AISTATS Author Response
Use this after AISTATS reviews are released. Reopen the current OpenReview instructions and
author-discussion policy before drafting because response mechanics are cycle-specific.
Triage
- Answer concerns that affect correctness, novelty, statistical validity, clarity,
reproducibility, or fit for AISTATS.
- Use existing submitted evidence: paper sections, appendices, supplementary material,
theorem statements, experiments, checklist entries, and code/data descriptions.
- Keep the reply anonymous. Do not reveal institution, authorship, grants, private URLs, or
repository ownership.
- Treat discussion as clarification, not revision. Do not depend on uploading a revised paper
or new supplement unless current instructions explicitly allow it.
- If current rules prohibit links, do not use URLs in the discussion. AISTATS 2026
author-reviewer discussion was text-only and links were not allowed.
- Correct factual errors first, then address requests for missing comparisons, uncertainty
estimates, proofs, or hyperparameters.
Drafting pattern
- State the decision-critical correction or concession.
- Point to exact submitted evidence.
- Explain the statistical or theoretical consequence.
- Promise a camera-ready wording fix only if it does not add unsupported new claims.
Statistician-reviewer pushback patterns
| Pushback |
What it signals |
AISTATS-ready fix |
| "Assumption A3 seems strong" |
The reviewer traced the proof chain |
Point to where A3 is verified, weakened, or shown necessary; never dismiss it as standard without a citation |
| "The experiments violate the theorem conditions" |
Theory-experiment mismatch spotted |
Identify which conclusions survive misspecification and cite the robustness simulation that shows it |
| "Observed rates do not match the bound" |
The reviewer compared empirical slopes against theory |
Reference the log-log plot, or explain the constant-dominated regime at the tested sample sizes |
| "Comparison with the classical statistical method is missing" |
Statistics-literature gap |
Anchor to the appendix comparison, or concede and scope a camera-ready clarification |
Response micro-example
Reviewer objection: the minimax claim hides its dependence on dimension d. Reply skeleton:
- Concede that the d-dependence appears only in the appendix constant.
- Quote the exact constant from Theorem 2 so the reviewer need not search.
- Note that the simulation at d = 100 in Figure 4 follows the predicted scaling.
- Offer one camera-ready sentence making the dependence explicit in the main text.
Discussion-phase calibration
- One decision-critical point per reviewer beats exhaustive replies; AISTATS meta-reviewers
read for whether the central statistical objection was actually resolved.
- Never paste new theorem statements or fresh proofs into the discussion box; sketch the
argument and anchor it in submitted material only.
- Respond early in the window — AISTATS discussion periods are short and reviewers who reply
once rarely reply twice.
- Length and formatting norms vary by cycle; recheck the current discussion instructions
before sending anything.
Output format
[Priority issue] <reviewer concern>
[Decision dimension] correctness / novelty / statistical validity / clarity / reproducibility
[Draft response] <AISTATS-ready anonymous text>
[Evidence anchor] <paper/appendix/supplement item>
[Forbidden content removed] <links, identity leaks, new unsupported claims>
1---2name: aistats-author-response3description: Use when drafting AISTATS author responses or author-reviewer discussion replies under OpenReview, covering text-only discussion, no-link guidance, no revised-paper upload, anonymity requirements, statistician-reviewer pushback patterns, and decision-focused clarification strategy for theory-plus-experiments papers.4---56# AISTATS Author Response78Use this after AISTATS reviews are released. Reopen the current OpenReview instructions and9author-discussion policy before drafting because response mechanics are cycle-specific.1011## Triage1213- Answer concerns that affect correctness, novelty, statistical validity, clarity,14 reproducibility, or fit for AISTATS.15- Use existing submitted evidence: paper sections, appendices, supplementary material,16 theorem statements, experiments, checklist entries, and code/data descriptions.17- Keep the reply anonymous. Do not reveal institution, authorship, grants, private URLs, or18 repository ownership.19- Treat discussion as clarification, not revision. Do not depend on uploading a revised paper20 or new supplement unless current instructions explicitly allow it.21- If current rules prohibit links, do not use URLs in the discussion. AISTATS 202622 author-reviewer discussion was text-only and links were not allowed.23- Correct factual errors first, then address requests for missing comparisons, uncertainty24 estimates, proofs, or hyperparameters.2526## Drafting pattern27281. State the decision-critical correction or concession.292. Point to exact submitted evidence.303. Explain the statistical or theoretical consequence.314. Promise a camera-ready wording fix only if it does not add unsupported new claims.3233## Statistician-reviewer pushback patterns3435| Pushback | What it signals | AISTATS-ready fix |36|---|---|---|37| "Assumption A3 seems strong" | The reviewer traced the proof chain | Point to where A3 is verified, weakened, or shown necessary; never dismiss it as standard without a citation |38| "The experiments violate the theorem conditions" | Theory-experiment mismatch spotted | Identify which conclusions survive misspecification and cite the robustness simulation that shows it |39| "Observed rates do not match the bound" | The reviewer compared empirical slopes against theory | Reference the log-log plot, or explain the constant-dominated regime at the tested sample sizes |40| "Comparison with the classical statistical method is missing" | Statistics-literature gap | Anchor to the appendix comparison, or concede and scope a camera-ready clarification |4142## Response micro-example4344Reviewer objection: the minimax claim hides its dependence on dimension d. Reply skeleton:45461. Concede that the d-dependence appears only in the appendix constant.472. Quote the exact constant from Theorem 2 so the reviewer need not search.483. Note that the simulation at d = 100 in Figure 4 follows the predicted scaling.494. Offer one camera-ready sentence making the dependence explicit in the main text.5051## Discussion-phase calibration5253- One decision-critical point per reviewer beats exhaustive replies; AISTATS meta-reviewers54 read for whether the central statistical objection was actually resolved.55- Never paste new theorem statements or fresh proofs into the discussion box; sketch the56 argument and anchor it in submitted material only.57- Respond early in the window — AISTATS discussion periods are short and reviewers who reply58 once rarely reply twice.59- Length and formatting norms vary by cycle; recheck the current discussion instructions60 before sending anything.6162## Output format6364```text65[Priority issue] <reviewer concern>66[Decision dimension] correctness / novelty / statistical validity / clarity / reproducibility67[Draft response] <AISTATS-ready anonymous text>68[Evidence anchor] <paper/appendix/supplement item>69[Forbidden content removed] <links, identity leaks, new unsupported claims>70```
brycewang-stanford