AG-T08: Conference Paper — Expanding Peer-Reviewed Conference Work into Full Journal Publication

A Practical Guide to Converting Conference Presentations into Publication-Ready Articles for GMJ

Abstract

The GMJ Author Toolkit (AG-T08) provides a structured, self-contained guide for the preparation and submission of Conference Papers in accordance with international publishing and ethical standards. A Conference Paper submission represents work that was previously presented at a peer-reviewed scientific conference and must be substantially expanded for journal publication.

The guide is organized into three components: (1) theoretical foundations defining what qualifies as a conference-based journal submission and outlining key principles such as overlap policy, peer-review requirements, and self-plagiarism; (2) a comprehensive pre-submission checklist ensuring compliance with journal standards, including full methodological expansion, reporting guideline application, and disclosure requirements; and (3) a complete worked example demonstrating proper declaration of prior presentation, expansion of methods and results, and preparation of a compliant cover letter.

Particular emphasis is placed on transparency, requiring explicit disclosure of prior conference presentation, including full citation and DOI where applicable, and clear specification of what new content has been added in the journal version. By combining practical guidance with publication ethics principles, this resource supports authors in producing high-quality, publication-ready manuscripts derived from conference work for the Georgian Medical Journal.