Call for Papers: Free, Libre, and Open Source Software Research Track

WikiSym, the 9th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration
OpenSym, the 2013 International Symposium on Open Collaboration

August 5-7, 2013 | Hong Kong, China

ACM In-cooperation with SIGWEB and SIGSOFT. Archived in the ACM Digital Library.

Research paper submission deadline: April 2, 2013 (March 17, 2013).

The 2013 Joint International Symposium on Open Collaboration (WikiSym + OpenSym 2013) is the premier conference on open collaboration research, including wikis and social media, Wikipedia, free, libre, and open source software, open access, open data and open government research. WikiSym is in its 9th year and will be complemented by OpenSym, a new conference on open collaboration research and an adjunct to the successful WikiSym conference series. WikiSym + OpenSym 2013 is the first conference to bring together the different strands of open collaboration research, seeking to create synergies and inspire new research between computer scientists, social scientists, legal scholars, and everyone interested in understanding open collaboration and how it is changing the world. Read more about the conference at opensym.org/2013.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: FREE, LIBRE, AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE RESEARCH

Although free, libre, and open source software (FLOSS) can be studied with the general methodologies and techniques developed for other kinds of software, it shows enough peculiarities (such as the extent to which it can be reused, the fact of being usually build by cooperating communities, or the exploration of new business models) to need new developments that help to understand it. In addition, in many cases it also offers new possibilities and opportunities to researchers, such as the availability of detailed data about the development process, the openness of the decision taking procedures, or the open and collaborative nature of communities around FLOSS projects, which allow for the development of new techniques and methodologies.

The track on FLOSS research is one of the peer-reviewed research tracks of OpenSym. It aims at hosting current research papers on issues related to the different aspects of this kind of software, from different points of view. Multidisciplinary research is specially welcome, but specific lines within a given research field also have their place. In any case, the works presented should show specific aspects of FLOSS, and should not be limited to showing research issues on products that happen to be FLOSS, but have no differential aspect because of that.

Practical cases or industry presentations are welcome, provided they meet the scientific standards that will be applied by the program committee.

Topics of interest to this track include, but are not limited to:

  • FLOSS development, including software engineering aspects
  • FLOSS technologies, specially those taking advantage of being FLOSS
  • FLOSS communities, including developer, but also user or business communities
  • FLOSS and innovation, how both are related, and new innovation models based on FLOSS
  • Motivation and incentives to FLOSS development and adoption
  • Business models based on FLOSS and sustainability of FLOSS projects
  • Legal aspects of FLOSS, including copyright and licensing
  • Education and FLOSS
  • Impact of FLOSS in specific domains or technological areas, and FLOSS adoption
  • Measurement of significant parameters related to FLOSS

SUBMISSION INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

The following types of submissions are invited:

  • Long research papers (5 to 10 pages)
  • Short research papers (1 to 4 pages)
  • Research posters (1 to 2 pages)

Research papers present integrative reviews or original reports of substantive new work, be it theoretical or empirical. Their conclusions should be backed with data and evidence, or clear proofs. Research papers will be reviewed by a research track program committee to meet rigorous academic standards of publication. Papers will be reviewed for relevance, conceptual quality, innovation and clarity of presentation. They must be written in English. At least one author of accepted papers is required to attend the conference in order to present the paper.

Research posters enable researchers to present late-breaking research results, significant research work in progress, or research work that is best communicated in conversation. WS+OS's lively poster sessions let conference attendees exchange ideas one-on-one with authors, and let authors discuss their work in detail with those attendees most deeply interested in the topic. Successful applicants will display their posters, up to 1x2m in size, at a special session during the event.

All presented works are encouraged to include enough information, including data and software tools, when applicable, so that the program committee can decide on their validity and importance, but also on how repeatable the research is, or to which extent it could be extended, by independent groups. Papers submitted for consideration should not have been published elsewhere and should not be under review or submitted for review elsewhere for the duration of consideration. ACM plagiarism policies and procedures shall be followed for cases of double submission.

Submissions for experience reports (long and short), tutorials, workshops, panels, non-research posters, and demos are also sought but are handled through the community track, please see the community track call for submissions. Submissions to WS+OS's Doctoral Symposium are also sought but are handled separately, please see the doctoral symposium call for submissions.

Submissions should follow the standard ACM SIG proceedings format. For advice and templates, please see http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates. All papers must conform at time of submission to the formatting instructions and must not exceed the page limits, including all text, references, appendices and figures. All submissions must in PDF format.

Research papers and posters accepted for presentation at the conference will be included in the WikiSym + OpenSym 2013 proceedings and made available through the conference website and will be archived in the ACM Digital Library. The ACM requires a copyright transfer, however, free download of a paper from an author’s website is provided by the ACM’s authorizer service, see http://www.acm.org/publications/acm-author-izer-service. Authors can opt out of the copyright transfer to the ACM and have their contribution published on the web only.

All papers and posters should be submitted electronically through EasyChair using the following URL: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=opensym2013researcht.

SUBMISSION AND NOTIFICATION DEADLINES

  • Submission: March 17, 2013
  • Notification to authors: May 17, 2013
  • Camera-ready: June 2, 2013

As long as it is March 17 somewhere on earth, your submission will be accepted.

RESEARCH TRACK PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Track Chairs

  • Gregorio Robles, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid)
  • Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid)

Feel free to contact us at floss@opensym.org with any questions you might have.

Program Committee

  • Cornelia Boldyreff, University of East London, UK
  • Deborah Bryant, Open Source Initiative, US
  • Andrea Capiluppi, Brunel University, UK
  • Roberto di Cosmo, Université de Paris VII, France
  • Israel Herraiz, Technical University of Madrid, Spain
  • Nicolas Jullien, Institut Telecom Bretagne, France
  • Stefan Koch, Bogazici University, Turkey
  • Bjorn Lundell, University of Skövde, Sweden
  • Paulo Meirelles, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brasil
  • Martin Michlmayr, Hewlett Packard, UK
  • Dirk Riehle, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
  • Carlos D. Santos Jr., University of Brasilia, Brasil
  • Maha Shaikh, London School of Economics, UK
  • Sulayman Sowe, NICT, Japan
  • Megan Squire, Elon University, USA
  • Klaas-Jan Stol, LERO - University of Limerick, Ireland
  • Anthony Wasserman, Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley, USA
  • Andrea Wiggins, Cornell University, USA
  • Stefano Zacchiroli, Université Paris Diderot, France
  • Minghui Zhou, Peking University, China