
Abstract submissions should be completed online by registering with www.sciforum.net and using the "Submit Abstract" function once logged into the system. No physical template is necessary.
Authorship:
All listed authors must have made substantial contributions to the work, participated in drafting or critically revising the abstract, and approved the final version. The submitting (presenting) author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the submission, including its content and authorship order.
Requests for changes to authorship (including the addition, removal, or reordering of authors) after submission must be submitted using a signed Authorship Change Form, with written consent from all affected authors. Such requests are subject to review and approval by the Conference Organizing Team. All authors share collective responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and ethical compliance of the submitted work.
Authors may submit multiple abstracts, but only one abstract per author may be selected for an oral presentation.
Presentation Requirements:
1. Each abstract must designate one presenter. To change the presenter, please contact us after you receive the oral/poster presentation invitation.
2. Only live presentations are accepted.
3. Presenters who do not attend the live session will not be eligible for awards or presentation certificates.
Oral Presentation and Slides Submission
The duration of the oral presentation will be announced after the submission deadline.
Authors are encouraged to prepare a presentation in PowerPoint or similar software, to be displayed online along with the abstract. Slides, if available, will be displayed directly on the website using the proprietary slide viewer at Sciforum.net. Slides can be prepared in exactly the same way as for any traditional conference where research results are presented. Slides should be converted to PDF format prior to submission so that they can be converted for online display.
Poster Gallery
Posters should be designed to allow independent understanding of the research and clearly present the essential elements of the study.
Each poster should include:
- Title, authors, affiliations, and contact details (clearly displayed at the top);
- Brief introduction outlining the research objective;
- Concise methodology summary;
- Main results, supported by clear, well-labeled figures or tables where appropriate;
- Short conclusion summarizing key findings and their relevance.
Technical specifications:
Dimensions (cm): 84.1 × 118.9 (A0 - portrait)
Resolution:300 dpi
Pixel size (portrait, 300 dpi):9933 × 14043 px
Minimum font size:≥24
The poster template can be downloaded here. We will reach out to you closer to the dates of the conference with more information.
Note: The uploaded poster may be used as provided and serves as a reference. However, as long as the technical specifications are followed, scholars are welcome to use any poster template of their choice.
Withdrawal Policy
Any request concerning abstract or proceedings paper withdrawal should be communicated to the Conference Organizing Team as early as possible, preferably prior to final acceptance and confirmation of the conference program. Please note that once abstracts are published in the Conference Report or once Proceedings papers are published in the Proceedings journal and assigned a DOI, they become part of the permanent scholarly record and cannot be fully removed.
AI policy
The responsible use of generative AI tools in the preparation of abstracts, posters, and presentations is permitted; however, any such use must be clearly disclosed, specifying the tool employed and its role. Authors retain full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of their work.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
Authors must disclose any financial, professional, or personal relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the integrity, interpretation, or presentation of their work. Failure to provide accurate disclosures may result in the removal of the abstract from the conference program and associated publications.
If there is no conflict, please state "The authors declare no conflicts of interest." This should be conveyed in a separate "Conflict of Interest" statement preceding the "Acknowledgments" and "References" sections at the end of the manuscript. Any financial support for the study must be fully disclosed in the "Acknowledgments" section.
Copyright Policy
1. Copyright Ownership
In accordance with Swiss copyright law, you, as the author, are the original creator of your work and retain full copyright ownership of your submitted abstract.
2. License Grant
By submitting your abstract for publication on the Sciforum.net platform, you grant MDPI, the platform’s publisher, a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to:
- Publish, reproduce, and distribute the abstract online.
- Make the abstract publicly available in connection with the conference.
3. Author’s Retained Rights
This license is non-exclusive. As you retain full copyright, you are free to:
- Reuse, republish, and build upon your work in any way.
- Develop the abstract into a full paper for submission to other journals or publications.
- Enter into subsequent agreements, including granting an exclusive license or transferring copyright to another publisher for a future version of the work.
4. Author’s Responsibility
You remain solely responsible for complying with the policies of any other journal or publisher to which you may submit a subsequent version of your work, particularly concerning prior publication rules. MDPI and Sciforum.net bear no responsibility for any conflicts arising from your future submissions.
Publication Opportunities
2. Proceeding Paper Publication
If you wish to publish an extended proceeding paper (no more than eight pages), please submit it to Proceedings journal (ISSN 2504-3900) after the conference. Publication of the proceedings will be free of charge.
Authors are asked to disclose that it is a proceeding paper of the IOCPh 2025 conference paper in their cover letter. Carefully read the rules outlined in the 'Instructions for Authors' on the journal’s website and ensure that your submission adheres to these guidelines.
Proceedings submission deadline: 30 December 2026
Manuscripts for the proceedings issue must be formatted as follows:
Title;
Full author names;
Affiliations (including full postal address) and authors' e-mail addresses;
Abstract;
Keywords;
Introduction;
Methods;
Results and Discussion;
Conclusions;
Acknowledgements;
References.
Please click HERE to submit your proceeding paper to the Proceedings.
IOCPh 2026_proceeding paper-template.docx
Event Awards
To acknowledge the support of the conference's esteemed authors and recognize their outstanding scientific accomplishments, we are pleased to announce that the conference will provide 6 awards including Best Oral Presentation Award, Best Poster Award, Distinguished Female Author Presentation Award 2026, and Young Researcher Award 2026.
The Awards
Number of Awards Available: 4
The Best Oral Presentation Award is given to the paper judged to make the most significant oral contribution to the conference.
The Best Poster Award is given to the submission judged to make the most significant and interesting poster for the conference.
There will be 4 winners selected for this award. The winner will receive a certificate and a full waiver of the APC for one accepted abstract to be published in Philosophies.
Number of Awards Available: 1
Intelligence studies and philosophy have long been shaped by predominantly male voices. Given the substantial role of diverse approaches brought by female authors, we want to promote their vital contributions in broadening perspectives and enriching the discourse.
To recognize and encourage this impactful work, we are pleased to announce the Distinguished Female Author Presentation Award 2026, celebrating outstanding contributions shared through oral presentations and posters by female scholars.
There will be one winner selected for this award. The winner will receive a certificate and a full waiver of the APC for one accepted abstract to be published in Philosophies.
To be considered for this award, please select the "Distinguished Female Author Presentation Award 2026 Application" option during the registration process. and upload the following documents:
1. A detailed curriculum vitae (CV);
2. A short biographical note presenting your educational background, academic degrees, affiliation, and membership of professional and academic organizations, and a succinct description of your publication record.
NOTE: Female authors who are not comfortable with public references to their gender are advised to choose "Free Registration for Everyone" without the gender distinction which makes them eligible for other awards that do not refer to gender.
Please carefully review the eligibility criteria and upload the required documents as specified. Please note that eligibility for the award is contingent upon acceptance of the abstract by IOCPh 2026.
We encourage all eligible female authors to apply for this prestigious award！
Number of Awards Available: 1
The field of philosophy and interdisciplinary research is continually renewed by the fresh perspectives and innovative energy of early-career researchers. To recognize and celebrate the outstanding potential and scholarly contributions of these emerging talents, we are pleased to announce the Young Researcher Award 2026.
This award aims to honor early-career scholars who present exceptional work, either as an oral presentation or a poster, demonstrating originality and significant promise for the future of the field.
There will be one winner selected for this award. The winner will receive a certificate and a full waiver of the APC for one accepted abstract to be published in Philosophies.
To be considered for this award, applicants must select the "Young Researcher Award 2026 Application" option during the conference registration, and upload the following documents:
1. A detailed curriculum vitae (CV);
2. A short biographical note presenting your educational background, academic degrees, affiliation, and membership of professional and academic organizations, and a succinct description of your publication record.
Please ensure you meet all eligibility criteria and upload the required documents as specified. Please note that eligibility for the award is contingent upon the acceptance of your abstract by IOCPh 2026.
We strongly encourage all eligible young researchers to apply for this prestigious award and showcase their pioneering work on an international stage!
Sponsors and Partners
For information regarding sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, please click here.
Organizers
Media Partners
Conference Secretariat
Ms. Riley Liu
Ms. Ann Li
Email: iocph2026@mdpi.com
For inquiries regarding submissions and sponsorship opportunities, please feel free to contact us.
