ICASSP Author Response
Use this after ICASSP reviews are released. First confirm whether the current cycle even runs a
rebuttal: ICASSP historically had no author-response stage, and a short window is a
comparatively recent addition (in the 2026 cycle authors could reply until ~22 December
2025). Reopen the current call before promising reviewers anything.
What the rebuttal is and is not
- It is a short, text-based reply to the reviews, not a chance to upload a revised PDF or new
experiments. Argue from what you already submitted.
- ICASSP is single-blind, so the reviewers know your identity; write professionally and do
not attempt to re-establish anonymity or drop identifying hints to sway a reviewer.
- The audience is the area/technical-committee decision: give whoever aggregates the reviews
a clean reason to accept, not a point-by-point defense that wins arguments but not the paper.
Triage before drafting
- Separate factual errors in the review (a metric misread, a missed baseline that is in the
paper) from legitimate gaps (a missing comparison, an unreported condition).
- Fix the factual errors first with an exact pointer: "Table 2, row 3 already reports this."
- For real gaps, concede cleanly and scope a camera-ready clarification that adds no
unsupported new claim — the four pages you submitted are the evidence of record.
- Rank concerns by decision weight; one resolved correctness objection outranks five answered
style notes.
Signal-processing reviewer pushback patterns
| Pushback |
What it signals |
ICASSP-ready fix |
| "The baseline is not the current strong method" |
Reviewer knows the task's state of the art |
Name the specific stronger baseline you did compare, or concede and scope it for camera-ready |
| "Which SNR / condition does this hold at?" |
The reported number hides its operating point |
Point to the sweep or table cell; if only one condition was tested, say so plainly |
| "Metric is not the one this task uses" |
Measurement mismatch (e.g., accuracy where SI-SDR belongs) |
Report the field-standard metric if you have it, or explain why yours is defensible |
| "No significance / spread over runs" |
One-seed result |
Cite the multi-run spread if present; otherwise concede it as a limitation |
| "This is a known result / prior art" |
Novelty challenge |
Cite the exact delta versus the named prior work in one sentence |
Drafting pattern
- Open with the single most decision-critical correction or concession.
- Anchor each point to an exact location in the submitted paper (table, figure, equation, line).
- State the signal-processing consequence, not just the fact.
- Promise only camera-ready wording or clarification fixes that stay within the accepted claim.
Micro-example
Reviewer objection: the enhancement gain is reported only at one SNR, so the improvement may not
generalize. Reply skeleton:
- Concede the main table fixes SNR at one value for space.
- Point to Fig. 3, which already sweeps 0-15 dB and shows the gain persists.
- Note the trend is monotone, so the single-SNR table is representative, not cherry-picked.
- Offer one camera-ready sentence stating the operating range explicitly.
Calibration for a short window
- Reply early; ICASSP rebuttal windows are brief and a late, exhaustive reply is worth less
than a prompt, precise one.
- Do not paste new derivations or fresh result tables the reviewers cannot verify against the
submitted PDF.
- Keep within any stated length/format cap; if none is stated, be concise anyway — committee
members read many rebuttals in one sitting.
Output format
[Rebuttal exists?] yes (dates) / no this cycle / unverified
[Priority issue] <reviewer concern>
[Decision dimension] correctness / novelty / evidence / clarity / metric-fit
[Draft response] <ICASSP-ready text, anchored to submitted paper>
[Evidence anchor] <table/figure/equation/line>
[Camera-ready promise] <scoped fix that adds no new claim>
Currency note
The 2026 rebuttal window (reported open to ~22 December 2025) was checked 2026-07-09 via
official-page renderings (see ../../resources/official-source-map.md). Whether a rebuttal
recurs, and its dates and length, are cycle-specific — verify on the current call before drafting.
