CALL FOR PAPERS
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The 27th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) seeks submissions presenting novel contributions related to all real-world aspects of computer security and privacy. Theoretical papers must make a convincing case for the relevance of their results to practice. Authors are encouraged to write the abstract and introduction of their paper in a way that makes the results accessible and compelling to a general computer-security researcher. In particular, authors should bear in mind that anyone on the program committee may be asked to review any paper.


As in 2019, CCS will have two review cycles in 2020. For each submission, one of the following decisions will be made:

Accept: Papers in this category will be accepted for publication in the proceedings and presentation at the conference, possibly after making minor changes with the oversight of a shepherd.

Major Revision: Papers in this category are considered to be promising but need additional work (e.g., new experiments, proofs, or implementations). Authors will be given the opportunity to resubmit such papers, with appropriate revisions, in which case they should clearly explain in a well-marked appendix how the revisions address the comments of the reviewers. The revised paper will then be re-evaluated, and either accepted or rejected.

Reject: Papers in this category are declined for inclusion in the conference. Papers rejected from the first review cycle may not be submitted again (even in revised form) to the second review cycle.


Authors of each accepted paper must ensure that at least one author registers for the conference, and that their paper is presented in-person at the conference.


Paper Submission Information
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All submissions must be received by 11:59 PM AoE (UTC-12) on the day of the corresponding deadline. Submitted papers must not substantially overlap with papers that have been published or accepted for publication, or that are simultaneously in submission to a journal, conference, or workshop with published proceedings. All submissions should be properly anonymized; papers not properly anonymized may be rejected without review.


All submitted papers will be evaluated based on their merits, particularly their importance to practical aspects of computer and communications security and privacy, novelty, quality of execution, and presentation. For papers that might raise ethical concerns, authors are expected to convince reviewers that proper procedures (such as IRB approval or responsible disclosure) have been followed, and due diligence has been made to minimize potential harm.


Paper Format
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Submissions must be a PDF file in double-column ACM format (see https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template, with a simpler version at https://github.com/acmccs/format), no more than 12 pages long, excluding the bibliography, well-marked appendices, and supplementary material. Note that reviewers are not required to read the appendices or any supplementary material. Authors should not change the font or the margins of the ACM format. Submissions not following the required format may be rejected without review.

Paper Topic(s)
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At the time of submission, authors must select one or more “topics” that reflect the content of the paper. These topics will affect which PC members will review the paper. Authors must select at least one topic; if no topic fits perfectly, just select the best one.


Resubmissions
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For papers that were previously submitted to, and rejected from, another conference, authors are required to add a well-marked appendix containing the prior reviews along with a description of how those reviews were addressed in the current version of the paper. (Please submit a single PDF with the reviews in an appendix as just described. Authors are only required to include reviews from the last time the paper was submitted.) Reviewers will be asked to complete their reviews before reading the provided appendix to avoid being biased in formulating their own opinions; once their reviews are complete, however, reviewers will be given the opportunity to provide additional comments based on the submission history of the paper. Authors who try to circumvent this rule (e.g., by changing the title of the paper without significantly changing the contents) may have their papers rejected without further consideration, at the discretion of the PC chairs.


Conflicts of Interest
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The conference requires cooperation from both authors and program-committee members to ensure a fair review process. For this purpose, authors must report all program-committee members who, in their opinion, have a conflict of interest and therefore may not be able to provide an unbiased review. Mandatory declared conflicts of interest include current or former doctoral advisor/advisee, members of the same institution, close family members, and recent co-authors (within the past 2 years). For any other declared conflict, authors are required to explain the nature of the conflict, which will be reviewed by the program co-chairs. The chairs reserve the right to request further explanation and can remove non-mandatory conflicts at their discretion.


Program-committee members who have a genuine conflict of interest with a paper, including the program co-chairs, will be excluded from evaluation and discussion of that paper. When a program co-chair is conflicted, the other co-chair will be responsible for managing that paper. When both program co-chairs are in conflict, a committee member will be appointed to handle the paper. Program co-chairs are not allowed to be authors or co-authors of any submissions.


Important Dates
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First Review Cycle:
Paper submission deadline: January 20, 2020
Rebuttal period: March 19-26, 2020
Author notification: March 30, 2020
Resubmission of revised papers: April 27, 2020
Decisions on revised papers: May 18, 2020
Camera-ready deadline: August 21, 2020


Second Review Cycle:
Paper submission deadline: May 4, 2020
Rebuttal period: July 10-17, 2020
Author notification: July 21, 2020
Resubmission of revised papers: August 18, 2020
Decisions on revised papers: September 8, 2020
Camera-ready deadline: August 21, 2020
Camera-ready deadline (for revised papers that are accepted): September 13, 2020


Submission Site
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Submissions for the First review Cycle go to https://ccs2020-a.hotcrp.com.


Please Note: The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of the conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work.