University of Central Florida, Orlando (12796 Aquarius Agora Dr, Orlando, FL 32816)
March 18 & 19, 2027
Since its inaugural issue in 2017, The Journal of Writing Analytics has served as an intellectual home for a field defined by its hybridity — drawing together rhetoric and composition/writing studies, corpus linguistics, cognitive psychology, learning analytics, educational data mining, writing assessment, and ethics under the shared project of understanding how writing happens and how it can be studied computationally.
Early volumes worked to define the field itself, applying corpus and natural language processing (NLP) methods to student writing and grappling with the first wave of automated scoring and rater-reliability debates. More recent volumes show a field in motion: automated writing evaluation (AWE) extending into new disciplines, with biometric and keystroke data opening new windows onto the writing process, longitudinal and network-based methods maturing, and the field examining its own disciplinary boundaries, specifically, its relationship to rhetoric and composition/writing studies, second language writing, linguistic data science, and learning analytics.
The 2027 International Writing Analytics Conference marks the decennial of the inaugural issue of The Journal of Writing Analytics. To honor that, this year’s conference invites researchers, teachers, developers, administrators, and graduate students working at the intersection of writing and analytics to contemplate the past, present, and future of writing analytics.
As we explore these questions together, we hope to usher in a “new phase” (see Lang, Vol. 7, 2024) of writing analytics that advances the identity of our community. In reflecting on the past, present, and future, we hope to encourage innovation and collaboration around the role we see writing analytics playing in advancing, fostering, and supporting rhetoric and composition/writing studies at-large.
Therefore, we invite proposals for individual presentations (20 min.), panel presentations (60 min.), and brainstorming workshops (30 min.) that position themselves within one of the following categories:
Contributions that revisit the field’s origins and founding debates: the multidisciplinary synthesis proposed in The Journal of Writing Analytics’ inaugural issue; early corpus-linguistic and NLP approaches to student writing; the emergence of AWE; foundational debates over rater-reliability, validity, and fairness in assessment; ethical questions about “big data” in writing research; and writing analytics’ relationship to other disciplines (i.e., rhetoric and composition/writing studies, learning analytics, data science, WAC/WID).
Work engaging the field as it stands now: generative AI and large language models (LLMs) as both objects of study and analytic tools; automated scoring and feedback across disciplines; keystroke logging, biometric, and multimodal data collection; longitudinal and developmental studies of writing quality; quantitative methods (structural equation modeling, social network analysis) maturing within the field; citation and disciplinary self-studies mapping writing analytics’ place among related fields; and questions of equity, access, and infrastructure in analytics-driven writing research and instruction.
Guiding questions:
Forward-looking work that identifies where the field should go next: what the field needs methodologically, ethically, pedagogically, and institutionally to remain rigorous and useful; how generative AI will continue to reshape writing pedagogy and assessment; multilingual and multimodal writing analytics; open data, corpora, and reproducibility infrastructure; equity and algorithmic fairness in writing assessment; and what it will take to train and sustain the next generation of writing analytics.
Guiding questions:Please Submit Proposals: November 15, 2026
Notice of Review Status: December 15 , 2026
Deadline to Accept to Present: January 15, 2027
Dates of Conference: March 18 & 19, 2027
Colleagues are encouraged to submit proposals (approximately 250 words) related to any of these themes. Proposals will be peer reviewed and accepted presentations will be organized into panels by conference themes. Collaborations will be encouraged to submit articles for the journal.
Shane Wood, Associate Professor and Director of First-Year Composition, University of Central Florida, shane.wood@ucf.edu
Amy Cicchino, Associate Professor and Director of the University Writing Center, University of Central Florida, amy.cicchino@ucf.edu
Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Professor, University of Central Florida, Sherry.Robertson@ucf.edu
Submit your proposal by November 15, 2026 to: https://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bq3kdwVbX2Vuyz4
Be prepared to include the following information at time of submission:
Because our conference is scaled for collaboration and programmatic research, we cannot reserve a large enough block of rooms near the conference site to secure a discount. Instead, the best option is for individuals to select the accommodations that best suit their needs and work with their institutional resources.
Below are three conference hotels that are within walking distance of the conference location. Please contact the hotels for costs.
● The Celeste Hotel, 4105 N Alafaya Trail, Orlando, FL 32826
● DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Orlando East-UCF Area, 12125 High Tech Ave, Orlando, FL 32817
● Courtyard by Marriott Orlando East/UCF Area, 12000 Collegiate Way, Orlando, FL 32817
UCF's central location allows conference attendees to combine a productive meeting with the best of what Orlando and the surrounding region have to offer. Orlando is home to world-famous destinations including Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando, and ICON Park, all within about 30-45 minutes of campus. Beyond the theme parks, attendees can explore Orlando's vibrant dining scene, with locally owned restaurants to upscale dining districts like Winter Park, Lake Nona, Disney Springs, and International Drive. For space enthusiastics, we are an hour from the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex on Merritt Island. For those looking to experience Florida's natural beauty, several Atlantic Coast beaches are just a short drive away. Cocoa Beach is approximately 60 minutes from UCF while New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach are 60-90 minutes away.