Publishing in Computer Science: Conferences
- There are two major organizations which promote CS research
- The major form of publication in CS is conference paper
- This is different from most other disciplines, which hold the journal article as the gold standard.
- And there are frequently calls for this to change.
- You should read this article, as it is an important glimpse into how research is done.
- Each organization has a number of conferences
- IEEE Computer
- ACM
- ACM conferences are usually supported by SIGs
- Each SIG has one or more conferences
- There are some independant conferences too
- Conferences will have associated workshops, symposia, tutorials, ...
- Look at IDPDS the IEEE International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium
- There are a number of workshops.
- Vis Week is actually a collection of several conferences (VIS, VAST, InfoVIS)
- And has a few contests as well.
- There are also tutorials. at many conferences.
- And symposia
- And other things.
- The program, including abstracts from conferences are usually on line
- Conferences issue a CFP (Call for Papers)
- A conference usually works as follows:
- Tutorials take place before the conference begins. Sometimes these are an additional expense.
- Workshops take place before the conference as well, usually these are part of the conference fee.
- There is usually a keynote address sometime, big name, everyone in one room.
- There is usually a welcome of some sort to begin the conference.
- There is usually a main address each morning. Smaller, but still big name, big idea related to the conference.
- Multiple parallel sessions occur, usually 2 (or so) hours at a time.
- Usually three to five talks per session.
- Usually grouped by commonality of subject.
- You can switch between tracks, (depending on door guards)
- They usually schedule two really good ones back to back!
- Talks usually allow time for questions.
- It is polite to have a question, but usually this is not a problem.
- There may be a poster session (or more)
- A scheduled time to talk to the presenters.
- But the posters are usually up all day (at least)
- These tend to be ideas and work in progress.
- Depending on the conference, there might be a trade show.
- There is usually a social time every day.
- There is sometimes a business meeting for the sponsering orginization.
- After the conference, you typically receive the proceedings, with a copy of all published papers, abstracts, ....
- Selected papers are sometimes published in a journal as well.
- How does this impact you.
- You need to find a topic.
- I would suggest looking at the SIGs from ACM
- And the conferences from ACM and IEEE-Computer.
- Look at the publications at the conferences in the last few years for a topic you are interested in.
- Start looking for these papers.
- Some conferences also accept student volenteers.
- This is usually a sweet deal.
- They make you work a couple of hours.
- They let you into the conference for free
- They will frequently house and feed you.
- We have two ro three easy conference choices for us this semester
- CCSC East Oct 20-12
- EUP's Celebration of Scholarship
- PACISE Early April
- CCSC NE April 20-21 in New Hampshire
- Interested in attending?