# Tacas Topic Selection > Use when deciding whether a formal-methods / verification project belongs at TACAS (ETAPS) or a sibling like CAV, VMCAI, FMCAD, SPIN, or a journal, AND — distinctively — which of TACAS's four categories (research, case-study, regular tool, tool-demonstration) it fits, plus whether the work is a SV-COMP competition contribution rather than a paper. - Skill: `brycewang-stanford/tacas-topic-selection` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add brycewang-stanford/tacas-topic-selection` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/brycewang-stanford/tacas-topic-selection/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Research & Search - Author: brycewang-stanford (https://skillmd.com/u/brycewang-stanford) - Updated: 2026-09-08 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/brycewang-stanford/tacas-topic-selection --- # TACAS Topic Selection Decide two things before drafting: **is this TACAS**, and **which TACAS category**. TACAS — Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems — is the ETAPS conference at the **tool-and-algorithm end of verification**: model checking, program analysis, SMT and decision procedures, testing and synthesis, and the systems that implement them. Its defining feature versus its siblings is that a **usable, evaluated tool is a first-class contribution**, backed by a mandatory artifact. A brilliant idea with no tool and no experiment can still be a research paper, but a paper that is really a benchmark ranking is a **SV-COMP** contribution, not a TACAS paper. ## First cut: is this TACAS, or a sibling? TACAS overlaps heavily with the other verification venues, so decide by **emphasis and calendar**, not by topic alone. | Signal in your project | Better home | Why | |---|---|---| | A tool or algorithm for constructing/analysing systems, with real experiments, ETAPS timing fits | **TACAS** | Tools-and-algorithms core; mandatory-artifact culture; LNCS open access | | Deep new verification *theory/algorithm*, breadth of formal methods, larger page room | **CAV** | Closest sibling; broader FM flagship, different calendar and process | | Principled study of verification/abstract-interpretation *foundations* | **VMCAI** | Verification, model checking, and abstract interpretation focus | | Hardware / SAT-centric formal methods, industrial hardware verification | **FMCAD** | Its named center | | Explicit-state / software model checking around the SPIN lineage | **SPIN** | Community and tooling match | | A full journal-length treatment with proofs and extended evaluation | **STTT / FMSD / a journal** | No conference page ceiling; STTT is the TACAS-adjacent journal | | A verifier to be run on the common task set and ranked | **SV-COMP** (at TACAS) | It is a competition entry, not a stand-alone tool paper | **CAV is the trap.** Many canonical tools (NuSMV, CPAchecker, Storm) debuted at CAV, not TACAS. Differentiate by TACAS's ETAPS context, its tool/tool-demo/case-study categories, its per-category page limits, and its artifact-as-first-class model — and check dblp before assuming a lineage. ## Second cut: which of the four categories? | Your contribution | Category | Page limit | Note | |---|---|---|---| | A new algorithm, encoding, decision procedure, or theory with a correctness argument | **Regular research** | ≤16 | Double-blind; artifact voluntary | | Applying existing methods/tools to a substantial real system, with lessons | **Case-study** | ≤16 | Single-blind; artifact voluntary | | A usable tool realizing a technique, with an evaluation | **Regular tool** | ≤16 | Single-blind; **mandatory artifact** | | A mature tool shown in operation, focused on usage/UI/workflow | **Tool-demonstration** | ≤6 | Single-blind; **mandatory artifact** | The category is a commitment: a research paper is judged on the idea and its soundness; a tool paper is judged on the tool *and its runnable artifact*; a case-study paper is judged on the realism of the system and the honesty of the lessons; a tool-demo is judged on a working demonstration in six pages. Pick the one whose bar your evidence actually clears. ## Contribution shapes TACAS rewards - **Algorithm / reduction** — a new way to construct or analyse systems with a soundness (and often completeness/complexity) argument (the BMC lineage). - **Tool** — a downloadable, evaluated implementation others can point at their own inputs (the CBMC / Z3 lineage), now inseparable from a working artifact. - **Case study** — a substantial application of verification to a real system that teaches the community what works and what breaks at scale. - **Competition-driven** — participation in SV-COMP / VerifyThis that advances shared benchmarks and reproducible comparison. ## The tool-vs-research and re-label tests - **Tool-vs-research test:** if the paper's core would survive with the tool removed (an algorithm and a proof), it is a **research** paper; if the core *is* the working tool and its evaluation, it is a **tool** paper — and then the artifact is mandatory. - **Re-label test:** could this be submitted to CAV/VMCAI/FMCAD unchanged and read as native there? If its heart is FM breadth or new theory depth, weigh those venues; TACAS rewards the tool-and-algorithm framing with reproducible experiments. ## Cheap reconnaissance before committing ```text [Scope] scan the last two TACAS proceedings (dblp, Springer LNCS) for your subarea -> several recent papers = a reviewer pool exists; none = mismatch or a CAV/FMCAD topic [Category] find 2-3 recent papers in the category you plan to use; match their evidence depth [Artifact] if tool/tool-demo, can you package a clean-VM artifact by the post-paper deadline? if not, the category is wrong for this cycle [Calendar] compare the next ETAPS/TACAS deadline with CAV/VMCAI/FMCAD dates -> route to the nearest honest fit rather than idling a year ``` ## Decision procedure ```text [Is it TACAS?] tool/algorithm to construct/analyse systems + experiments? -> yes; else CAV/VMCAI/FMCAD/journal [Competition?] a verifier to be ranked on common tasks -> SV-COMP, not a tool paper [Category] algorithm+proof -> research; usable tool+eval -> regular tool; mature tool in use -> tool-demo; real-system application -> case-study [Blind + artifact] research -> double-blind, voluntary artifact; tool/tool-demo -> single-blind, mandatory artifact [Verdict] TACAS / sibling venue / SV-COMP / journal, with a one-line reason ``` Run this before the writing skills; a wrong venue-or-category decision wastes every later step. When the verdict is TACAS, continue with `tacas-workflow` for the calendar and `tacas-writing-style` for the paper shape.