brycewang-stanford ITCS Workflow
ITCS runs on one annual cycle with a distinctive rhythm: submit in early September, get a
yes/no in November with no rebuttal in between, and present the following January, with
open-access publication in LIPIcs. There is no second round, no revise-and-resubmit, and no
author-response phase, so the leverage is almost entirely before the deadline. Plan the year
backward from that September date. Every date below is the ITCS 2026 snapshot (Bocconi,
Milan); reopen the current call — see
../../resources/official-source-map.md.
The single-cycle calendar (ITCS 2026 anchor)
| Phase | ITCS 2026 date | What actually happens |
|---|---|---|
| Abstract / registration | 4 Sep 2025 (7:59:59 PM EDT) | Title, abstract, authors, conflicts locked in HotCRP; the abstract drives PC bidding |
| Full-paper submission | 6 Sep 2025 (7:59:59 PM EDT) | Anonymized PDF with complete proofs uploaded |
| Reviewing (no rebuttal) | Sep-Oct 2025 | PC + external reviewers read; no author-response phase |
| Notification | ~10 Nov 2025 | Accept / reject; there is no Major Revision category |
| Camera-ready | Late 2025 (per call) | lipics-v2021 class, de-anonymized, LIPIcs metadata |
| Conference | 27-30 Jan 2026 | Talks, Graduating Bits session, community mixing at Bocconi |
Because there is no rebuttal and no second deadline, treat the September upload as final in a way authors from rebuttal venues underestimate: the paper must answer the reviewer's objections on its own.
Working backward from the deadline
D-day (early Sep) : full paper, complete proofs, anonymized, uploaded and re-downloaded
D-2 days : abstract/registration + conflicts locked (earlier than the paper!)
D-1 to 2 weeks : full version to arXiv/ECCC/ePrint (encouraged; lightweight double-blind)
final proof-completeness pass (no "proof omitted" on a central claim)
D-3 to 4 weeks : freeze the model and definitions; polish the first-10-pages merits window
D-2 months : decide ITCS vs STOC/FOCS/SODA on the novelty axis (itcs-topic-selection)
The two commonest self-inflicted failures: (1) missing the abstract/registration cutoff, which is ~2 days before the paper deadline — no registration, no submission slot; and (2) carrying a rebuttal-venue mindset that leaves objections for "later," when there is no later.
The no-rebuttal consequence, planned for
Since you cannot answer reviewers after they read, you must answer them inside the paper:
- Anticipate the "is this model empty/trivial?" question with an anchoring result up front.
- Anticipate the "is this actually new?" question with an honest related-work delta.
- Anticipate the "why should I care?" question with a first-page conceptual payoff.
- State scope and limitations yourself, so a reviewer does not raise them as your blind spot.
See itcs-author-response for how the absence of a rebuttal
reshapes strategy, and itcs-writing-style for pre-empting
objections in the prose.
After notification
- Accept: move to
itcs-camera-ready— switch tolipics-v2021, de-anonymize, complete ACM CCS / keywords / funding, and hit the LIPIcs production deadline. Register at least one author to present. Consider submitting a Graduating Bits talk if a coauthor is near graduation. - Reject: there is no resubmission to a later ITCS round this year (single cycle). Route the
paper — often to STOC/FOCS/SODA on depth, or to a journal — via the table in
itcs-topic-selection. The reviews, though not rebuttable, are usually substantive; use them to sharpen the next submission.
The Graduating Bits and community layer
ITCS is a smaller-community venue with a strong direction-setting culture. The Graduating Bits session — short talks by researchers near graduation (on either side) presenting results, plans, and themselves — is a fixture worth planning for if you or a coauthor is on the market. The conference is as much about seeding directions as reporting finished work, which is why bold, early ideas fare well here; budget time for the hallway and session conversations, not just the talk.
Reverify each cycle
- The exact abstract and paper deadlines, and the AoE/EDT timezone of the cutoff.
- Whether the current call still runs no rebuttal (the theory-venue norm, but confirm).
- The camera-ready deadline and the current LIPIcs class/version.
- The host, city, and dates — ITCS 2027 is 待核实 as of 2026-07-09; do not carry Bocconi forward.
Output format
[ITCS cycle status] on track / at risk
[Registration] title/abstract/authors/conflicts locked by the earlier cutoff? yes/no
[Paper] complete proofs present? anonymized? first-10-pages merits window done?
[Preprint] full version posted (arXiv/ECCC/ePrint)? yes/no
[Post-notification] accept -> camera-ready owner+date ; reject -> reroute target
[Calendar risks] <ordered, with dates before the early-September cutoff>