Is it okay to just present (without paper) research that is subject to an already finally submitted, but still unpublished conference paper?

Question

I will try to make my question as understandable as possibe.

In the course of a project I belong to as a consortium member, I did research on a particular topic and submitted my findings in form of a conference paper.

The paper got accepted after double-blind review. The final version of the paper (not anonymized anymore) is already submitted. Final submission deadline is already closed.

All I can do for now is wait until the conference starts in 3 months, so I can present my paper at this conference and the paper will be published in the conference proceedings.

Now to the actual part of the question:

The project I'm working in hasn't published any research (besides papers from the consortium members) yet.

As the project is funded by the government, public dissemination activities are obligatory.

Thus, a public webinar-series will be scheduled in about 1 month, where I will also have to present my research findings. The same findings that are subject to the conference paper I already submitted but which will be published in 3 months.

The conference guideline states that the work submitted must be original, unpublished work. Both criteria were met at the final submission deadline.

But now that the webinar-series (which will be recorded and published on YT) will take place before I'm able to present my paper at the conference and before my paper will be published in the conference proceedings, do I violate this rule (original, unpublished) by presenting my research at this webinar?

What I will do of course is to refer to the forthcoming publication in my webinar presentation, so that it is clear that the research I'm presenting is part of said paper which will be first published (at least in form of a manuscript) at said conference 3 months in the future.

Answer 1

I assume that you are in a field where conferences are the main publication venues (and not mainly settings to network and discuss work in progress). I also assume that the "webinar" for "public dissemination" targets a different audience than the conference presentation.*

Only the conference convenors can tell you with authority what they count as an original publication. My strong hunch is that presentations without any written trace are not considered as previous publications. By contrast, conference proceedings, journal articles, book chapters, technical reports, and preprints all are written publications -- although many (most?) conferences do allow preprints.

You probably should not rehash the exact same material anyway, if only because your audiences are different. A generalist audience wants to see the big picture and some interesting stories. The specialist audience wants the theoretical contribution, the methods, and all the technical details.

To be on the safe side, ask the convenors. Think about how you will adjust the framing around the presentation material to address each specific audience. In your inquiry, briefly explain how the webinar differs from the conference, that the results are recorded but not published in writing, and how, as a result, the substance will overlap without being identical.

^{* Caveat: I work in a field where conferences are not publication venues.}