| name | hpca-submission |
| description | Use when auditing an HPCA submission for the two-step July gate on HotCRP, the 11-page main-body limit, the IEEE template, double-blind anonymity plus the all-authors reference rule, the AI-use disclosure, artifact-link scrubbing, and final-week sequencing before the paper deadline. |
HPCA Submission
Use this for an HPCA paper submission audit. Reopen the current
20XX.hpca-conf.org call for papers, the HotCRP portal, and the IEEE template
before giving deadline-ready advice — every cap and date below is a cycle snapshot.
The two-step July gate
HPCA collects an abstract-and-conflict registration roughly a week before the
full paper, both on HotCRP (hpca<year>.hotcrp.com). The registration step is not a
placeholder: it finalizes the conflict list and seeds reviewer assignment, so a
missed registration can forfeit the paper slot even if the PDF is ready. For HPCA
2027 the paper deadline is July 24, 2026 (AoE), with registration about a week
earlier.
- Register the real title, abstract, authors, topics, and complete per-author
conflicts by the registration cutoff — not placeholders you plan to fix.
- Treat the paper step as a second hard deadline, not an extension of the first.
Format and anonymity audit
- Apply the current IEEE template without margin, font, or spacing hacks. Recent
cycles cap the main body at 11 pages excluding references, with a minimum
10pt font and 12pt leading.
- References are unlimited and uncounted — but each reference must list all of
its authors, or the paper can be rejected. Never abbreviate an author list with
"et al." in the bibliography to save space.
- Enforce double-blind: no author names anywhere outside the HotCRP form, scrubbed
PDF metadata, and fully anonymized artifact links (repositories, dataset hosts).
- Keep references de-anonymized: cite your own prior work in the third person,
but do not remove or blind citations for anonymity.
- Disclose any AI-generated content in the acknowledgments per recent CFP
wording; the acknowledgments themselves stay anonymous until camera-ready.
Blocking risks
- Missed abstract-and-conflict registration, or an incomplete conflict list.
- Overlength main text or a modified template.
- A reference that omits authors (a stated reject trigger), or a bibliography blinded
for anonymity.
- Author identity leaking through PDF metadata or a non-anonymized artifact link.
- Headline numbers with no named instrument (simulator/fidelity or machine/state).
Desk-reject and triage table
| Trigger | Severity at HPCA | Repair window |
|---|
| Missed registration step | Lost paper slot | None after the cutoff |
| Overlength main text | Desk reject | None after the deadline |
| Template tampering | Desk reject or chair flag | None |
| Reference omits authors | Reject per CFP | Only before the deadline |
| Identity leak in PDF or artifact link | Desk reject | None |
| Missing AI-use disclosure | Policy flag | Fixable before the deadline |
Final-week sequence for a simulation-plus-silicon paper
- Freeze the mechanism description and figure set; renumber so reviewers can
cross-reference.
- Regenerate every figure from a scripted pipeline so PDF and artifact cannot
diverge.
- Verify each bibliography entry lists all authors, then scrub PDF metadata and
anonymize every artifact URL.
- Confirm the HotCRP abstract matches the PDF abstract, all fields are filled, and
status reads submitted (not saved).
- Re-run the registration-vs-paper check: the conflict list from step one still
matches the author list.
Output format
[HPCA readiness] Ready / Needs fixes / Not ready
[Gate step] registration / paper
[Blocking checks] <registration/page/template/anonymity/references/AI-disclosure>
[Instrument risk] <one un-anchored number, or none>
[Desk-reject risk] <one issue>
[Fix order] <ordered fixes before the deadline>
Recheck the current CFP before trusting any number here: the 11-page cap, the
registration-to-paper gap, and the AI-disclosure wording are all per-edition.
