Research

Call for Papers

The 26th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE'18) is the premier international forum for researchers, practitioners, educators, and students to present and discuss the most recent research results, innovations, experiences, and concerns in the discipline of requirements engineering.

The RE'18 theme is Crossing Boundaries and Increasing Impact. The boundaries between research, academia, industry, open (source) communities, and government, as well as those between software engineering and other areas, are of special interest, particularly if crossing them can help increase the practical impact of the RE techniques and community. We thus particularly encourage accounts of innovative, solid research concerned with this theme. Any other topic relevant to RE is equally welcome. The Research Track RE'18 invites original submissions of research papers in the categories described below. Four candidates to the best paper award will be invited to submit an extended version of their work for a special issue of Springer’s Requirements Engineering Journal (REJ).

New this year: research paper can have up to 12 pages in length (with specific restrictions on the number of pages for the body and for references), and a double-blind review process will be used to review and select papers. Structured abstracts are also encouraged.

Note that RE'18 also welcomes submissions of

• Industry Innovation,
• RE@Next!
• Data,
• Workshops,
• Tutorials,
• Posters and Tool Demonstrations,
• Doctoral Symposium, and
• Panels and Interactive Events.

Categories for Research Papers

Technical solution papers present solutions for requirements-related problems that are novel or significantly improve on existing solutions. These papers are mainly evaluated with regard to problem relevance, novelty, clarity of presentation, technical soundness, and evidence for its benefits. New: Technical solution papers must not exceed 10 pages for the main body, and 2 additional pages for the references. There are 3 main kinds of solutions and corresponding evaluation criteria:

• Analytical: The main contribution relies on new algorithms or mathematical theory. Such a contribution must be evaluated with a convincing analysis of the algorithmic details, whether through a formal analysis or proof, complexity analysis, or run-time analysis, among others and depending on the objectives.


• Technological: The main contribution is of a technological nature. This includes novel tools, modeling languages, infrastructures, and other technologies. Such a contribution does not necessarily need to be evaluated with humans. However, clear arguments, backed up by evidence as appropriate, must show how and why the technology is beneficial, whether it is in automating or supporting some user task, refining our modeling capabilities, improving some key system property, etc.


• Methodological: The main contribution is a coherent system of broad principles and practices to interpret or solve a problem, e.g., a novel requirements elicitation or prioritization method. The authors should provide convincing arguments, with corresponding experiences and evidence as appropriate, why a new method is needed and what the benefits of the proposed method are.

Scientific evaluation papers evaluate existing problem situations or evaluate real-world artifacts or validate/refute proposed solutions by scientific means. This includes, e.g., experiments, case studies, and surveys reporting qualitative or quantitative data and findings. The papers are mainly evaluated with regard to soundness of research questions and appropriateness/correctness of study design, data analysis, and threats to validity. Replications are welcome. For papers reporting on the application of some solutions, lessons learned are particularly important. New: Scientific evaluation papers must not 10 pages for the main body, and 2 additional pages for the references.

Perspective papers explore the history, successes, and challenges of requirements related practices and research agendas, and outline research roadmaps for the future. Literature reviews are also included in this category and must distill novel knowledge, present new insights and not be merely compilative. These papers are evaluated based on the insights they offer to the reader and the corresponding arguments, and on their potential to shape future research. Perspective papers may have more than 2 pages of references, but under no circumstances may the body of the paper exceed 10 pages or may the combined body of the paper and the references exceed 12 pages.

In their initial submission, the authors are invited to consider reserving some space (about 0.5 to 0.75 page) in order to more easily implement the changes requested by the reviewers for the final version.

Topics of Interest

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Elicitation and Stakeholders

– Requirements elicitation, prioritization, and negotiation
– Design thinking and open innovation
– Innovation through creativity
– Crowdsourcing and social media
– Social, cultural, and cognitive factors
– User feedback and usage monitoring
– Capturing and understanding users’ needs




Requirements Analysis, Specification and Validation

– Natural language approaches
– Model-driven approaches
– Formal approaches




Requirements Management

– Traceability
– Evolution and release planning
– Reuse
– Tools and standards




Pragmatic Requirements Engineering

– Good-enough Requirements Engineering
– Agile and lean approaches
– Requirements engineering in Open Source




Large-scale Requirements Engineering

– Complex systems
– Product lines and value chains
– Software ecosystems, artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud technologies
– Requirements Engineering for Smart Cities, Cyber-Physical Systems, and Systems of Systems




Global Requirements Engineering

– Geographically-dispersed teams
– Culturally-divergent requirements efforts




Domain-specific Requirements Engineering

– Embedded systems
– Open source software
– Privacy and Security
– Sustainability
– Sustainability
– Mobility
– Cyber-physical systems




Quality Engineering

– User experience
– Quality factors
– Safety and security
– Test approaches




Product Management

– Value creation techniques
– Product evolution
– Requirements and marketing
– Requirements and law




Industry and Research Collaboration

– Learning from practice
– Transferring technology from academia to industry
– Transferring technology across industries
– Transferring technology across domains
– Identifying best practices
– Improving productivity




Requirements Engineering Education and Training

Empirical Studies, Measurements and Prediction

Structure of Abstract

We recommend that authors structure their paper’s abstract along the explicit coverage of context, objectives, methods, and results and conclusions (max. 200 words). Section keywords may be used in the abstract itself but they are not mandatory. However, please ensure that the abstract conveys more than just an overview of the context and objectives so that readers do not have to read the article in its entirety to learn key conclusions or how those conclusions were reached.

Submission Instructions

In order to guide the reviewing process, all authors who intend to submit a paper must first submit the title, abstract (max. 200 words) and author information of their paper. Abstracts are used only to point out your interest to submit a full paper and to allow us to initiate the search for possible reviewers early in time.

Papers must describe original work that has not been previously published or submitted elsewhere. Submissions must be written in English and formatted according to the IEEE formatting instructions.

Papers that exceed the length specification (see above categories) or are not formatted correctly will be desk-rejected without review. It is acceptable to reference additional content (i.e., data repositories, source code for open source tools, full protocols of empirical studies, etc.) by providing a corresponding URL hosted on an institutional, archive-grade site.

Please note that only full paper submissions will be peer reviewed. Abstract-only submissions will be discarded without further notice after the submission deadline.

Accepted papers may require editing for clarity prior to publication and presentation. They will appear in the IEEE Digital Library. At least one author of each accepted paper must register to and attend the conference in order to present their paper.

Additional Instructions for the Double-Blind Review Process

The RE'18 Research track will use a double-blind reviewing process. The goal of double-blind reviewing is to ensure that the reviewers can read and review your paper without having to know who any of the authors are, and hence avoid related bias. It is not about making the authors’ identity undiscoverable. Of course, authors are allowed and encouraged to submit papers that build on their previously published work.

In order to prepare your submission for double-blind reviewing, please follow the instructions given below.

1. Omit all names and affiliations of authors from the title page, but keep sufficient space to re-introduce them in the final version should the paper be accepted.
   
2. Do not include any acknowledgements that might disclose your identity. Leave space in your submission to add such acknowledgements when the paper has been accepted.
   
3. Refer to your own work in the third person, as you would normally do with the work of others.
   
4. When providing supplementary material, do this via a website that does not disclose your identity.
   
5. Do not make changes that compromise the technical integrity of your work. For example, do not change the names of your own tools, approaches or systems, but when referencing them, do this in the same way as you would refer to tools, approaches or systems created by others.
   
6. Remove identification metadata from the PDF file before submission (in Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can check their presence with File Properties, or Ctrl-D). Microsoft Word users should follow the Document Properties and Personal Information section of these instructions.

Submission Link

Please submit your Research paper in PDF format via EasyChair. Select the RE'18 Research Track for your submission.