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A common question among graduate students and researchers facing tight travel budgets or schedule conflicts is whether they can simply pay the registration fee, skip the physical event, and still get their paper published.
The short and definitive answer is no.
In the legitimate academic publishing world, paying for publication without presenting is strictly prohibited. Major publishers enforce rigid rules to ensure that conferences remain venues for active scientific discussion rather than just paper-printing mills.
Here is a detailed breakdown of the rules surrounding absenteeism, the penalties involved, and the legitimate workarounds available if you cannot travel.
Top-tier publishers, including IEEE, ACM, and Springer, explicitly enforce a "No-Show" policy.
If the presentation slot arrives and the author is absent without prior approval, the paper is officially flagged as a no-show.
Skipping a conference after your paper has been accepted carries severe academic and financial penalties.
Loss of Indexing: While the conference organizers might hand out a physical "Book of Abstracts" at the venue that includes your name, the publisher will pull your paper from the official digital library (e.g., IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library).
No Scopus or EI Credit: Because the paper is removed from the digital library, it will never be indexed in major databases like Scopus, EI Compendex, or Web of Science. It will not count toward your graduation or tenure requirements.
Forfeited Fees: Conference organizers do not issue refunds for no-shows. You will lose the entire registration fee, which can range from $500 to $1,000.
Reputational Damage: Some prestigious conferences track no-shows and may "blacklist" authors or their research labs from submitting papers in future years.
Life is unpredictable, and conference committees understand that legitimate emergencies happen. If you realize you cannot attend, you must contact the Program Chair immediately. Silence is what triggers the no-show penalty.
Here are the standard acceptable solutions:
Appoint a Proxy Presenter (Co-Author): The most common solution is to have a co-author present the work. If no co-author is available, you may be allowed to ask a qualified colleague from your institution who is already attending the conference to present on your behalf.
Visa Denials: If your travel visa is rejected, you must send the official rejection letter to the organizers. Most major conferences will shift your presentation to a virtual format or allow a proxy.
Medical Emergencies: Sudden illness or family emergencies are valid excuses. Providing documentation to the committee will usually grant you an exemption, allowing the paper to be published even if a proxy cannot be found.
Since 2020, the academic landscape has changed significantly. If you know in advance that you cannot secure travel funding, you should exclusively target Hybrid or Virtual Conferences.
Registering as a "Virtual Presenter" fulfills the presentation requirement perfectly. You will present via Zoom or submit a pre-recorded video, your research will be peer-reviewed, and your paper will be published and indexed exactly as if you had flown to the physical venue.
If you find a conference that explicitly advertises "Pay to Publish without Attending," run the other way.
This is the hallmark of a predatory conference. These fake organizations exist solely to collect registration fees. They will take your money, print your paper on their private website, and disappear. Because they lack rigorous peer review and publisher backing, the paper will never be indexed in reputable databases, rendering your research functionally useless for your career.
Publishing an academic paper requires you to defend your work in front of your peers. If you submit to a conference, you must be prepared to present it. If travel is impossible, secure a proxy presenter, apply for a virtual track, or consider skipping the conference entirely and submitting directly to a journal instead.
