Skills Development Preparing SODA Camera-Ready Submission Guide

Preparing SODA Camera-Ready Submission Guide

v20260724
soda-camera-ready
A comprehensive guide for authors transitioning an accepted paper from a full draft to the strict, camera-ready proceedings format required by major conferences like SODA. It covers critical steps such as content compression, de-anonymization (restoring author metadata), adhering to SIAM formatting rules, and establishing proper citation hygiene across multiple versions (proceedings, arXiv, journal).
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Overview

SODA Camera-Ready

For SODA 2027, acceptance notices and final-paper instructions go out in October 2026, and the conference runs January 24-27, 2027 in Philadelphia (checked 2026-07-08 via the SIAM SODA27 pages, read through search renderings). SODA proceedings are produced through SIAM's publication machinery and appear in the SIAM Publications Library (epubs.siam.org) as "Proceedings of the [year] Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms" — e.g., DOI prefix 10.1137/1.9781611978322 for 2025 and 10.1137/1.9781611978971 for 2026. The final-version page allowance, the SIAM macro package to use, and the exact upload route are specified only in the acceptance email each cycle (2027 values: 待核实 until that email exists).

The condensation problem

SODA reviews the full version but publishes a proceedings version, so October's work is usually compression, the reverse of page-capped venues where camera-ready means expansion. Decide early which of the three standard shapes the final version takes:

Shape When to choose it Cost
Full paper fits the allowance Short papers, tight allowances rare None — reformat only
Proceedings version + arXiv full version The normal SODA outcome Maintaining two documents that must not drift
Proceedings version + journal plan Results with journal-strength depth (SICOMP, TALG, ACM ToA) Journal referee round later; note the proceedings appearance

Rules for the cut:

  • Theorem statements never change between versions. If compression forces a restatement, something is wrong with the plan, not the theorem.
  • Cut proofs bottom-up: routine verifications first, then standard-technique lemmas, never the novel-technique core. Each cut gets a pointer: "the proof appears in the full version [arXiv:XXXX.XXXXX]."
  • Update the arXiv record the same week the proceedings version is finalized, so the pointer resolves to the version you actually cite.

De-anonymization checklist

The submission was lightweight double-blind; the proceedings version is not. Restore, in one pass:

[ ] Author block: names, affiliations, emails — order agreed by all coauthors
[ ] Funding and grant acknowledgements (agency rules on wording checked)
[ ] Personal acknowledgements (colleagues, referees if the PC permits)
[ ] Self-citations returned to natural first-person phrasing where clearer
[ ] ORCID / author-metadata fields in whatever form SIAM's system requests
[ ] PDF metadata regenerated — title and authors, not "anonymous submission"

Then run the reverse check: no leftover "the authors of [7]" circumlocutions that now read strangely, no \ifanon branches still active.

SIAM machinery specifics

  • Follow the macro/style instructions in the acceptance email exactly; SIAM copyediting is format-strict, and the proceedings are typeset from what you hand over. Package name and options for 2027: 待核实.
  • A copyright or publication agreement with SIAM is part of the process; the signer must be authorized by all authors. Terms and any open-access mechanics for the 2027 volume: 待核实 (do not assume another society's defaults).
  • The DOI for your paper will hang off the volume's 10.1137/1.978... prefix — cite the proceedings version by that DOI once live, not by a HotCRP link.

Version-citation hygiene after publication

Once the proceedings entry exists, three versions of the paper circulate — the proceedings version, the arXiv full version, and (later, perhaps) a journal version. Set the citation policy now, because other people's bibliographies will fossilize whatever you put in front of them first:

@inproceedings{YourKey27,
  author    = {...},
  title     = {...},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2027 Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium
               on Discrete Algorithms (SODA)},
  year      = {2027},
  pages     = {...},           % from the SIAM volume
  doi       = {10.1137/1.978...},
  note      = {Full version: arXiv:XXXX.XXXXX}
}
  • Announce the canonical citation on the arXiv abstract page ("Appeared in SODA 2027; cite the proceedings version").
  • If a journal version is planned (SICOMP, TALG, ACM ToA are the community's registers of record), say so in the arXiv comments so surveys wait for the strongest bound rather than quoting the proceedings one forever (soda-related-work documents the reader-side of this problem).
  • Keep theorem numbering stable across versions where possible; downstream papers cite "Theorem 3 of [You]" and renumbering breaks them silently.

January obligations

  • SODA talks are the visible payoff; slots are short. Build the talk around one theorem, one picture of the technique, one open problem.
  • Presentation/registration requirements (who must register, remote options if any) are stated in the SIAM acceptance materials: 待核实 per cycle. Assume at least one author attends in person and budget for a January North-American trip.
  • Coordinate with co-located ALENEX and SOSA schedules if coauthors have papers there — the satellite talks share the venue and the audience.

Deadline map from acceptance to podium

When (2027 cycle) Action
October 2026 Read instructions same-day; calendar the final-version due date
Acceptance + 1 week Choose condensation shape; assign the cut list
Acceptance + 3 weeks Final version compiled in SIAM format; internal proofread of every theorem statement against the submitted version
Final-version deadline Upload; archive the exact source used
Same week Push the updated full version to arXiv; add the "to appear in SODA 2027" note
December 2026 Talk draft; dry run with the group
January 24-27, 2027 Philadelphia

Output format

[Camera-ready status] On track / At risk / Blocked
[Condensation plan] <shape chosen; sections cut; full-version pointer>
[Identity restoration] <checklist gaps>
[SIAM process] <instructions followed / 待核实 items outstanding>
[Talk plan] <one-theorem story, presenter, registration state>
Info
Category Development
Name soda-camera-ready
Version v20260724
Size 6.34KB
Updated At 2026-07-29
Language