Publishing in Computer Science, Part 1, Conferences

• There are two major organizations which promote CS research
  • The Association for Computing Machinery(ACM)
  • The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, I-tripple-E)
    • Especially the IEEE Computer Society
• 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
      • Check out SIGGRAPH
      • Some, like SIGGRAPH2013 are rock star events.
      • Others, like IEEE VIS 2013 are more academic in nature.
• There are some independant conferences too
  • World Congress in Computer Science or Worldcomp 2013.
• 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
  • A day at VIS Week last year.
  • Or the entire IPDPS 2012 program.
• Conferences issue a CFP (Call for Papers)
  • This lists the due dates (up to 6 months before the conference)
  • And the requirements for publication/presentation
  • Eurographics 2013 CFP.
  • IPDPS 2013
  • PDPTA
• 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 easy conference choices for us this semester
  • CCSC NE April 12-13
  • PACISE April 5-6.
  • Interested in attending?