Review Process

No separate advance abstract registration is required. Authors may register a new abstract and submit the complete paper by November 5, 2026, at 23:59:59 Anywhere on Earth (AoE, UTC-12). Abstract text remains required in HotCRP. The earlier October 29 advance-registration cutoff is superseded.

Each new submission must nominate a senior author or advisor holding a PhD who commits to three reviews and provide the required reserve-reviewer details in HotCRP. Existing PC members retain their agreed reviewing commitments. A person nominated on multiple papers contributes one reviewing commitment, not an additional commitment for each paper. PhD students may assist as subreviewers subject to conflict checking and confidentiality; the named responsible reviewer must hold a PhD.

Regular and Short papers must omit author names, institutions, acknowledgments, and identifying metadata. Cite the authors' own work in the third person. Tool papers must include author names and affiliations and may include identifying tool and repository links. Reviewer identities remain confidential to authors in every category.

Authors may post a non-anonymized version of their manuscript on arXiv or a similar non-peer-reviewed preprint repository before submission or during the review period. Posting a preprint does not violate the conference's light double-anonymous review policy and is not, by itself, prior publication or simultaneous submission to another peer-reviewed venue.

The Regular or Short paper PDF submitted to HotCRP must still omit author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and identifying metadata, and cite the authors' own related work in the third person. Tool papers use single-anonymous review and must include author names and affiliations. These requirements apply to the conference submission; the arXiv version need not be anonymized.

The initial paper-submission deadline is November 5, 2026, at 23:59:59 Anywhere on Earth (AoE, UTC-12). Upload the complete paper, complete the required fields, mark it ready for review, and submit by that deadline.

Papers already submitted by the paper deadline may be updated during a one-day grace period, through November 6, 2026, at 23:59:59 AoE. This update window applies to submitted papers; an unsubmitted draft must be completed by the November 5 deadline to enter review.

Regular, Short, and Tool submissions may include optional appendices in the same PDF, after the references, starting on a new page and clearly labeled "Appendix" or "Appendices". These review appendices do not count toward the category page limit; there is no separate appendix page limit. The existing reference-page rules still apply to the main paper, including the author-selected Short or Regular format for Tool papers.

The main paper must be self-contained: reviewers must be able to assess its contribution, technical soundness, and central claims without reading the appendices. Reviewers may consult appendices at their discretion but are not required to read them. Use appendices for supporting details, such as extended proofs or additional experimental results, rather than material essential to evaluating the paper.

Appendices must follow the same format, submission deadline, and anonymity requirements as the main paper. Regular and Short appendices must preserve author anonymity; Tool appendices need not be anonymous. Permission to include appendices for review does not guarantee their inclusion in the proceedings. Final appendix and supplementary-material publication arrangements will be specified in the camera-ready instructions. Separate artifact evaluation remains voluntary and begins after paper notification.

The coordinated program committee will evaluate technical soundness and contribution, relevance to the selected track or tracks and the conference, clarity of presentation, significance and likely impact, and verifiability of claims. The same criteria apply to Regular, Short, and Tool papers in light of each category's intended scope.

After initial reviews, authors may use the confirmed author-response period to correct factual errors, answer reviewer questions, and point to evidence already present in the submitted paper or supplement. Regular and Short responses must preserve author anonymity; Tool responses may identify authors consistently with their open submission. Responses must not introduce new research results or a revised paper. Detailed response instructions, including any length limit, will appear in the submission system before the period opens.

The planned process is for reviewers and unconflicted program-committee leadership to consider the submitted paper, reviews, and author response during online discussion before decisions. Detailed discussion and decision procedures remain forthcoming. Authors will receive the decision and the author-visible reviews on the confirmed notification date. Presentation details for accepted papers remain forthcoming.