system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Embarrassing question but... what does it mean to "present a paper, " exactly?

I'm applying for a conference and it has two options: poster presentation or paper presentation.

Obviously, I would prefer to give a talk instead of doing a poster, so I need to choose the paper presentation option. The website says that I should submit an abstract (they request a LONG abstract -- around 1000 words). The website further says that all abstracts will be published online, and a selection of them will be published as an edited book.

**My question:** does "presenting a paper" in this context mean the paper should already be written? I would love to write it up as a full paper for them, but for purposes of applying, they're only asking for the longish abstract. Am I correct in understanding I can apply for and give a talk that is a "paper presentation" without the full paper actually existing yet?

Thanks!
gpt
This differs by field a bit as well.

In our field it's normally oral vs poster presentation, with oral being a talk (with powerpoint slides) that describes a substantial piece of work that either exists as a paper or you intend to publish as a paper.