ICPS Conference Publication Policy

The following policies are specific to conferences published in the ACM International Conference Proceedings Series (ICPS). (For policies specific to ACM sponsored conferences, see ACM Conference Publication Policy.)

ACM staff and third party production vendors will provide conference program chairs with the support they need to ensure that proceedings papers are published quickly, efficiently, and to a high quality standard. In return, conference program chairs, program committees, and reviewers must be conscientious in managing the review process, and adhere to both conference-specific policies and general ACM Publications Policies.

The following is a list of responsibilities and requirements for those actively involved in the publication of ICPS conferences.

Program chairs for ICPS conferences can expect ACM to:

  • Provide assistance and advice on matters relating to the publication process, including but not limited to publication policies, rights management, production-related issues, the use of plagiarism detection software, handling allegations of publications-related misconduct, etc.
  • Have clearly written policies and a commitment to advise conference organizers and/or assist in the investigation of alleged violations of such policies, and to hold violators of such policies accountable for their violations.
  • Work with conference organizers to resolve conflicts between ACM publications policies and conference-specific policies.
  • Listen and respond in a timely manner when help or information is requested.
  • Recognize that program chairs are responsible for editorial decision-making and the quality of the content.
  • Recognize that the program committee chair(s) appoints program committee members.
  • Recognize that the ACM Publications Board and HQ staff are responsible for investigating and making decisions related to publications-related violations for all submitted, accepted, and published ICPS conference papers.

ACM expects program chairs and committees to:

  • Inform the publisher in a timely manner of the status of all submissions.
  • Understand and follow through on author rights, reviewer rights, and reader rights, and in particular to provide clear, timely, and impartial feedback.
  • Clearly and accurately communicate ACM Publications policies to PC members, peer reviewers, and authors in instructions to PC members and peer reviewers, instructions for authors, and in formal Calls for Papers, including any obligations that may differ from general ACM Publications Policy. 
  • Not implement any conference-specific policies that directly conflict with general ACM Publications Policies. For example, all ACM authors have the unrestricted and unlimited right to post pre-prints of their work to arXiv and other similar non-commercial sites and no ICPS conference may reject submissions as a result of ACM authors posting their work to arXiv or other similar non-commercial sites.
  • Be an advocate for their ICPS conferences and make all reasonable efforts to ensure the highest possible quality of the content selected for publication, taking specific steps to check for and prevent various types of publications-related misconduct (i.e. - plagiarism, computer-generated articles, fraudulent publication via paper mills and tortured phrase papers, pay-to-publish schemes, undeclared conflicts of interest, gift authorship, etc.). And when such misconduct is alleged, investigated, and proven, to hold those found guilty of these violations to account in a manner consistent with established ACM Publications Policy (see Penalties).
  • Manage the review process in a timely, confidential, and appropriate manner.
  • Ensure that PC members and peer reviewers do not violate confidential peer review obligations, such as conducting bulk-downloads of submissions.
  • Support, cooperate, and approve all reasonable requests by ACM staff to have access to data, peer review reports, access to the conference's submission and peer review system, and other information managed by conference leadership in connection with investigations into publications-related misconduct.
  • Responsibly cover all sides of important issues and not use the publication as a forum to further their own views, opinions, or personal or political agendas.
  • Recognize that the program chair(s) has ultimate responsibility for editorial decision making and the quality of the content.
  • Maintain a complete, confidential, and accurate archive of submission and peer review data, including a record of submissions, editorial decisions, copies of complete reviews and review reports, and editorial decision recommendations for a minimum of 5 years from the date of Publication.
  • Use volunteers effectively and fairly.
  • Cooperate with the publisher on its goals of supporting the membership of the ACM and the computing profession in general.
  • Implement with quality and appropriateness the charter of the publication.
     

Submitting and Investigating Potential Violations of this Policy

See Policy on Submitting and Investigating Claims

Confidentiality Policy

See Confidentiality Policy

Communicating Results of Investigations

See Policy on Communicating Results of Investigations

Appealing Violation Decisions

See Appealing Policy Violation Decisions

Contact ACM

The ACM Director of Publications should be contacted for any:

  • Questions about the interpretation of this policy
  • Questions about appeals of decisions
  • Requests for deviations from, or extensions to, this policy
  • Reporting of egregious behavior related to this policy, including purposeful evasion of the policy or false reporting

Mailing address:
ACM Director of Publications
Association for Computing Machinery
1601 Broadway, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10019-7434
Phone: +1-212-626-0659
Or via email:
[email protected]