Call for PapersPermalink

Graph Drawing is concerned with the geometric representation of graphs and constitutes the algorithmic core of Network Visualization. Graph Drawing and Network Visualization are motivated by applications for which it is crucial to visually analyze and interact with relational datasets. Application areas include data science, social sciences, web computing, information systems, life sciences, geography, business intelligence, information security, and software engineering.

Graph Drawing has been the main annual conference in this area for more than 30 years. Its focus is on combinatorial and algorithmic aspects of graph drawing, their experimental evaluation, as well as the design of network visualization systems and interfaces. Researchers and practitioners working on any aspects of graph drawing and network visualization are invited to contribute papers and posters and to participate in the symposium as well as the graph drawing contest.

GD 2026 will be held at Brock University in St. Catharines, Canada, from August 17-21, 2026. A PhD school will take place August 17-18, 2026, followed by a reception on the evening of August 18. GD 2026 is designed to be held on-site. It is expected that regular papers are presented on site by one of the authors. To address global challenges and as an offer for authors who are unable to attend, we allow for a limited number of remote presentations, as further explained below.

The code of conduct for the GD conference can be found at http://graphdrawing.org/safetoc.html
TracksPermalink

We invite authors to submit work describing original research of theoretical or practical significance to graph drawing and network visualization. To promote a balanced coverage of the field, GD has two distinct tracks, and contributions submitted to one track will not compete with contributions submitted to the other track.
Track 1: Combinatorial and algorithmic aspectsPermalink

This track is mainly devoted to fundamental theoretical graph drawing advances, such as combinatorial and algorithmic aspects. We aim at covering a diverse set of topics, which for this track includes (but is not limited to):

Design and analysis of graph drawing algorithms
Geometric and topological graph theory
Computational topology of graphs on surfaces
Graph representations
Geometric advances and computing in graph drawing
Combinatorics and optimization in graph drawing

Track 2: Experimental, applied, and network visualization aspectsPermalink

This track is mainly devoted to conceptual and applied aspects of network visualization in the scope of graph drawing, such as experimental evaluations of graph drawing and network visualization related algorithms, the development and/or evaluation of related libraries and tools, or systems and interfaces in different application areas. We aim at covering a diverse set of topics, which for this track includes (but is not limited to):

Engineering of graph drawing algorithms and network visualization approaches
Interfaces, methods, and high-quality tools for interacting with graphs and networks
Benchmarks and experimental studies in the context of graph drawing and network visualization
Cognitive studies on network visualization aesthetics and user interaction
Visualization of networks in real-world applications
Machine learning methods in graph drawing and network visualization
Graph drawing & network visualization for AI explainability and trustworthiness

Contribution TypesPermalink

Perpendicular to the tracks, GD supports three contribution types, as well as a contest.
Long PapersPermalink

The standard contribution type is a long paper that describes relevant and original research in full detail. Accepted papers in this category will be assigned a standard time slot for presentation during the conference.
Short PapersPermalink

In addition to long papers, there will be a separate category for short papers. Here, we welcome smaller and less extensive contributions on relevant topics. Accepted papers in this category will be assigned a shorter time for presentation during the conference.

Short papers undergo the same competitive selection process as long papers.
PostersPermalink

Finally, we also solicit poster submissions. Accepted posters will be presented in the poster session, and will provide a forum for the communication of late-breaking research results (which may also appear elsewhere) to the GD community.
ContestPermalink

The traditional Graph Drawing Contest is held before and during the conference. Details are provided at the website. Winning submissions will be invited by the contest committee to submit a contest contribution, which will appear in the proceedings.
Submission FormatPermalink

The proceedings will be published in the open-access LIPIcs series. To facilitate the process, submissions have to be prepared in accordance with the LIPIcs author instructions. The page provides links to the LIPIcs class file along with an example and detailed author instructions. For the submission, the use of the LaTeX class file gd-lipics-v3.cls is requested. The class file is a wrapper around the standard LIPIcs class and implements line counting, see CG-linecount.pdf for details, as well as additional macros. Please use the \category macro to specify the track and contribution type, and use the macros \GAIDecl and \USEDecl to include your generative AI declaration and/or user study ethics declaration. These will be formatted as part of the front matter, and not count towards your line limit. Submissions must not exceed the following limits:

500 lines for long papers,
250 lines for short papers,
80 lines for poster abstracts,
100 lines for contest contributions (by invitation only).

The above limits do not include front matter (title, authors, affiliations, classification, etc.), acknowledgements, references, or appendices. The class files provide line counting which should be accurate in most cases. Authors should avoid substantial amounts of text in unnumbered lines.

Accepted papers will have additional space to facilitate incorporating reviewer comments.

The claims of long and short papers should be fully substantiated. If this information does not fit within the line limit, the authors should include it in a clearly marked appendix, whose length is not constrained and which the reviewers may read at their own discretion. For poster submissions, no appendix is expected.

We also encourage authors to avoid “et al.” in citations in favor of an equal mention of the surnames of all authors. For references with few authors, it is recommended to name all of them; if the number of authors is large, consider writing “(It is shown that) X [#]” or “The authors in [#] show that X” instead of “A et al. [#] show that X”.
Submission ProcessPermalink

Papers should be submitted electronically via Easychair.

Authors of posters should prepare an abstract that must be submitted together with the poster itself. Each submission will thus consist of two pdf files (the abstract and the poster).

Selected papers from Track 1 and Track 2 will be invited for submission to a special issue of the Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications (JGAA). The authors of two selected papers in Track 2 will be invited to submit a substantially extended and enhanced version of their work to IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG). A special TVCG papers session at the Graph Drawing conference will also feature regular TVCG papers. Further details can be found at https://www.computer.org/digital-library/journals/tvcg/tvcg-partners-with-conferences