| name | icassp-topic-selection |
| description | Use when deciding whether a project fits ICASSP, the IEEE Signal Processing Society flagship spanning all signal processing, and specifically for the ICASSP-versus-Interspeech routing decision for speech work, plus routing to ICIP, EUSIPCO, WASPAA, SPS journals, or ML venues by identifying the signal-processing primitive of the contribution. |
ICASSP Topic Selection
Use this before writing. ICASSP is the IEEE Signal Processing Society flagship, and its
defining feature is breadth: speech and audio, image and video, communications and radar,
sensor arrays, estimation and detection theory, and machine learning for signals all review under
one roof. Speech is one track among many, not the identity of the venue. A project fits when
its contribution changes a signal-processing primitive and can be proved in four pages.
Find the signal-processing primitive
Name what the contribution actually is:
- A new estimator, transform, filter, or detector; a new representation or embedding; a
new objective or inference procedure; a resource (corpus/benchmark); or a
model-based-deep-learning result that changes a block of the signal chain.
- If no signal-processing primitive exists — the paper is generic ML with no signal model — ICASSP
is likely the wrong venue (see the re-route table).
The ICASSP-vs-Interspeech routing decision (read this for any speech paper)
Speech papers can go to either venue, and picking wrong costs a cycle. They differ on mechanics as
much as on scope:
| Dimension | ICASSP (IEEE SPS) | Interspeech (ISCA) |
|---|
| Scope | All signal processing; speech is one track | Speech and spoken language only |
| Culture | Signal-processing methods, math-forward | Speech-science + engineering, spoken-language focus |
| Format | 4+1 (4 content pages + reference page) | 4+1 (4 content + reference page), different template |
| Anonymity | Single-blind — author list included | Double-anonymous with a pre-deadline anonymity period |
| Deadline | September (autumn) | Late February (winter) |
| Portal | CMS (cmsworkshops.com) | Microsoft CMT |
| Proceedings | IEEE Xplore | ISCA Archive, open access |
Decision rule: route to ICASSP when the contribution is a signal-processing method whose
speech application is one instance (a new front-end, estimator, separation objective, or array
technique), or when the September calendar and single-blind culture fit. Route to Interspeech
when the contribution is fundamentally about spoken language — phonetics, prosody, dialogue,
speech science, or a speech-specific model where the linguistic content is the point — or when the
February calendar and double-blind norms fit. When both fit, let deadline and reviewer community
decide.
Fit signal table (full ICASSP breadth)
| Signal in the project | ICASSP reading |
|---|
| New estimator/filter/detector with a signal model + evaluation | Core fit — the house genre |
| Speech/audio method framed as a signal-processing mechanism | Core fit (vs Interspeech if it is spoken-language-centric) |
| Image/video restoration, coding, or analysis | Core fit (compare ICIP for image-specific work) |
| Communications, radar, array, or sensor signal processing | Core fit |
| Generic deep net with strong benchmarks but no signal insight | Better at NeurIPS/ICML/ICLR/AAAI |
| A finished, journal-length result with extensive theory | An SPS journal (TSP/TASLP/SPL) |
Re-route table
- Generic ML, no signal model → NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI.
- Spoken-language-centric speech → Interspeech (or SLT/ASRU for those subfields).
- Image-specific → ICIP; European/audio-workshop → EUSIPCO, WASPAA, DCASE.
- Journal-length, finished → IEEE TSP, TASLP, SPL, TIP, or a sibling SPS journal; consider the
OJSP-ICASSP track to present at ICASSP while publishing open-access in a journal.
Sharpening moves before committing
- State the primitive in one sentence; if you cannot, the ICASSP framing does not yet exist.
- Confirm the result fits four pages with a task-matched metric and a standard baseline; a claim
that needs journal-length exposition should go to an SPS journal or the OJSP track.
- For speech work, run the ICASSP-vs-Interspeech table explicitly rather than defaulting to
whichever deadline is closer.
- Subject-area emphasis drifts by cycle; scan the current EDICS list before final routing.
Output format
[Fit] strong ICASSP / possible ICASSP / better elsewhere
[Primitive] estimator / transform / representation / objective / resource / model-based-DL / none
[If speech] ICASSP vs Interspeech -> <decision + reason (scope/calendar/blinding)>
[Best venue] ICASSP / Interspeech / ICIP / EUSIPCO / WASPAA / SPS journal / ML venue
[Contribution sentence] <one signal-processing claim>
[Next action] <framing, experiment, or venue switch>
