Economics Section

Call for Papers
38th National Student Research Conference
Economics Section

1. General Information, Organizers

Organizer of the event:

John von Neumann University
Faculty of Economics and Business

Address: 6000 Kecskemét, Izsáki út 10.
Phone: +36 76 516 321 (NJE GTK Dean’s Office)
+36 76 516 322 (NJE GTK Dean’s Office)
University website: https://nje.hu/

Faculty website: https://gtk.nje.hu/
The Section’s website address: https://kozgotdk2027.nje.hu/
Section e-mail address: kozgotdk2027@nje.hu
Date of the event: April 22–24, 2027.

The National Association for Student Research (OTDT), the Professional Committee for Economics of the OTDT and the organizing John von Neumann University Faculty of Economics and Business hereby announce the 38th National Student Research Conference Economics Section under the conditions of the following call.

We invite students engaged in scientific research (those in higher education at the bachelor’s and master’s levels, or in integrated university programs, as well as in higher education vocational training, and secondary education) to participate in the Section’s work with their scholarly and high-quality TDK papers. We warmly welcome applicants from all secondary and higher education institutions both within Hungary and beyond its borders!

2. Eligibility Criteria

2.1 Who is eligible to participate

In the 38th National Student Research Conference (OTDK), TDK papers and authors (in the case of multi-author TDK papers, all authors) may participate that meet the conditions specified in the General Call for the 38th National Student Research Conference (details are provided in Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 38th OTDK.)

Study circles from cross-border universities and colleges can participate in the 38th OTDK under the same professional conditions as those in Hungary. Details are available in the General Call of the 38th OTDK.

The conference is also open to secondary school students in Hungary and across borders who present their research results at conferences of higher education institutions or national high school science student conferences (for details see Supplement 4 of the General Call for the 38th OTDK) and are nominated for the OTDK. A detailed description of the participation of secondary school students is available in the General Call of the 38th OTDK.

A thesis produced in the course of continuous TDK activity during BA and BSc education, can be submitted to the 38th OTDK, if it meets the requirements of the Call and its Supplements and has been presented at a student research conference either during the BA/BSc or the subsequent MA/MSc training and has there been delegated to the OTDK.

Confidential papers cannot be submitted to the 38th National Student Research Conference’s Economics Section, and confidentiality requests cannot be applied to submitted papers at a later stage.

The conference will be held in physical presence TDK papers submitted to and accepted for the conference must be presented orally in person at the panel session, following the preliminary written review.  In the case of multi-authored TDK papers, the presence of all authors is expected.

2.2. Requirements for TDK papers and evaluation

Supplement 1 to the Section Call includes:

• the content and format requirements for TDK papers and abstracts,
• rules for the presentation of TDK papers in foreign languages,
• evaluation criteria of the TDK paper and the presentation,
• written evaluation forms.

Supplement 2 to the Section Call includes:

• the mandatory template for author contributions in the case of work conducted within a research group and for multi-author TDK papers.

The TDK paper must be uploaded to OTDT’s online system in PDF format.

3. Sessions/topics

3.1. Planned sessions/topics

1. Sectoral economics (traditional sectoral topics, sports economics, health economics, and education economics)
2. Digital economy, e-business
3. Decision theory, economic sociology, economic psychology
4. Sustainable economy, green economy
5. Economic policy
6. Economic history, history of economic theory
7. Human resource management and development
8. Information economics, economic informatics
9. Communication, media
10. Economic theories and models, game theory
11. Marketing
12. Labor market
13. Finance
14. Regional economy
15. Strategic and change management, knowledge management
16. Accounting, controlling
17. Social innovation
18. Production and service management, logistics, supply chain management
19. Regional development
20. Capital and money markets
21. Tourism and hospitality
22. Corporate finance
23. Business economics, entrepreneurship studies
24. Management and organization
25. World economy, globalization

During the application process, students must indicate which session would be the most suitable for presenting their TDK paper, as well as another session that could also be appropriate.

A TDK paper can be entered for the OTDK only once and in one section. If an author submits more than one TDK paper, they must declare during the submission process that there is no substantial or significant overlap between the papers, and any overlap between the submitted papers will also be examined by the Section Committees and the Section organizers during the verification of submissions. If the student fails to make the declaration during the application process, all submitted papers will be disqualified.

3.2. Rules for the establishment of the final session assignment

The fundamental rules for the establishment of the final session assignment are included in the General Call of the 38th OTDK. The Economics Section Committee may, based on the number of TDK papers received and their topic, merge some of the planned sessions/topics or create additional ones, so that the TDK paper may be assigned to a different session than the one indicated by the author(s) during registration. Sessions with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 15 papers can be planned. A ranking and a special prize can only be awarded in the session if at least 5 of the 6 to 15 classified papers are presented at the OTDK. If the number of TDK papers to be presented in a given session is less than five, that session may be merged with another session at the discretion of the Chair of the Section Committee. The management is aiming for a number of 8 to 12 TDK papers per session. The Section Committee requests applicants, as well as their supporting advisors and institutional TDT referents, to designate the papers to the most appropriate section and session for the scientific field when registering. The organizing institution, with the agreement of the Section Committee, reserves the right to redirect submissions with content that does not align with the Section’s field of study to another session of the National Student Research Conference that is more appropriate for the topic, with thanks for the application.

The Economics Section Committee decides on the final panels, the language of the panels, and the classification of TDK papers; students will be notified via the OTDT online system no later than March 20, 2027.

4. Application procedure

4.1. Steps of registration for applicants

4.1.1. Pre-registration of TDK papers

Following the student research conference in the sending institution:

TDK paper upload and section selection within 30 days after receiving the email specified in point 4 of Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 38th OTDK. Students who qualify with their TDK papers at a student research conference held within 30 days before the registration deadline for the relevant section of the 38th OTDK must upload their TDK papers to the online system by the registration deadline at the latest.

ATTENTION! Uploading a TDK paper itself does not constitute an entry to the OTDK. Full applications must be submitted during the registration period, as described in the next section.

4.1.2. The application

Registration period: November 16, 2026 – January 11, 2027 (Monday), 16:00 (CET)

Deadline for finalizing applications: January 11, 2027 (Monday) 16:00 (CET)

Students’ tasks during this period are:

• Filling in the information related to the uploaded application.
• Uploading the English and Hungarian abstracts.
• On the abstract upload page, providing five keywords that do not appear in the title of the paper.
• Submission of required declarations.
• After completing the data entry and uploading the abstract, finalizing the registration in the OTDT online system.

After the registration deadline for students (January 11, 2027), it will no longer be possible for students to upload application documents in the OTDT online system.

4.2. Additional tasks for students who have obtained a pre-degree certificate or are expected to obtain a pre-degree certificate in the semester of registration

Students who obtained a pre-degree certificate between the qualifying institutional TDK conference and the 38th OTDK must declare the date of obtaining their pre-degree certificate in the OTDT online system during the application process (those who are expected to obtain their pre-degree certificate in the semester of application, after the application deadline, must indicate that they are expected to obtain it in the semester of application).

In the case of students who qualified at ETDK, FTDK, KTDK, or VMTDK conferences, the expected date of finalizing the application to the 38th OTDK must be indicated as the date of the pre-degree certificate, as this has already been verified upon their acceptance to the qualifying conference.

5. Tasks of the TDT Chairs in relation to the 38th OTDK

5.2. Following the student research conference in the sending institution:

Uploading the documents of the student research conference and sending them to the OTDT Office according to point 5 of Supplement 2 of the General Call for the 38th OTDK.

5.2. Following the participants’ registration deadline:

A) Approval of participant registrations in the OTDT online system (all registrations are automatically approved in the system, so action is only required if the institution/faculty does not wish to delegate a submitted TDK paper to the OTDK).

B) Approval in the OTDT online system of the consolidated list containing the approved applications of TDK papers and their authors submitted to the Economics Section, and/or its generation from the online system and signature with a qualified electronic signature, or printing and signing, followed by electronic upload to the OTDT online system. By approving/signing the consolidated list, the TDT Chairs also declare that all TDK papers and their authors included therein meet the requirements set out in Supplement 2 to the General Call of the 38th OTDK.

Deadline for institutional and faculty TDT Chairs to upload documents to the OTDT online system: January 14, 2027 (Thursday) 16:00 (CET). After the deadline it will no longer be possible to upload application documents to the OTDT online system.

We are unable to accept TDK papers that do not meet the requirements outlined in the Section Call; such applications will be rejected.

Applications submitted individually are invalid.

6. Registration fee

The registration fees for the 38th OTDK will be determined at a later stage, subject to the availability of funding. Information on application and participation fees will be provided in the supplement to the General Call and the Section call, as well as on the OTDT website and by email to TDT Chairs.

The awards that can be granted at the OTDK and the Special Prize of the Session Panel

A certificate of participation in the OTDK will be awarded to all authors and supervisors of each paper presented. In addition, a maximum of one third of the papers presented may be awarded one of the first, second and third places per section, taking into account that a maximum of one entry per session may be awarded first place. The Section Panel may award a special prize to those papers that do not achieve ranking but are judged by the Session Panel to be worthy of recognition on the basis of their professional merit, and which are judged to be immediately behind the winning applications. The authors of the winning papers and those of the papers receiving the Special Prize of the Session Panel will each receive a certificate for the ranking or the Special Prize of the Session Panel.

The total number of winning papers and papers awarded the Special Prize of the Session Panel may not exceed 50% of the total number of papers presented in a section. Further rules on prizes are set out in Supplement 3 to the General Call.

Submission of Pro Scientia Gold Medal application

The authors of TDK papers that have been awarded first place at the national conference may apply for the Pro Scientia Gold Medal, provided they meet the additional criteria set out in the call. Details are given in Supplement 5 of the 38th OTDK General Call. We invite and welcome all interested students and their masters!

Budapest, April 21, 2026

SUPPLEMENT 1 TO THE CALL FOR PAPERS
38TH OTDK
ECONOMICS SECTION

1.    General requirements

The length of the OTDK paper may be a maximum of 80 pages, from the first page of the Introduction to the last page of the Summary. TDK papers that exceed the specified maximum page limit will be disqualified. Materials that are not part of the main text (explanatory sections, images, tables, figures, questionnaires, etc.) should be placed as an appendix after the bibliography. No text from the section spanning from the Introduction to the Summary may be moved to the appendix! A printed TDK paper is not required.

All TDK papers submitted to the OTDK are subject to a plagiarism check, which is evaluated by a special committee (Plagiarism Review Committee) set up by the Section Committee, which reviews the results of the plagiarism check one by one. Please note that plagiarism in any form is not allowed, and that the applicants’ own works may not be quoted without a reference (prohibition of self-plagiarism).

If an author submits more than one paper to the OTDK and there is an overlap in content between them, the other paper must be referenced in the same way as other literature used, and the same applies to other own publications. Failure to do so will be considered plagiarism and will result in disqualification. When using your own texts, it is also expected that the amount of text should not exceed the usual professional and scientific ratio expected for other cited works. If the reviewers determine that a substantial amount of self-referenced text has been incorporated into the paper, the Plagiarism Committee will also assess and evaluate the paper’s acceptability in this case.

TDK papers that are proven to infringe copyright will be excluded from the OTDK by the OTDT, with simultaneous notification to the nominating institution and the author. In other cases of suspected plagiarism, the paper will not be automatically excluded, but the case will be considered and evaluated by the Plagiarism Committee.

In the case of research work carried out in a research group, it is important to clearly describe the independent work carried out and to distinguish it from the other results of the research group. In this case, the author contribution declaration found in Supplement 2 of the Section Call must be completed and uploaded as a supplementary document in the Documents section of the OTDT online system. The name of the research group/project is required, as well as an indication of the specific tasks and the proportion of the work that was the author’s own contribution. In the case of multiple-author TDK papers, the application must clearly indicate the extent of each author’s individual contribution. In the case of multiple-author TDK papers, the author contribution declaration found in Supplement 2 of the Section Call must be completed and uploaded as a supplementary document in the Documents section of the OTDT online system.

In the Documents section of the OTDT online system, under files of the Supplementary Document type, if both types of itemized author declarations must be completed, they should be uploaded as separate files.

During TDK activities, the use of artificial intelligence is governed by Supplement 6 of the General Call of the 38th OTDK. The author(s) must declare the use of AI in the OTDT online system during the application of the TDK paper to the 38th OTDK in the manner specified in the above document. In the OTDK presentation, the use of AI must also be referenced in the ppt slides. If AI is used, it is recommended that the relevant sections of the TDK paper also indicate the purpose of use, a brief description of the prompt (AI query), the name of the AI application used (model and version), and the date of access. The ethical use of AI may be assessed by the reviewers (members of the Session Panel evaluating the TDK paper), as well as by the Plagiarism Review Working Committee and the Executive Board of the Section Committee. In line with the OTDT Code of Ethics (https://otdk.hu/otdt/etikai-kodex/), the Economics Section Committee has also incorporated ethical expectations regarding the use of artificial intelligence into its own professional and ethical guidelines (https://otdk.hu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Szakmai-es-etikai-iranyelvek_OTDT-Kozgazd-SzakB_20160929_kieg_mod_20241127.pdf).

The publication of TDK paper results (in journals, conference proceedings, etc.) is permitted and, in fact, aligns well with the spirit and goals of the TDK’s mission to nurture future generations of scientists. However, ethical issues arise if the subsequent publications of the results of the TDK paper include different authors than the OTDK paper. The role of a contributor or facilitator (e.g. a consultant) is of paramount importance, but they cannot be considered real authors, the TDK paper must be the independent work of the student(s). In cases where publication practices obscure the identity of the author, the default decision is disqualification, although the Plagiarism Committee may assess and evaluate the case based on additional facts.

In the Economics Section TDK papers can be submitted in Hungarian and English. TDK papers submitted in English will also be classified on a professional basis according to the subject of the paper. The same TDK paper cannot be submitted in different languages.

2. Structure of the TDK paper

• Outer cover
• Inner cover
• Table of contents
• List of tables (if applicable)
• List of figures (if applicable)
• Introduction
• Chapters (literature, research methodology, findings, evaluation, conclusions, etc.)
• Summary
• List of literature and sources used
• Supplements

The TDK paper must include the mandatory elements covering the four points expected in scientific work:

1. at the beginning of the paper (in the introduction), it includes the scientific research question that the author aims to answer;
2. it explicitly states its research model and/or methodology;
3. at the end of the paper, it answers the scientific question posed; summarizes in a thesis-like manner the new or novel scientific findings of the paper;
4. it contains the author’s conclusions and suggestions.

3. Formal requirements

The TDK paper must be prepared on a computer using a word processing application, with Times New Roman font, 12-point font size, 1.5 line spacing, and justified alignment. We ask the authors of the TDK paper to clearly specify the date of manuscript (content) completion, including the exact year, month, and day, to facilitate accurate evaluation.

Outer cover

On the outer cover, in the upper third and centered, the title “OTDK Paper” should appear in 24-point font size. At the bottom, centered, the year “2027” (the year of the conference) should also appear in 24-point font size.

A template for the outer cover is provided at the end of this supplement and is available for download on the organizing institution’s website.

Inner cover

On the inner cover, please include the author’s name, the title of the TDK paper (in Hungarian and English), the supervisor’s name, and the name of the submitting institution in 14-point font size. At the bottom of the page, indicate the completion date of the manuscript as follows: e.g., Manuscript completed: 2 October 2026.

A template for the inner cover is provided at the end of this supplement and is available for download on the organizing institution’s website.

Page numbering begins with the Introduction as page 1. The page number should be centered at the bottom of each page. Margins should be set to 2.50 cm on all sides.

The appendix may include tables, figures, and other documents that illustrate the content of the TDK paper but do not constitute its substantive part.

TDK papers that obtained eligibility for the 2027 OTDK prior to the publication of this call may be submitted in accordance with the Section call in effect at the time of the most recent/the institutional conference.

The paper must be prepared according to the requirements expected of scientific work. For guidance, please refer to the “Guide to Preparing OTDK Papers” document available on the organizing institution’s website.

In-text citations: primarily in parentheses using the author-year format (APA, Harvard).

Spelling, style, and the above formatting requirements are part of the evaluation criteria. For spelling in Hungarian-language papers, the most recent edition (12th edition, effective September 1, 2015) of “The Rules of Hungarian Orthography” published by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) is the guiding reference.

4. Rules for the abstract

The abstract is not part of the main text of the paper to be uploaded; it should be uploaded separately to the OTDT online system, but only the main text of the summary (other information, such as the names of the student authors, institution, supervisor, etc., will be generated by the online system). The length of the abstract should be no more than 2,500 characters in both English and Hungarian.

Abstracts must be uploaded in both Hungarian and English for all students, regardless of their native language.

The structure of the abstract should follow the scientific character of the TDK paper, i.e. it should include a brief summary of

1. the scientific question under consideration;
2. the presentation of the research methodology used;
3. a brief description of the findings.

5. Presentation of the TDK paper

Submission procedure for the presentation

The presentation (Power Point slideshow, prezi.com or other presentation to be projected on a computer) must be submitted to the organizing institution prior to the conference, and the organizing institution will send an e-mail with the format of the presentation no later than two weeks before the conference.  The delivery deadline is 18 April 2027 16:00 (CET), which may be postponed by the organizing institution in the information e-mail. If a student does not submit their presentation to the organizing institution by the deadline, they may give their presentation verbally without the use of computer software.

Presentation language and time frame

• Participants have 15 minutes to present TDK papers in Hungarian, during which the authors must freely present the content and research findings of their paper.
• The presentation is followed by a mandatory 10-minute discussion led by the Session Panel, during which the student will receive questions.
• As a general rule, the language of the OTDK is Hungarian; native Hungarian-speaking students presenting an English paper must do so in Hungarian. An exception may be made if TDK papers can be grouped professionally to form a separate section comprising only English-language papers. In this latter case, the presentation may be given in English.
• For non-native Hungarian-speaking students presenting English-language papers, the presentation may also be given in English.
• For English-language papers, we ask the author(s) to set the preferred language of the presentation (Hungarian/English) in the “Presentation Language” field on the registration form.
• TDK papers may be presented at the conference only in person; online participation is not possible.

6. Evaluation criteria for the TDK paper and the presentation

6.1. Evaluation of the TDK paper and the presentation

The evaluation of the papers is overseen by the OTDT Economics Section Committee in collaboration with the organizing institution of the Section.

The OTDT Economics Section Committee, together with the organizing institution, establishes a review committee for each category, identical to the Session Panel and consisting of at least three members. The members of this committee are instructors with scientific qualifications, recommended by higher education institutions. If the Session Panel has three members, all must have scientific qualifications. The Session Panel may also consist of four or more members, in which case it may include outstanding representatives of the profession or business sector who do not have scientific qualifications. The chair of the review committee is always associated with a higher education institution. An additional member of the Session Panel without voting rights is the secretary responsible for administrative duties.

The evaluation of the TDK papers consists of two parts:

• the TDK paper itself, and
• the oral presentation given at the conference.

In the final evaluation of the TDK paper, the paper and the oral presentation are weighed at 60% and 40%, respectively.

Two members of the review committee evaluate the paper in writing before the conference. The maximum score available from the written evaluation is 60 points. The final score for the written evaluation is the arithmetic mean of the two scores for two reviewers.

If the difference between the two evaluations is 15 points or more, the organizing institution first tries to provide an opportunity for the two reviewers to discuss their reasoning and potentially adjust their evaluations. If no adjustment is made or if the 15-point difference remains, a third reviewer (who has not yet evaluated the paper) is mandatorily appointed. In cases where there is a third reviewer, the final written score is the average of the two closest scores among the three; in the case of equal differences, it is the average of the two higher scores.

All written evaluations for each category (including the names of the reviewers) are made available to students by the organizing institution in the OTDT online system 5 days before the start of the conference or as soon as all reviews for the category are completed. The written and oral scores are not public.

If the average score from the evaluations is less than 50% of the possible points (30 points), the paper may be presented at the OTDK, but it cannot be rewarded.

The organizers of the Section strive to ensure that evaluations are completed no later than 5 days before the conference. If this deadline is not met, the paper cannot be excluded from eligibility for awards on account of this delay, regardless of the score.

The presentation will be evaluated by a Session Panel of recognized members of the field. The maximum score for the presentation evaluation is 40 points.

6.2. Evaluation criteria for the TDK paper and presentation

OTDK PRESENTATION EVALUATION SHEET

Name of the participant: ……………………………………………………………………………………………
Title of the TDK paper: ………………………………………………………………………………………………
Name, position and contact details (e-mail) of the reviewer: ………………………………………

1. Overall evaluation of the TDK paper (max 12 points)

Total score: …………….
Written justification: ……………………………………………………………………………………

Use of literature (max 12 points)

Total score: …………….
Written justification: ……………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Methodology: quality of data and information collection and processing (max 12 points)

Total score: ……………..
Written justification: …………………………………………………………………………………………

Results, conclusions, suggestions (max 12 points)

Total score: ……………..
Written justification: ……………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Format requirements (max 6 points)

Total score: ……………..
Written justification: ……………………………………………………………………………………………

Evaluation of the abstract (max 6 points)

Total score: ……………..
Written justification: ………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOTAL POINTS (max 60 points):               . ………………

……………………..…, …… March/April 2027

—–

OTDK PRESENTATION EVALUATION SHEET

Name of the participant: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Title of the TDK paper: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Name of the reviewer: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

1. Overall evaluation (max 12 points)

Criteria:

 2. Quality of the Presentation Content (max. 16 points)

3. Debate skills of the presenter (max 12 points)

TOTAL POINTS (max 40 points):                 ………………………………………………

Kecskemét, April …., 2027

—–

OTDK paper

2027

—–

NAME OF INSTITUTION
NAME OF FACULTY

[INSTITUTION LOGO CAN BE INSERTED HERE]

TITLE OF THE TDK PAPER IN HUNGARIAN

TITLE OF THE TDK PAPER IN ENGLISH

Name of the Author(s)
Name of Consultant(s):
Closure date of the manuscript: xx. xx. xxxx.

SUPPLEMENT 2 TO THE CALL FOR PAPERS
38TH OTDK
ECONOMICS SECTION

AUTHOR’S CONTRIBUTION

I/We, the undersigned (name(s) of the student submitting the paper to be filled in here), hereby declare that I/we participated in the following work processes for the paper titled (title of the paper to be filled in here) submitted to the 38th OTDK:

In the case of work conducted within a research group, provide the identifying details of the research project (title, identification number, etc.):
________________________________________________________________________________

Date:

_________________________
Student submitting the TDK paper (name)
signature

For multiple-author TDK papers:

_________________________                         _________________________
Co-author (name)                                                Co-author (name)
signature                                                                 signature

^[1]* The following list is a sample, which can be freely modified or extended. Based on CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy): https://credit.niso.org/

[2] In the case of multiple-author TDK papers, fill in for each author by increasing the number of columns – author 1, author 2, etc. In the case of work done in a research group, it is sufficient to fill in only for the author if the work had no co-authors.

• 38th OTDK Economics Section Call
• Supplement 1
• Supplement 2