Publishing in Computer Science
Jan Obdržálek
FI MU
DUVOD, March 28, 2013
Jan Obdržálek (FI MU) Publishing in Computer Science DUVOD, Spring 2013 1 / 1
Part I
Publishing - Conferences
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Choosing a conference
What are the factors to consider?
scope
what appeared there in the last few years
overall quality/acceptance ratio
programme committee (PC)
deadlines
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Review process
Each paper requires 3-4 reviews!
Reviewers
PC members, ∼ 15 − 20 papers each
many distributed to subreviewers
PC member is responsible for the subreviewers, participates in the
discussion
Paper assignment
PC bid for papers, few days after submission deadline
can be sped up by the abstracts first policy
conflict of interest must be declared
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Reviews
fixed entries
submitted through a PC member (email), or electronically
(Easychair)
around 4 weeks turnaround time
the review can be modified/added to during the PC discussion
Form entries
overall score
detailed review, including justification
comments for PC
confidence level
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PC discussion and paper selection
timeframe: 2-3 weeks
nowadays almost exclusively ”distributed”
first pass: remove clear accepts and rejects
ask for additional reviews if necessary
some papers initiate a long discussion
gray zone: somebody must fight for the paper
luck always plays part
Rebuttals - not for ading new material!
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Timeframe – a recap
1 paper bidding: 2 days – 1 week
2 reviews: 4-5 weeks
3 (rebuttal: 1 week)
4 PC discussion: 2-3 weeks
5 full version: 1-2 weeks
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Conference reviews
EXAMPLES
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Part II
Publishing - Journals
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Journal types
By access
traditional (serials crisis)
open access (outside funding vs author pays)
hybrid open access
delayed open access
The “big three”
Elsevier
Springer
John Wiley
More than 42% in CS!
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Who is in charge?
Editorial staff
Editorial board
active members
ceremonial members
Associate/assistant editors
by topics
additional advice to editors
Chief editor(s)/Editor-in-Chief
Two types of editors
academics (may, or may not be paid)
professional editors (should have at least postdoc experience)
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Review process
Differences from conferences
takes much longer (months/years)
much more thorough
guided by the editor
multiple iterations
decision is not binary (accept/reject)
Possible outcomes (example)
accept, no changes
accept, minor changes (no extra refereeing needed)
accept, subject to major changes (new round of refereeing)
reject
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Contributions
longer (10-50 pages)
include all details
Taxonomy
regular paper
special issue
for a conference/workshop (selected papers only)
anniversary (person/area)
for active new topics
survey
short paper
editorial
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Journal reviews
EXAMPLES
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