Use this before submission and again before camera-ready. For a theory venue, "reproducibility" means verifiability: a competent reader can follow every proof and confirm every stated theorem. PODS makes this concrete by requiring the proof appendix to be incorporated at submission — there are no online/external appendices — so the reviewers can check the mathematics now, not on trust.
#P-hardness) is
labeled where it is used, and the model (data vs. combined complexity, cost model) is fixed.| Claim in the paper | Weak (reject-prone) form | PODS-ready form |
|---|---|---|
| "Theorem: the problem is hard" | Hardness "sketched"; no reduction given | A complete reduction in the appendix, with the source problem cited |
| "Our algorithm is optimal" | Upper bound only | Upper bound + matching lower bound, both proved |
| "This holds for all such queries" | Proof for the examples shown | A general proof covering every case, or a scoped, honest claim |
| "It is easy to see that..." | The hard step waved away | The argument written out, or a precise appendix pointer |
| "Full proofs in the full version" | Nothing in the appendix | Complete proofs in the at-submission appendix; arXiv full version optional-but-consistent |
"Proof omitted" with no appendix proof is treated at PODS the way "available on request" is treated at a systems venue — as not provided. The appendix exists so nothing decision-critical is off-paper.
[Model] fix data model, query class, and complexity/cost measure; use them consistently
[Assumptions] label every conditional bound with its conjecture at the point of use
[Scope] state exactly which cases the result covers and which remain open — do not overclaim
[Dependencies] each proof cites the exact prior result it invokes; no circular lemma chains
[Constants] expose hidden dependence on query size / schema / fixed parameters
PODS is an extended-abstract venue: the community norm is to post a full version on arXiv (with all proofs and any extended development) and, at camera-ready, DOI-link it to the PACMMOD paper. At submission the arXiv version must not break double-anonymity; keep it anonymized or withhold the link until acceptance. The at-submission appendix, not the arXiv link, is what the reviewers must be able to verify.
Consider a paper proving a PTIME/hard dichotomy for a query class. Its verifiability spine: the exact model and query class in preliminaries; the tractable direction as a proved algorithm with complexity; the hard direction as a complete reduction from a cited problem, under a named assumption if conditional; a lemma establishing that the two directions partition the class (completeness); and a scope sentence naming the one extension (e.g. self-joins) left open — every proof in the body or the at-submission appendix, with a consistent arXiv full version prepared for later.
[Claim inventory] <theorem/lemma -> complete proof location (body/appendix)>
[Verifiability] complete / scoped / conjectural, stated honestly
[Assumption gaps] <any conditional bound unlabeled? any circular dependency?>
[Scope honesty] <open cases stated? overclaim in the abstract? yes/no>
[Paper fixes] <proofs to complete or pointers to add before submission>
[Full-version plan] <arXiv version prepared, anonymized now, DOI-linked at camera-ready>