hotnets

name	hotnets
description	Writing and formatting guidance for HotNets (ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks) papers. Use when drafting, formatting, or submitting to HotNets 2026. Covers ACM acmart sigconf format with anonymous review mode, workshop paper conventions (early-stage ideas, position papers, novel provocations), 6-page limit, and camera-ready preparation.

HotNets 2026 Conference Writing Skill

CCF-C | Networks | Publisher: ACM Conference: https://conext2026.sigcomm.org/hotnets Template: HotNets/acmart.cls (ACM acmart, sigconf format)

Document Setup

Preamble Structure

% === SUBMISSION MODE (anonymous, double-blind) ===
\documentclass[sigconf,review,anonymous]{acmart}
\settopmatter{printfolios=true}

% === CAMERA-READY MODE ===
\documentclass[sigconf]{acmart}
\acmConference[HotNets 2026]{HotNets '26: ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on...}
               {December 7--8, 2026}{Vienna, Austria}
\acmISBN{978-X-XXXX-XXXX-X/XX/XX}
\acmDOI{10.5555/XXXXXXX.XXXXXXX}

Required Packages

\usepackage[round]{natbib}     % Author-year citations
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsthm}
\usepackage{listings}
\lstset{basicstyle=\small\ttfamily}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{graphicx}

Page Limits

Section	Limit
Main paper (submission)	6 pages
References	No limit
Appendix	Not typical

HotNets enforces a strict 6-page limit for the main body. This is intentionally short to encourage focused, thought-provoking presentations.

Anonymity Requirements

Double-blind review with anonymous class option:

1. No author names anywhere in submission
2. Third-person self-citations: "Smith et al. showed..." not "we showed..."
3. Anonymize all URLs (GitHub, institutional pages)
4. Clear PDF metadata
5. Do not include acknowledgments

Camera-Ready Differences

After acceptance:

1. Remove review and anonymous options
2. Fill in \acmConference, \acmISBN, \acmDOI
3. Restore author names and affiliations
4. Add appropriate \setcopyright mode
5. Enable page numbers with \settopmatter{printfolios=true}

Section Organization

HotNets papers are intentionally brief and provocative:

1. Introduction — Problem statement, motivation (why it matters NOW)
2. Key Insight — The one key observation or idea (the "hot take")
3. Opportunity / Challenge — What this enables or what problem it creates
4. Preliminary Exploration (optional) — Initial thoughts, simple experiments, early data
5. Discussion — Implications, open questions, call to action
6. References

HotNets values brevity and clarity over comprehensiveness.

HotNets Writing Conventions

HotNets is a workshop for early-stage ideas:

What Makes a Good HotNets Paper

\section{Key Insight}

The key insight of this paper is that current Internet routing
is fundamentally incompatible with emerging requirements for
in-network compute:

\textbf{Thesis}: We should replace destination-based routing
with intent-based forwarding where routers execute user-defined
programs.

This is provocative because:
\begin{itemize}
  \item Current IP forwarding is 40+ years old
  \item Router vendors resist any fundamental change
  \item But: The proliferation of programmable data planes
    makes this suddenly feasible
\end{itemize}

Structure Tips

• Lead with the insight: State your key claim in the first paragraph
• No need for full related work survey
• Focus on why this idea matters NOW
• Provoke discussion, not consensus

\section{Discussion}

We believe this direction opens three promising research questions:
\begin{enumerate}
  \item \textbf{Security}: How do we sandbox user programs
    in programmable routers?
  \item \textbf{Performance}: What is the latency overhead
    of in-network compute?
  \item \textbf{Deployment}: How do we migrate incrementally
    from today's Internet?
\end{enumerate}

We hope this position paper sparks discussion at HotNets
and motivates follow-up work.

Figures and Tables

• Use vector formats (.pdf) for all figures
• Ensure grayscale legibility
• Keep figures simple and communicative
• Tables should have clear column headers and units

\begin{figure}[t]
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.85\linewidth]{figs/insight}
  \caption{Comparison of (a) current destination-based routing
    and (b) our proposed intent-based forwarding architecture.
    The key difference is that packets carry program identifiers
    rather than destination addresses.}
  \label{fig:insight}
\end{figure}

References (natbib)

\bibliographystyle{ACM-Reference-Format}
\bibliography{references}

\citet{doe2025}      % Doe et al. (2025)
\citep{doe2025}     % (Doe et al. 2025)

All references must list every author by full name.

Formatting Rules

• Format: ACM sigconf (two-column, single-spaced)
• Paper size: US Letter
• Body font: 9pt minimum
• References: 8pt, unlimited pages
• Margins: Top/bottom 1in, sides 0.75in, column gap 0.25in

Submission Checklist

• 6 pages or fewer (main body)
• \documentclass[sigconf,review,anonymous]
• All author identification removed
• Key insight clearly stated in first paragraph
• No self-referential citations in first person
• Anonymized all URLs
• PDF metadata cleared
• References list all authors

Camera-Ready Checklist

• Remove review and anonymous options
• Add conference metadata
• Restore author information
• Enable page numbers