thedixitjain CoNEXT Related Work
Position the paper for a networking reviewer who knows the field's flagships cold. At CoNEXT, related work is not a literature dump; it is the delta argument — what your contribution adds over the closest prior systems and measurements — written so a double-anonymous reviewer can locate your paper in the networking landscape in one read.
Cover the lanes a networking reviewer expects
A CoNEXT reviewer will mentally check whether you engage the right bodies of work:
- The flagship conferences: SIGCOMM, NSDI, and CoNEXT itself for systems and architecture.
- Measurement: IMC (and PAM) for internet/system measurement methodology and findings.
- Performance/modeling: SIGMETRICS for analysis and evaluation methodology.
- Wireless/mobile: MobiCom, MobiSys, and related venues when relevant.
- The journal and letters record: IEEE/ACM ToN, CCR (SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review), and now PACMNET itself.
Missing the lane your paper lives in — e.g., a measurement paper that ignores IMC methodology, or a data-plane paper that ignores the recent SIGCOMM/NSDI switch-hardware line — reads as unfamiliarity and invites a change-list item in a one-shot revision.
Delta-first positioning
Write each comparison as a delta sentence, not a summary:
Prior work X [SIGCOMM'YY] measures/builds <what> but <the gap on the real target>;
we <the specific advance> and show it on <the real platform/trace>.
- Lead with the closest prior work, not the oldest or most famous.
- Make the delta concrete and testable: a new mechanism, a measured phenomenon prior work missed, a platform prior work did not evaluate on, a scale prior work did not reach.
- Avoid "to the best of our knowledge, we are the first" unless it is literally true and checkable; a measurement reviewer will know a counterexample.
Keep self-citation anonymous
CoNEXT is double-anonymous, so your own prior work is a leak surface:
- Cite your prior papers in the third person ("Prior work [12] proposed..."), never "our previous system."
- Do not reveal a system lineage that identifies the group (e.g., "the successor to OurSys").
- If a comparison genuinely requires your non-anonymous artifact, use the anonymized location and describe it without owner-identifying detail.
Positioning against CoNEXT's own recent programs
Because CoNEXT runs two cycles a year and publishes in PACMNET, the venue's own recent output moves fast:
- Scan the last two CoNEXT programs and recent PACMNET issues for work in your subarea; a paper that ignores a directly relevant CoNEXT/PACMNET paper from last cycle looks careless.
- If your work extends a CoNEXT paper, state the delta precisely — reviewers may include that paper's authors.
Structure and length
- Related work can be its own section or woven into the introduction and design sections; CoNEXT tolerates both, but the delta must be visible early regardless.
- Under the acmart budget, references are unlimited — so cite generously, but keep the prose tight; a wall of one-line summaries wastes body pages you need for evidence.
Failure modes
| Failure | Why it hurts at CoNEXT | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Literature list with no delta | Reviewer cannot place your contribution | Rewrite each entry as a delta sentence |
| Missing the closest prior system/measurement | Reads as unfamiliarity; revision risk | Lead with the nearest work and its gap |
| First-person self-citation | Breaks double-anonymity | Third-person, no lineage reveal |
| Ignoring the right lane (IMC/NSDI/SIGMETRICS) | Signals you are a visitor | Engage the venue where your method lives |
| Over-claiming "first" | A reviewer knows a counterexample | Scope the novelty to the checkable delta |
Output format
[Lanes covered] SIGCOMM / NSDI / IMC / SIGMETRICS / MobiCom / ToN-CCR-PACMNET as relevant
[Closest prior work] <papers + the specific gap each leaves on the real target>
[Delta sentences] <one per closest work>
[Anonymity] third-person self-citation; no system-lineage leak
[Recency] last two CoNEXT programs + recent PACMNET issues checked? yes/no
Source: brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills → CoNEXT-Skills/skills/conext-related-work/SKILL.md