# Fast Submission > Use when auditing a USENIX FAST submission for HotCRP readiness, covering the choice between the Spring and Fall deadlines, abstract registration, the USENIX two-column template and 12-page (long) / 6-page (short) limit excluding references, double-blind anonymization, the artifact-availability story, and desk-reject triage before the AoE cutoff. - Skill: `thedixitjain/fast-submission` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add thedixitjain/fast-submission` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/thedixitjain/fast-submission/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: thedixitjain (https://skillmd.com/u/thedixitjain) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/thedixitjain/fast-submission --- # FAST Submission Run this audit before uploading to the FAST HotCRP site. FAST — the USENIX Conference on File and Storage Technologies — publishes **open access via USENIX**, reviews **double-blind**, and runs **two deadlines a year**. The first decision you make is not about the PDF but about *which deadline* you are aiming at. Every number below was read from the FAST '26/'27 calls on 2026-07-09 via search renderings of the `usenix.org` URLs (see `resources/official-source-map.md`); treat them as a one-cycle snapshot and reopen the live call first. ## Pick the deadline first FAST '27 runs a **Spring** deadline (17 Mar 2026) and a **Fall** deadline (15 Sep 2026), each with its own HotCRP instance, author-response window, and notification date. Consequences: - Choose by readiness, not habit: a study that will be steady-state-solid in August targets **Fall**; do not rush it into a Spring slot it will fail. - Register at the **right** HotCRP site — the Spring and Fall instances are different URLs; an abstract registered on the wrong one does not carry over. - As of 2026-07-09 the live actionable target is the **FAST '27 Fall deadline, 15 Sep 2026**. ## Register the abstract early FAST expects title, authors, abstract, and topics registered in HotCRP; some cycles require this a few days before the full-paper cutoff. Register with the *real* title and abstract — they drive reviewer bidding and PC match — not a placeholder you intend to swap. ## Format and page limit - **USENIX two-column template** (LaTeX or Word), unmodified: 10-point on 12-point leading, a 7" x 9" text block, 0.33" inter-column gap, US-letter. This is the USENIX path — not ACM `acmart`, not IEEE 10+2. Do not carry a two-column ACM/IEEE habit over. - **Page limit (verify per cycle):** FAST '27 posts **≤12 pages for a long paper** and **≤6 pages for a short paper**, **excluding references** — the bibliography is uncapped and does not count. Camera-ready allowances are larger (reported 13 / 7 excluding references), so do not pad the submission toward the camera-ready size. - Everything a reviewer must read to judge the paper lives in those pages; the artifact supports, it does not hold the argument. ## Double-blind sweep FAST review is **double-blind**: anonymize the PDF and references and refer to your own prior work in the **third person**. Storage papers leak identity through devices, tools, and traces, so the surface is wide: ```bash # Mechanical pass on the submission PDF and any anonymized artifact archive pdfinfo paper.pdf | grep -Ei 'author|creator|producer' pdftotext paper.pdf - | grep -nEi 'github\.com/[a-z0-9-]+|zenodo\.org/record|our (system|lab|group)|acknowledg|grant' | head unzip -l artifact.zip | grep -Ei '\.git/|\.DS_Store|/home/|/Users/|hostname' | head grep -rni 'university\|@[a-z0-9.]*\.edu\|internal cluster\|' artifact/ --include='*.md' | head ``` The storage-specific leaks: a system named after your lab or product, a cluster/hostname in a config or SMART dump, a trace hosted on a personal or institutional URL, a datacenter name in a field study, and commit metadata inside a zipped repository. Re-host artifacts and traces behind an anonymizing location *before* upload. ## Availability story at submission time USENIX values sharing. Concretely for the submission: - State where the code, traces, and scripts will live and, where possible, provide an **anonymized** artifact or trace-replay bundle at review time. - If something cannot be shared (proprietary drives under NDA, production traces with privacy limits), say so and why — a silent gap reads worse than a stated, justified exception. - Pin device models, firmware, and trace identifiers now; they cannot be reconstructed later. ## Desk-risk triage | Finding at audit time | Severity | Real fix | |---|---|---| | Body over the 12/6-page limit | Desk-reject-grade | Cut or move to the artifact; references don't absorb body text | | Wrong template (ACM/IEEE, altered margins/font) | Named format-reject ground | Recompile in the USENIX template; recover space editorially | | Identity leak in PDF, artifact, tool, or trace URL | Anonymity violation | Re-anonymize and re-host; scrub PDF and SMART/config metadata | | Registered on the wrong deadline's HotCRP | No valid submission there | Re-register on the correct Spring/Fall instance before its cutoff | | No device/firmware detail in the evaluation | Storage-soundness weakness | Add the testbed table before submission, not in rebuttal | | Same work under review elsewhere | Concurrent-submission violation | Withdraw one venue; a one-shot revision also blocks parallel submission | ## Final-week order of operations 1. Confirm the target deadline (Spring/Fall) and its HotCRP URL and cutoff. 2. Freeze the body early; references can churn, the storage argument cannot. 3. Finalize the testbed table (devices, firmware, kernel, workloads/traces, device state). 4. Build the anonymized artifact/trace bundle and place its availability statement in the paper. 5. Run the mechanical double-blind checks on the *final* PDF and archive, not drafts. 6. Fill every HotCRP field — topics matching your evidence, conflicts for every coauthor's institution and recent collaborators — a day early. 7. Re-download the uploaded PDF and read it cold to confirm it is the file you meant. ## Reverify each cycle - Both deadline dates and which HotCRP instance is live now. - The page limit and which USENIX template revision is required. - Artifact timing, one-shot-revision and shepherding wording, concurrent-submission rules, and any AI-disclosure policy — all cycle-volatile. ## Output format ```text [FAST submission status] ready / blocked / needs work [Target deadline] Spring / Fall [Registration] title/abstract/authors/topics/conflicts locked? yes/no [Format] pages used (body/refs), USENIX template compliance [Anonymity] clean / leaks: [Availability] artifact/trace bundle present? device+firmware provenance stated? [Fix queue] ``` --- **Source:** [`brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills`](https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills) → `FAST-Skills/skills/fast-submission/SKILL.md`