EDBT Topic Selection

Decide the venue and the paper shape before drafting. EDBT — the International Conference on Extending Database Technology — is the European database-systems flagship, held jointly with ICDT (its theory sibling) and published open access on OpenProceedings.org. Its reviewers read for a contribution that extends real database technology: systems, applied data management, and experiments-and-analysis work. A paper whose true center is a complexity result, a pure-ML model, or a US-flagship-scale systems marathon may be respected and then rerouted.

The routing question that matters most

EDBT overlaps heavily with SIGMOD, VLDB, and ICDE in scope and reviewer pool, so the decisive question is rarely "is this databases?" but "which database community, publication model, and cycle fits this paper now?" Two EDBT-specific pulls tilt the answer:

• The rolling cycle is often the nearest honest deadline. EDBT's three cycles a year mean a ready paper rarely waits long; if SIGMOD/ICDE/PVLDB's next window is months out, the near EDBT cycle can be the rational choice for a finished contribution.
• Open access matters to some authors and funders. OpenProceedings' CC-BY-NC-ND, author-retained copyright, no-APC model is a genuine reason to prefer EDBT over the paywalled ACM/IEEE DLs.

Sibling-venue routing table

Contribution shapes EDBT rewards (and the paper shape they map to)

• System + architecture / mechanism — a storage, query-processing, indexing, transaction, or integration mechanism, embodied in a real system and measured on real workloads → Regular.
• Distributed / scalable algorithm — an operator or method that extends processing to a new scale, platform, or data type, with a scalability evaluation → Regular.
• Experiments & Analysis — a rigorous benchmarking, repeatability, or comparative study where the measurement itself is the contribution → Experiments & Analysis paper.
• Applied data management / experience — extending a working system to a real operational need, reported honestly → Regular.
• Forward-looking idea — a well-argued new direction not yet fully built or evaluated → Vision paper (short).

The theory-vs-systems test (the EDBT/ICDT boundary)

Because EDBT and ICDT share a conference and a proceedings platform, the sharpest routing mistake is sending a theory paper to EDBT (or an unbuilt systems idea to ICDT):

• If the core result is a theorem — a complexity bound, an expressiveness or decidability result, a query-language or constraint-theory contribution — it belongs at ICDT, not EDBT, even though they meet in the same week.
• If the core result is a built-and-measured system or a data-analysis study, it belongs at EDBT. Being able to co-present near the theory community is a benefit of EDBT, not a reason to submit theory to it.

The scale-and-community test (EDBT vs. the US flagships)

• Scale realism, not scale maximalism. EDBT values evaluations on realistic workloads and honest scope; a paper does not need US-flagship-scale infrastructure to be strong here, but its claims must match its evidence.
• Community pull. If your bibliography and closest prior work are European DB-systems papers and the near cycle fits, EDBT is a natural home; if the paper is in explicit dialogue with a SIGMOD/PVLDB line and aims at that audience, weigh the sibling.

Cheap reconnaissance before committing

[Scope]   scan the last two EDBT programs (dblp, OpenProceedings) for your subarea
          -> 3+ recent papers = a reviewer pool exists; 0 = opening or mismatch
[Boundary] is the core a theorem (-> ICDT) or a built/measured system-or-study (-> EDBT)?
[Citations] is your bibliography majority DB venues (SIGMOD/VLDB/ICDE/EDBT/ICDT)?
          -> majority non-DB => reviewers read you as a visitor; naturalize the intro first
[Calendar] compare the next EDBT cycle with SIGMOD/PVLDB/ICDE dates -> route to the nearest
          honest fit rather than idling

Decision procedure

[Audience] who acts differently if the claim holds? -> DB systems builders / practitioners / researchers?
[Claim type] system / scalable algorithm / experiments-&-analysis / applied experience / vision / theory
[Theory check] is the heart a theorem? -> route to ICDT
[EDBT vs US flagship] all fit? -> choose by open-access preference, cycle proximity, community pull
[Shape] Regular / Experiments-&-Analysis / Vision, matched to the contribution
[Verdict] EDBT (which shape, which cycle) / sibling venue / journal, with a one-line reason

Run this before the writing skills; a wrong venue or shape decision wastes every later step. When the verdict is EDBT, continue with edbt-workflow for the cycle calendar and edbt-writing-style for the paper shape.