Call for Papers

POPL 2008
Thursday 10 January to Saturday 12 January 2008

San Francisco, California, USA

Important dates

Scope

The annual Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages is a forum for the discussion of all aspects of programming languages and systems, with emphasis on how principles underpin practice. Both theoretical and experimental papers are welcome, on topics ranging from formal frameworks to experience reports.

Submissions on a diversity of topics are sought, particularly ones that identify new research directions. POPL 2008 is not limited to topics discussed in previous symposia. Authors concerned about the appropriateness of a topic may communicate by electronic mail with the program chair prior to submission.

Pearls and Advice to Authors

Explaining a known idea in a new way may make as strong a contribution as inventing a new idea. We encourage the submission of pearls: elegant essays which illustrate an idea, often by developing a short program. There is no formal separation of categories, but a pearl should be labelled as such in its abstract. All papers, whether pearl or otherwise, will be judged on their correctness, significance, novelty, clarity, elegance, and beauty.

Pearls have long been an accepted form of submission for the Journal of Functional Programming (JFP) and the International Conference on Functional Programming (ICFP). Advice on writing pearls can be found in the ICFP 2006 Call for Papers.

Each paper, pearl or otherwise, should explain its contributions in both general and technical terms, identifying what has been accomplished, explaining why it is significant, and comparing it with previous work. Authors should strive to make their papers understandable to a broad audience. Advice on writing technical papers can be found on the SIGPLAN Author Information page.

Unlike in 2007, there are no special categories of short and long submissions.

Submission guidelines

Submissions must be filed at the web site by 11:00 PM Monday 16 July, Apia, Samoa time. Some equivalents to this time are

• San Francisco: 3:00 AM (17 July)
• New York: 6:00 AM (17 July)
• Chicago: 5:00 AM (17 July)
• London: 11:00 AM (17 July)
• Paris: Noon (17 July)
• Hong Kong: 6:00 PM (17 July)
• UTC: 10:00 AM (17 July)

For other time-zones/locations, see the worldclock.

Submission URL: Submissions will be carried out electronically via the Web, at the Submission URL.

Authors should submit an abstract of at most 300 words and a full paper of no more than 12 pages (including bibliography and appendices). The submission deadline and length limitations are firm. Submissions that do not meet these guidelines may not be considered.

Submissions should be in standard ACM SIGPLAN conference format: two columns, nine-point font on a ten-point baseline, with pages 20pc (3.33in) wide and 54pc (9in) tall, with a column gutter of 2pc (0.33in). Detailed formatting guidelines are available on the SIGPLAN Author Information page, along with a LaTeX class file and template.

You need not include categories or keywords in the submission, though you are welcome to do so. The ACM copyright notice is not required of submissions, only of accepted papers.

Papers must be submitted in PDF format and printable on US Letter size paper. Individuals for which this requirement is a hardship should contact the program chair at least one week before the deadline.

Submitted papers must adhere to the SIGPLAN Republication Policy. Concurrent submissions to other journals, conferences, workshops, or similar forums of publication are not allowed.

Authors of accepted papers will be required to sign the ACM copyright form. Proceedings will be published by ACM Press.

Author Response Period

Authors will be given a 48-hour period (from 11:00 PM Apia Time Monday 17 September to 11:00 PM Apia Time Wednesday 19 September) to read and respond to the reviews of their papers before the PC meeting. Details of the response process will be announced by e-mail a few days beforehand.

Student Attendees

Students who have a paper accepted for the conference are offered student membership of SIGPLAN free for one year. As members of SIGPLAN they may apply for travel fellowships from the PAC fund.