VLDB Related Work
Use this to pressure-test novelty before writing the contribution list. The
database field has forty-plus years of proceedings and a reviewer pool with
long memories; the classic VLDB rejection is not "compared badly" but
"reinvented, without knowing it."
The reinvention audit
Before claiming a technique is new, sweep three strata:
- The deep canon (1975-2000) — partitioning, replication, buffering,
adaptive query processing, and materialization ideas recur under new
hardware. Search old VLDB/SIGMOD proceedings and TODS for the mechanism,
not today's terminology for it.
- The modern venue ring — PVLDB itself, SIGMOD/PACMMOD, ICDE, EDBT,
CIDR, plus the systems conferences (SOSP/OSDI, NSDI, EuroSys) where storage
and dataflow work also lands.
- Running code — features shipped in PostgreSQL, RocksDB, DuckDB, Spark,
or the cloud warehouses count as prior art whether or not a paper exists.
Citing a system's documentation is normal here; pretending an implemented
idea is unpublished is a rejection with a hyperlink.
If the mechanism existed, the honest contribution is the delta: new hardware
assumptions, new scale, new workload class, or the first measured comparison.
Lane coverage check
| Literature lane |
The reviewer question it answers |
| Classic DB canon |
Did they know this was tried in 1994? |
| Current PVLDB/SIGMOD/ICDE |
Is the nearest recent method compared or distinguished? |
| Systems venues |
Is the OS/distributed-systems version of this idea acknowledged? |
| Industrial systems & open source |
Does a shipping engine already do it? |
| Theory (PODS/ICDT) |
Are known bounds or hardness results respected? |
A related-work section drawing on only one lane signals a half-searched field.
Concurrency on a rolling calendar
Monthly deadlines mean near-neighbors surface during your review window.
- Sweep arXiv and the latest PVLDB issues in the week before your abstract
registration; issues appear monthly, not annually.
- Work published after your submission date is concurrent: acknowledge it in
the revision or camera-ready neutrally, without priority anxiety.
- If a concurrent paper lands mid-revision, address it in the change document
factually — the same board is likely reviewing both.
Extended versions and overlap
- Prior workshop or demo versions: declare them and state the delta; a PVLDB
research paper must carry substantial new content over them (exact overlap
thresholds: 待核实 on the live volume guidelines).
- Do not hold the same work under review at PVLDB and another venue
simultaneously; rolling cadence makes "just try both" tempting and
detectable — the communities share a review pool.
- The later journal expansion (The VLDB Journal, TODS) is the sanctioned lane
for outgrowing the 12 pages.
Writing the positioning paragraphs
Per nearest neighbor (3-5 of them):
[Name + venue + year] does <mechanism> under <assumption>.
We differ in <assumption/scale/workload>, which matters because <consequence>.
Compared in §<eval section> / not comparable because <honest reason>.
Group remaining citations by problem, one clause of contrast each. A citation
without a contrast is bibliography, not positioning.
Output format
[Reinvention audit] clean / hits found (mechanism, source, year)
[Lane coverage] <lanes with gaps>
[Nearest neighbors] <3-5, each with the distinguishing assumption>
[Concurrent-work watch] <items surfaced this month>
[Overlap declarations] <prior versions and their deltas>
[Novelty sentence] <one sentence a skeptical builder would accept>
1---2name: vldb-related-work3description: Use when positioning a PVLDB submission against prior literature, covering the deep database canon back to the 1980s VLDB proceedings, the SIGMOD/ICDE/CIDR neighborhood, concurrent work under rolling monthly deadlines, industrial and open-source systems as citable prior art, and overlap declarations for extended versions.4---56# VLDB Related Work78Use this to pressure-test novelty before writing the contribution list. The9database field has forty-plus years of proceedings and a reviewer pool with10long memories; the classic VLDB rejection is not "compared badly" but11"reinvented, without knowing it."1213## The reinvention audit1415Before claiming a technique is new, sweep three strata:16171. **The deep canon (1975-2000)** — partitioning, replication, buffering,18 adaptive query processing, and materialization ideas recur under new19 hardware. Search old VLDB/SIGMOD proceedings and TODS for the *mechanism*,20 not today's terminology for it.212. **The modern venue ring** — PVLDB itself, SIGMOD/PACMMOD, ICDE, EDBT,22 CIDR, plus the systems conferences (SOSP/OSDI, NSDI, EuroSys) where storage23 and dataflow work also lands.243. **Running code** — features shipped in PostgreSQL, RocksDB, DuckDB, Spark,25 or the cloud warehouses count as prior art whether or not a paper exists.26 Citing a system's documentation is normal here; pretending an implemented27 idea is unpublished is a rejection with a hyperlink.2829If the mechanism existed, the honest contribution is the delta: new hardware30assumptions, new scale, new workload class, or the first measured comparison.3132## Lane coverage check3334| Literature lane | The reviewer question it answers |35|---|---|36| Classic DB canon | Did they know this was tried in 1994? |37| Current PVLDB/SIGMOD/ICDE | Is the nearest recent method compared or distinguished? |38| Systems venues | Is the OS/distributed-systems version of this idea acknowledged? |39| Industrial systems & open source | Does a shipping engine already do it? |40| Theory (PODS/ICDT) | Are known bounds or hardness results respected? |4142A related-work section drawing on only one lane signals a half-searched field.4344## Concurrency on a rolling calendar4546Monthly deadlines mean near-neighbors surface *during* your review window.4748- Sweep arXiv and the latest PVLDB issues in the week before your abstract49 registration; issues appear monthly, not annually.50- Work published after your submission date is concurrent: acknowledge it in51 the revision or camera-ready neutrally, without priority anxiety.52- If a concurrent paper lands mid-revision, address it in the change document53 factually — the same board is likely reviewing both.5455## Extended versions and overlap5657- Prior *workshop or demo* versions: declare them and state the delta; a PVLDB58 research paper must carry substantial new content over them (exact overlap59 thresholds: 待核实 on the live volume guidelines).60- Do not hold the same work under review at PVLDB and another venue61 simultaneously; rolling cadence makes "just try both" tempting and62 detectable — the communities share a review pool.63- The later journal expansion (The VLDB Journal, TODS) is the sanctioned lane64 for outgrowing the 12 pages.6566## Writing the positioning paragraphs6768```text69Per nearest neighbor (3-5 of them):70 [Name + venue + year] does <mechanism> under <assumption>.71 We differ in <assumption/scale/workload>, which matters because <consequence>.72 Compared in §<eval section> / not comparable because <honest reason>.73```7475Group remaining citations by problem, one clause of contrast each. A citation76without a contrast is bibliography, not positioning.7778## Output format7980```text81[Reinvention audit] clean / hits found (mechanism, source, year)82[Lane coverage] <lanes with gaps>83[Nearest neighbors] <3-5, each with the distinguishing assumption>84[Concurrent-work watch] <items surfaced this month>85[Overlap declarations] <prior versions and their deltas>86[Novelty sentence] <one sentence a skeptical builder would accept>87```
brycewang-stanford