| name | icdt-supplementary |
| description | Use when deciding how to split an ICDT (International Conference on Database Theory) paper between the 15-page lipics-v2021 body and the clearly-marked appendix that referees read at their discretion, given that online/external appendices are not allowed and every proof needed to certify the result must live inside the single submitted PDF. |
ICDT Supplementary Material
Decide what goes in the body, what goes in the appendix, and — the ICDT-specific constraint — accept
that there is no online supplement. ICDT allows a clearly marked appendix inside the
submission PDF, read at the discretion of the program committee, but it does not allow
online/external appendices. So everything a referee could need to certify your theorem must be in
the one PDF, and you must write the body assuming the appendix might not be read.
The one hard rule
The 15-page body (excluding references) must let a referee judge that the result is correct and
significant on its own. The appendix supplies the full proofs for the referee who chooses to check
them. Nothing decision-critical may depend on material outside the submitted PDF.
Because online appendices are forbidden, you cannot offload proofs to arXiv "for the reviewers." The
full version on arXiv is for readers after publication; the reviewed object is the single PDF.
What belongs where
| Content | Location | Reason |
|---|
| Definitions, models, main theorem statements | Body | The referee must have them to judge the claim |
| Proof ideas / sketches of the main results | Body | Enough to make correctness plausible without the appendix |
| Full, detailed proofs | Marked appendix | Read at the PC's discretion; keep the body within budget |
| Routine lemmas and calculations | Appendix | Necessary but not illuminating in the body |
| A worked example that clarifies the construction | Body | High-value, checkable by hand; earns its space |
| Extended related work, tables of cases | Appendix | Useful reference, not needed to follow the argument |
| Anything that decides acceptance | Body (at least in sketch) | A referee who skips the appendix must still be convinced |
Writing for "read at the PC's discretion"
Referees may or may not open the appendix, so:
- Self-contained body: each main theorem has, in the body, either a proof or a sketch detailed
enough that a referee believes it is provable and sees the key step.
- Signposted appendix: label appendix sections to match the theorems ("Appendix A: Proof of
Theorem 3"), so a referee checking one claim finds it instantly.
- No forward-dependence on the appendix for understanding — the body should never say "see the
appendix for what this means"; definitions and statements are in the body.
- The appendix is proofs, not new results — do not smuggle an additional theorem into the
appendix to dodge the page limit; a result that matters belongs in the body.
What the appendix is not
- Not an online link. No "additional experiments/proofs available at " for the review — the
URL both breaks the no-online-appendix rule and can de-anonymize you.
- Not overflow for a too-long paper. If the body cannot state the contribution in 15 pages, the
fix is compression or splitting the result, not exiling half the argument to the appendix.
- Not a dumping ground — an unreadable 40-page appendix is as unpersuasive as no proof; keep it
organized and referee-navigable.
The full version (separate from the appendix)
Keep a full version with all proofs, typically on arXiv, for after acceptance. It is the
permanent scholarly record and the thing the camera-ready references — but it plays no role in the
anonymous review, where only the single PDF counts. See icdt-camera-ready for linking it and
icdt-reproducibility for keeping it consistent with the published version.
Output format
[Body self-sufficiency] every acceptance-critical claim provable-from-the-body (>= sketch)? yes/no
[Appendix] present, clearly marked, signposted per theorem? yes/no
[No-online-appendix] zero external links required for review? yes/no
[Budget] body <= 15 pages excl. refs? yes/no
[Fix queue] <move X to body / compress Y / no external dependence>
