Call for Papers

Software visualization is a broad research area whose general goal is to enhance and promote the theory, realization, and evaluation of approaches to visually encode and analyze software systems, including software development practices, evolution, structure, and software runtime behavior. Software visualization is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on theories and techniques from areas such as information visualization, human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and data science, and applying these in the software engineering domain.

The VISSOFT conference is principally a venue for publishing and discussing research related to software visualization. Consequently, VISSOFT brings together a community of researchers from software engineering, information visualization, human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and data science to discuss theoretical foundations, algorithms, techniques, tools, and applications related to software visualization. VISSOFT, co-located with ICSME, encourages a variety of submissions that address outstanding challenges in software systems using visualization. This includes technical papers, evaluations, and papers that present novel ideas and tools.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Innovative visualization and visual analytics techniques for the analysis of software engineering data. This includes source code, dependencies, repositories, developer social networks like StackOverflow and GitHub, mobile app reviews, documentation, runtime logs, and DevOps data
  • Visualization to support software development activities, including design, requirements engineering, software maintenance, program comprehension, software performance, software testing, and debugging
  • Visual tools and frameworks for the direct development and maintenance of software, including visual programming languages and visual development environments
  • Interaction techniques and algorithms for software visualization
  • Visualization-based techniques in software engineering education
  • Integration of software visualization tools with development environments
  • Empirical evaluation of software visualizations, including eye-tracking
  • Industrial experience with using software visualization
  • Applications of new technologies to enhance software visualization, including virtual reality, augmented reality, speech, and machine learning
  • Analytical approaches to understanding software-related aspects based on data science concepts

We solicit papers that present original, unpublished research results. Papers will be rigorously reviewed by an international program committee. In addition to full technical papers, VISSOFT features both a New Ideas and Emerging Results (NIER) Track and a Tools Track whose purpose is to present an idea still under development or to demonstrate the functionality of a newly developed tool. All accepted submissions will appear in the conference proceedings and the IEEE Digital Library.

The paper obtaining the VISSOFT Best Paper Award will be invited to submit an extended version to IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

Submission Types

Research Track:

A technical paper contribution must describe an in-depth and mature research result relevant to software visualization. The content of a technical paper can be a maximum of 10 pages long (including all figures, tables, and appendices). However, the 10-page limit does not include the bibliography, which is limited to two additional pages.

All papers are required to include a user evaluation demonstrating their effectiveness, such as showcasing improvements over comparable tools or, if novel, demonstrating their utility and practical application. These papers will undergo evaluation using the same criteria as those in the Research track.

The submission of a video (up to 5 minutes in length) to accompany the paper is highly encouraged to show interaction possibilities where this matters for understanding of the paper. Authors who wish to submit a video should add a URL to the video at the end of the abstract (e.g., Video URL: https://youtu.be/XXX).

Paper Awards: VISSOFT 2024 will award the best technical papers.

Artifact Evaluation: Paper authors are encouraged to submit research artifacts (e.g., tools, data repositories, frameworks, videos) for evaluation. For more details, please refer to the Artifact Track.

Important dates: (23:59:59 AoE)
Paper Abstract: June 9, 2024
Paper Submission: June 16, 2024
Notification: July 15, 2024

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2024

NIER Track:

The NIER Track of VISSOFT accepts New Ideas and Emerging Results. NIER contributions have a limit of 5 pages (including bibliography).

NIER contributions describe work-in-progress and preliminary, exciting ideas and results. Authors are encouraged to include open questions and even provocative hypotheses to get early feedback on their research ideas. NIER contributions do not require an evaluation. One of the goals of the NIER Track is to foster collaboration among different research groups, by showcasing ideas which may lead to joint research activities.

Paper Awards: VISSOFT 2024 may award distinguished NIER papers.

Important dates: (23:59:59 AoE)
Paper Abstract: June 9, 2024
Paper Submission: June 16, 2024
Notification: July 15, 2024

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2024

Tools Track:

The Tools Track of VISSOFT accepts submissions describing already implemented and functional tools. Contributions to the Tools Track have a limit of 4 pages for short papers, and a limit of 10 pages for long papers (in both cases including all figures, tables, and appendices). For bibliography, short papers can use up to one additional page, and long papers up to two additional pages.

Tools Track papers describe the design or actual utilization of software visualization tools, with a focus on the architecture of the tool or its use to gain new insights. We also invite submitting significant evolutions of tools already presented (in past VISSOFT editions or in other venues).

Short tool papers usually just describe the presented tool, and will be evaluated mostly in terms of novelty and interest. Long tool papers are expected to present a user evaluation which shows evidence of its effectiveness, for instance, improvements over other similar tools, or if it is novel, showing its utility and practical use. Long papers will be evaluated following the same criteria as in the Research track.

The submission of a video (up to 5 minutes in length) to accompany the paper is mandatory. Authors should add a URL to the video at the end of the abstract (e.g., Video URL: https://youtu.be/XXX).

Paper Awards: VISSOFT 2024 may award distinguished tool papers.

Showcase session: During the conference, we will organize an informal tool demonstration session where authors of TD papers are invited to demonstrate their tools.

Artifact Evaluation: Paper authors are encouraged to submit research artifacts (e.g., tools, data repositories, frameworks, videos) for evaluation. For more details, please refer to the Artifact Track.

Important dates: (23:59:59 AoE)
Paper Abstract: June 9, 2024
Paper Submission: June 16, 2024
Notification: July 15, 2024

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2024

Artifact Evaluation Track:

Also this year, ICSME, VISSOFT, and SCAM have joined forces and present a single Artifact Evaluation Track for all three venues. We invite authors of papers of all lengths accepted to VISSOFT 2024 to submit artifacts associated with those papers for evaluation. Papers with artifacts that meet the review criteria will be awarded badges, noting their contributions to open science in SE.

More information on the Call for Papers of the Joint Artifact Evaluation Track will be available at the ICSME 2024 web page (https://conf.researchr.org/home/icsme-2024 see “Tracks” drop-down menu).

Journal First Track:

A submission to the VISSOFT 2024 call for journal-first paper presentations must adhere to the following criteria:

  • The paper was accepted to a relevant journal and it is in the scope of the conference.
  • The paper was published between July 1, 2021 and July 28, 2024.
  • The paper reports new research results and/or presents novel contributions that significantly extend, and were not previously reported in, prior work
  • The paper has not been presented at and is not under consideration for journal-first programs of other conferences

Authors of a paper that meets these criteria are invited to submit by email to vissoft2024@easychair.org a one-page presentation proposal consisting of the paper’s title, the paper’s authors, a short statement on how the work satisfies the journal first criteria, and a pointer to the original journal paper at the journal’s Website. If the paper is not online yet, then specify so. The original paper (or a preprint) should also be sent during submission.

The journal-first manuscripts are published through the journals and will not be part of the Conference proceedings. The journal-first papers will be listed in the conference program. Journal first presentations will have the same presentation time as technical papers.

Important dates: (23:59:59 AoE)
Paper Submission: July 19, 2024
Notification: July 29, 2024

Poster Track:

The poster track of VISSOFT 2024 provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to present their new and innovative preliminary work in an informal, interactive setting. Conference attendees can learn about novel on-going research projects that might not yet be complete, but whose preliminary results are already interesting. Poster presenters will have an opportunity to discuss their work and get feedback from knowledgeable sources at an early stage of their research.

The poster track of VISSOFT 2024 accepts two-page documents, typically combining text and images, that embody a succinct description of work that has been done. Presenting a poster is a good way to discuss and receive feedback on a work in progress that has not been fully developed into a paper. Posters should not present previously published work.

Poster manuscripts will be part of the Conference proceedings, and evaluated by the Program Co-Chairs on their suitability to VISSOFT topics of interest.

Important dates: (23:59:59 AoE)
Paper Submission: July 19, 2024
Notification: July 29, 2024

Showcase Session

As successfully done in the past, at VISSOFT 2024 authors of all accepted papers in all tracks, and specially in the Tools Track, will be invited to demonstrate their approaches and tools to the participants in an informal setting. More details will follow a few weeks before the conference.

How to submit

Papers must strictly adhere to the two-column IEEE conference proceedings format. Please use the available IEEE Manuscript Templates for Conference Proceedings: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html

If a submission is accepted for the journal-first program, at least one author of the associated journal paper must register and present the paper at the conference.

Supplemental material (e.g., video, data, software) that might be helpful for reviewers can be linked in your paper.

Note: VISSOFT uses a single-blind review process (i.e., the names and affiliations of the authors are revealed to reviewers but reviewers' identities are not revealed to authors).

Important dates

All dates refer to midnight 23:59:59 AoE.

Research, NIER, and Tools Track Journal First, and Poster Track
Paper Abstract: June 9, 2024 --
Paper Submission: June 16, 2024 July 19, 2024
Paper Notification: July 15, 2024 July 29, 2024
Conference Date: October 6-7, 2024