| name | tacas-review-process |
| description | Use when reasoning about how a TACAS (ETAPS) submission is evaluated, covering the per-category blind model (double-blind research vs single-blind tool/case-study), the single annual PC round with a rebuttal, the parallel mandatory artifact evaluation that feeds tool-paper acceptance, accept/reject decisions, and how TACAS's process differs from CAV's and from a journal's. |
TACAS Review Process
Model the pipeline before interpreting any single review. TACAS's process has three features that
surprise authors arriving from other venues: reviewing is blind by category, the decision for a
tool paper depends on a parallel artifact evaluation, and the whole thing runs in a single
annual round on the ETAPS schedule with a short rebuttal — not a rolling or multi-round journal
cycle.
Process model
- Submission and review run on EasyChair under the ETAPS joint schedule. Reviewing is
per-category: regular research papers are double-blind; case-study, regular tool, and
tool-demonstration papers are single-blind.
- Each paper is read by multiple PC members who weigh, for a research paper, the soundness and
significance of the algorithm; for a tool paper, the tool's contribution and its working
artifact; for a case study, the realism of the system and the honesty of the lessons.
- For regular tool and tool-demonstration papers, a mandatory artifact is evaluated by the
Artifact Evaluation Committee in parallel with the PC, and the artifact outcome feeds the
acceptance decision — a paper whose artifact does not work is in real jeopardy.
- There is a short rebuttal / author-response window before the PC finalizes decisions.
- Accepted papers publish in Springer LNCS, gold open access; badges earned by the AEC
(Available / Functional / Reusable) are printed on the title page.
Reading a decision against the category
| Category | What reviewers weigh most | Author move on a weak review |
|---|
| Research | Soundness of the algorithm/encoding; is the correctness argument right? | Correct a misread proof/step in the rebuttal; supply the missing lemma or example |
| Regular tool | Does the tool work and advance practice? Does the artifact reproduce the claims? | Fix/clarify the artifact story; show the benchmark comparison is fair |
| Case study | Is the system real and the evaluation honest? Are the lessons transferable? | Sharpen what generalizes; bound the threats to the lessons |
| Tool-demonstration | Is there a genuine, reproducible demonstration in six pages? | Clarify the demo path; ensure the artifact demonstrates what the text claims |
The strategic reading: for a tool paper, the artifact is part of the review — a great write-up
with a broken package still fails. Budget the artifact like a co-equal deliverable, not an
afterthought.
How TACAS differs from its siblings
- vs. CAV: CAV is the broader formal-methods flagship with more theory room and a different
calendar; TACAS's identity is the tools-and-algorithms emphasis, the four categories, and
the mandatory tool-paper artifact integrated into acceptance. Never assume a shared deadline,
page limit, or template — TACAS is LNCS via ETAPS.
- vs. a journal (STTT/FMSD): a journal offers revise-and-resubmit and no page ceiling; TACAS is
a single-round conference with a rebuttal, not an R&R. Route a long, proof-heavy treatment to the
journal.
- vs. SV-COMP: the competition ranks verifiers on a common task set and its results are reported
separately; a tool paper is peer-reviewed prose about a tool, judged on contribution and
artifact, not on a leaderboard position.
Who reads you
Expect verification experts matched to your subarea. For a research paper they will check the
soundness argument line by line; for a tool paper they (or the AEC) will try to run your
artifact and reproduce a headline result; for a case study they will probe whether the system is
representative. Vague algorithm descriptions and unreproducible tool claims are caught, not skimmed.
Where author leverage actually exists
[Before submission] category choice + topic keywords -> reviewer match (largest lever)
[Artifact (tool)] a clean-VM package that reproduces the claims (co-decides tool papers)
[Rebuttal] correct factual misreadings, supply a requested number, clarify a proof step
[After reject] no appeal; reroute to CAV/VMCAI/FMCAD or a journal, or return next TACAS cycle
A rebuttal moves borderline papers when it fixes a misreading or answers a concrete question; it
does not move papers by arguing taste, and it cannot repair a fundamentally broken artifact after
the fact.
Misreadings to avoid
- Thinking the artifact is post-acceptance for a tool paper — it is mandatory, parallel, and
decision-feeding.
- Anonymity confusion — only research papers are double-blind; do not anonymize a single-blind
tool paper, and do not deanonymize a research paper.
- Treating the rebuttal as a second submission — it is short and targeted; the paper as
submitted carries the argument.
- Projecting CAV's or last year's process — categories, dates, and artifact rules are set per
ETAPS edition.
Output format
[Process stage] pre-submission / under review / rebuttal / notified / accepted
[Category + blind mode] research (double-blind) / case-study|tool|tool-demo (single-blind)
[Decision drivers] soundness | tool+artifact | case realism | demo reproducibility
[Artifact status] (tool/tool-demo) reproduces claims on clean VM? yes/no
[Leverage plan] the next-stage action that can actually change the outcome
[Forbidden moves] wrong-category anonymity error / unrunnable artifact / unsupported new claims in rebuttal
