RTSS 2021

Submission

All submitted papers must comply with the double-blind submission requirements and the page limits.

Papers must be submitted by the submission deadline (Thursday, May 27 2021) using the RTSS 2021 submission site (submission). The submission deadline is firm: late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances, and the deadline will not be extended.

Submitted papers must describe original work not previously published or concurrently submitted elsewhere. Papers that are based on previous work presented in a workshop with no digital object identifier (DOI) are eligible for submission. Papers based on a workshop publication with a DOI are eligible for submission, provided they contain at least 30% new material.

All submissions will be checked using IEEE CrossCheck plagiarism detection software (iThenticate) and authors’ names checked against the IEEE Prohibited Authors List. Although authors will choose which one of the two tracks to submit papers to, a paper may be redirected to a more appropriate track; the authors will be informed if this happens.

Page Limits

The main body of each submitted paper is limited to 11 pages of technical content with additional pages permitted for the bibliography only. Submissions must be formatted according to IEEE conference paper guidelines. The TPC Chair reserves the right to require paper sources (e.g. Latex, Word, etc.) in order to check that formatting guidelines have been adhered to.

Note once a paper is accepted or shepherded, the page limit is increased to 12 pages of technical content, again with additional pages permitted for the bibliography and acknowledgments only. The additional space this provides must only be used for the purpose of addressing the reviewer’s comments; other un-solicited additions are not permitted.

Double-Blind Submission Requirements

DO NOT identify the author(s) by their name(s) or affiliation(s) anywhere on the manuscript or abstract. Reference the author(s)’ own previous work or affiliations in the bibliographic citations in the third person. Avoid the use of “omitted for blind review” in the bibliography section. Make sure the PDF metadata does not contain the author information. Do not include an acknowledgments section in the submission. See more details on double-blind submission requirements. Any paper previously submitted to a single-blind conference must be blinded before submission to RTSS. Note that the shepherding phase will be single-blind.

Conflict of Interest (CoI)

CoIs are indicated by PC members during the bidding procedure. If a PC member has a CoI with any author of a submitted paper, that PC member will not review the submission nor take part in its deliberation.

For the purposes of reviewing papers, PC members have a conflict with a paper, if they and the authors:

  • Had at any time a supervisor/PhD student relationship.
  • Are both from the same institution, or have worked at the same institution in the past 3 years.
  • Are currently working together on a research paper or project, or have done so during the past 3 years.
  • Are related, or are close personal friends.
  • Are in some form of financial relationship, or have been at some point during the past 3 years.
  • Any other reason or circumstance that creates a risk that professional judgement may be unduly influenced.

Authors will be asked during the submission process to indicate any TPC members with whom they have CoIs as well as the types of CoIs. Authors also need to notify the PC Chair of exceptional CoIs up to the submission deadline (see Unwanted Reviewers below).

Unwanted Reviewers

Authors of papers may optionally indicate PC members that they have a CoI with that is outside of the normal scope of CoIs (see definition above). This information, including proper reasons for the additional CoIs must be communicated directly to the Program Chair in writing prior to the submission deadline. These PC members will not normally be eligible to review the authors’ paper(s). Note the final decision on whether to make this restriction rests with the Program Chair. Note this process should not be used to indicate normal Conflicts of Interest (CoI) – see above.

Author Rebuttal

The peer-review process for RTSS incorporates a rebuttal process. After the PC members complete their initial reviews, the contact author for each submitted paper will be provided with the set of reviews for that submission. Each review might further include a short list of questions for the authors in a clearly marked section.

Authors have 5 working days to prepare and submit a rebuttal answer through the submission system. The rebuttal is strictly limited to respond to factual errors and misunderstanding in reviews, and answering questions raised in the corresponding section of the reviews. The authors are not allowed to add new material/results to the submission.

Note that failing to provide a rebuttal does not lead to automatic paper rejection. Nevertheless, authors are encouraged to address questions by the reviewers to the best of their ability. PC members are required to consider the rebuttal answer in the final deliberation.

The rebuttal period is from Thursday, July 15 to Wednesday, July 21, 2021.

Re-submissions

By submitting a paper, the authors agree and confirm that:

In the event that the paper has previously been submitted to a conference or journal, and received reviews prior to rejection or being withdrawn, then a genuine effort has been made to address the reviewers’ concerns. (Note, re-submission of an essentially unchanged paper is not generally acceptable. If there are circumstances where you believe this is appropriate, then you must contact the TPC Chair prior to the submission deadline.)

Shepherding

RTSS 2021 will include a single-blind shepherding process. Details about the shepherding process will be announced to related authors after the notification date.

(Note, as TPC Chair, you may have double-blind shepherding if you wish, but logistically it is more difficult, and the Conference Planning SC advice on this is that single-blind is fine. Note a consistent approach must be taken to all shepherded papers).

Submitting a Paper

Before submitting your paper, please check that:

  • The paper is formatted according to the IEEE conference paper guidelines.
  • The paper complies with the new page limits (described at the top of this webpage).
  • The file that you will upload is a PDF.
  • You know which of the two tracks (described in the Call for Papers) to submit the paper to.
  • The paper complies with the instructions for double blind submission.

By submitting a paper, the authors agree and confirm that:

  • Neither this paper nor a version similar to it is under review or will be submitted elsewhere before notification by RTSS 2021.
  • If accepted, the authors will submit a final version of the paper by the camera-ready deadline.
  • If accepted, at least one author will register for the conference by the special registration deadline for authors, and present the paper at the conference in person.
  • If accepted, at least one author will register for the conference by the special registration deadline for authors, and ensure that the paper is presented at the conference.
  • In the event that the paper has previously been submitted to a conference or journal, and received reviews prior to rejection or being withdrawn, then a genuine effort has been made to address the reviewers’ concerns. (Note, re-submission of an essentially unchanged paper is not generally acceptable. If there are circumstances where you believe this is appropriate, then you must contact the TPC Chair prior to the submission deadline).

Note: you may revise your submission at any time up until the submission deadline (Thursday, May 27 2021 AOE). No changes or extensions will be permitted after that time.