ITCS Reproducibility
"Reproducibility" at a pure-theory venue means one thing: a competent, skeptical reader can
verify every central claim from the paper alone. There is no code to rerun and no dataset to
re-mine — the analogue of a reproducibility package is a complete, self-contained, correctly
attributed proof. ITCS makes this concrete in its call: submissions must include complete
proofs of all central claims (in an appendix if needed). This skill is the discipline that
makes the mathematics checkable, which — since ITCS has no rebuttal — is also your only
defense against a reviewer who gets stuck.
Completeness: every central claim is fully proved
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No "proof omitted," no "proof is standard," no "see the full version" for anything a
reviewer must check to believe the result. Deferring a routine calculation to an appendix is
fine; deferring the load-bearing lemma is a reproducibility failure and, at ITCS, a likely
reject.
-
Distinguish proved from assumed. Every step is either proved here or cited to a precise
prior result. A theorem that quietly relies on an unproved claim is the theory analogue of a
package that silently calls a missing dependency.
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Prove the anchoring result in full. For a new-model paper, the separation/possibility result
that shows the model is alive is exactly what a reviewer will try hardest to break — give it the
most complete treatment in the paper.
Self-containment: definitions and notation
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Define every symbol and model parameter before use. A reviewer should verify a theorem
statement without opening your prior papers — which lightweight double-blind would expose
anyway (see
itcs-related-work).
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State the exact model, not "the usual one." Small variations in a definition (adaptive vs.
non-adaptive, worst-case vs. average, the quantifier order) change what is true; pin them down.
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Restate borrowed results you rely on. Quote the precise statement (and its hypotheses) of an
external theorem you invoke, so a reviewer sees exactly what you assume and can check the fit.
Dependency provenance: pin what you borrow
The theory analogue of "pinning versions" is precise citation of the results you build on:
- Cite each borrowed theorem to a specific venue, year, and statement number — not a vague "it is
known that."
- Flag any dependency on a recent, unrefereed, or conditional result (an arXiv/ECCC preprint,
a conjecture, an unpublished personal communication). A result standing on an unverified
preprint should say so; its correctness is then explicitly conditional.
- Separate assumptions (P != NP, a hardness assumption, a conjecture) from theorems, and
make every conditional result's hypothesis unmissable in its statement.
The full version as the durable record
Under lightweight double-blind, authors are encouraged to post the full version to arXiv,
ECCC, or the IACR ePrint Archive. Treat it as the permanent, complete record:
-
The full version and the submission must agree. Divergent theorem statements or proofs
between the two invite a reviewer to trust the wrong one. Keep them in sync, and say in the
submission that a full version exists.
-
Put genuinely long proofs in the full version and an appendix the PC can read — a proof a
reviewer must consult to judge the paper cannot live only in an external preprint they are not
obligated to open (see
itcs-supplementary).
-
Keep the preprint's identity handling consistent with your strategy — posting is allowed and
common, but the submitted PDF still omits author names.
The checkability passes (run before upload)
[Completeness] every central claim has a full proof present (appendix ok)? no "omitted"/"standard"?
[Self-contain] every symbol/model/parameter defined before use? theorem statements parseable alone?
[Dependencies] each borrowed result cited to venue+year+statement number? unrefereed deps flagged?
[Assumptions] every conditional theorem states its hypothesis in the statement?
[Consistency] abstract bound = theorem bound = proof bound; quantifier order uniform?
[Full version] submission and arXiv/ECCC/ePrint version agree? existence noted?
Common failure modes
| Symptom |
Why it fails at ITCS |
Fix |
| Central lemma "proof omitted" |
Violates the complete-proofs requirement |
Include the full proof (appendix) |
| Theorem parseable only with your prior paper |
Not self-contained; anonymity risk too |
Define everything in-paper |
| "It is known that ..." with no cite |
Dependency unpinned; reviewer cannot check |
Cite venue/year/statement |
| Relies on a preprint silently |
Correctness is conditional but hidden |
State the conditional dependency |
| Preprint proof differs from submission |
Reviewer trusts the wrong version |
Sync the two |
Output format
[ITCS checkability status] verifiable / gaps
[Completeness] central claims fully proved (list any "omitted")
[Self-containment] definitions complete? statements parseable alone? yes/no
[Dependencies] borrowed results pinned? unrefereed/conditional ones flagged? yes/no
[Full version] posted and consistent with submission? yes/no
[Fix queue] <ordered, load-bearing gaps first>