Papers

Papers present significant contributions by researchers and practitioners to the HCI field, capable of influencing the design life-cycle of current and future interactive systems. Papers are presented at the CHI conference, and are collected in an archival conference proceedings, which is published by ACM and cited and read by researchers, practitioners, and educators worldwide. A paper in the technical program can therefore exert a wide influence on the study of HCI principles, theories, and techniques, and on their application to interactive systems practice.

Submission and Review Criteria

Paper submissions to CHI are reviewed rigorously by a large pool of volunteers drawn from the international technical community of HCI researchers and practitioners. Because there is no opportunity for reviewers to check revisions made to papers after acceptance, the content and presentation of submitted papers must be acceptable as received.

The review process attempts to ensure that papers are assessed rigorously and without bias by applying the same comprehensive set of criteria to every paper.

Accordingly, all papers should be prepared with consideration for these criteria:

1. Contribution to the field of HCI and benefit thus to be gained. The paper should present results of direct significance to others in the field of HCI. The contributions presented may include:

• designs for interactive systems
• interaction techniques
• tools for use in interactive system design and development
• methodology: techniques, methods, and development processes for use in the interactive systems development life cycle
• theories and theory-based models relevant to the design and development of interactive systems
• guidelines and design heuristics
• empirical findings, quantitative or qualitative, relating to the design, development, and use of interactive systems, or concerning the validity of related theories
• experience gained in adapting designs and applying other HCI contributions to real-world conditions, presented in the form of design briefings or case histories
• critical reviews that focus on specific aspects of design and development of interactive systems or of other HCI work

The paper should make clear how the contribution addresses a problem or question of importance to an identified audience in HCI. It should also make clear to what extent a solution or answer has been achieved and how the audience can thus benefit, now or in the future. The paper should discuss the extent to which the benefits could be generalized beyond the context in which the work was done.

2. Validity of the results. It should be clear that the work has been carried out to a standard that permits HCI researchers and practitioners to take up the results with some confidence. Attention should accordingly be paid to demonstrating that empirical work, whether quantitative or qualitative, has been carefully planned and carried out. Likewise, there should be sound and well-justified rationale for decisions taken during the design and development of systems, tools, techniques, and methods. The outcome of these decisions should be assessed in some way against the stated problem. Where the graphical user interface is a major focus, its design should be visually defensible.

3. Originality of the work. The paper should make clear how the use of novel approaches to design problems, studies, experiments, modeling, etc., has contributed to the work's success. It should also explain how the presented work has built on previous contributions.

4. Written presentation. The paper's contribution and argument should be clearly and concisely presented, with appropriate use of figures, and with attention to the quality of writing.

Review Process

Each submitted paper will be reviewed by a group of four to six reviewers selected from a volunteer base of 300 HCI professionals. The reviewing is blind, which means that reviewers do not know the identity of the authors of the papers.

Reviewer assignment will be done by matching author-supplied keywords and other paper information against reviewer expertise. Based on the reviews, program committee members will develop a summary review and recommendation for acceptance or rejection.

Final decisions will be made at a program committee meeting, where the committee as a whole will review the recommendations. The committee's decisions will consider issues of balance (e.g., across different paper types) as well as the quality of individual submissions.

Format

Papers must be no longer than 8 pages in the CHI Conference Publications Format including references, appendices, and figures. They must include title, author information, abstract, keywords, body, and references. Color figures must be provided on separate pages at the end of the manuscript; these pages are included in the page count. Acceptance of a paper does not guarantee acceptance of a color figure.

Video Figures

Authors may include a video figure up to 2 minutes in length. The video figure will be reviewed along with the paper. Acceptance of a paper does not guarantee acceptance of a video figure. See the sections on Videos and Video Papers (pages 19-21) for further information about preparing video for submission.

Upon Acceptance

Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection by mid-November 1998.

Accepted papers will be published in the CHI 99 Conference Proceedings. The primary author of each accepted paper will receive an Author Kit with detailed instructions on how to submit the camera-ready copy. It is due by 8 January 1999.

If your submission is accepted, it will not be published without copyright release forms signed by the first-listed author or a representative of the first author's institution.

Submissions

1. Your submission must be in English.
2. Electronic and fax submissions are not accepted.
3. Submissions which arrive after the deadline will not be considered.
4. Your submission should contain no proprietary or confidential material and should cite no proprietary or confidential publications.
5. Responsibility for permissions to use video, audio or pictures of identifiable people rests with you, not CHI 99.
6. We strongly suggest the use of express mail or a courier service for speedy delivery. Customs labels should bear the words "Educational materials with no commercial value."

Checklist

• Read the conference overview.
• If you wish to request a mentor, please see the description of the mentoring program, and contact the Mentoring Liaisons no later than 15 June 1998.
• Fill out Cover Pages One, Two and Three, which you may submit electronically to speed up processing.
• Prepare your paper in the Conference Publications Format.
• Collect Cover Page One, Cover Page Two, Cover Page Three, and the paper in a packet.
• Make 2 copies of the packet with authors' names and affiliations included. Use 8.5 X 11 inch or A4 paper.
• Make 6 copies of the packet with authors' names and affiliations removed (for blind reviewing). Use 8.5 X 11 inch or A4 paper.
• Make sure each copy of the packet is stapled, not loose or held by clips.
• If you are including a video figure, include 4 copies of the videotape.
• Send the 8 packets (2 with author information, 6 without) and, if you are submitting a video figure, the 4 copies of the videotape to the Send To address shown.
• You may include a stamped, self-addressed reply postcard, which we will mail to acknowledge receipt of your submission.