My NDSS 2013 rump session talk

1. Death to Oakland: Breaking the
Security Conference Cycle
Nikita Borisov
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign

2. Conference security cycle
NDSS
Oakland USENIX
CCS

3. 2012 Conference Cycle
Calendar for year 2012 (United States)
January February March April
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 NDSS 8
6 7 9 10 11 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31 26 27 28 29 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30
May June July August
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7
USENIX10
8 9 11
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 29 30 31 26 27 28 29 30 31
September October November December
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 30 31

4. Simple Math
• Only 52 weeks in a
year!
– Average resubmission
time: 19.25 days
– Shortest 10!
– Average reviewing
period: ~10 weeks
• Contrast:
– SIGCOMM: 13 weeks
reviewing
– SOSP: 13.5 weeks

5. Vicious Circle
Reviewers
overloaded
Too many “Noisy”
submissions results
Might as well
resubmit

6. What has been tried
• Accept more papers
– Fewer rejections => Fewer
resubmissions?
• In reality
– Most papers are still
rejected
– NDSS: 47 papers, 20-
minute talks, 18%
acceptance rate
– CCS: 2 tracks, 80
papers, 18% acceptance
rate

7. Solution 1
(briefly tried at Oakland 2012)

8. Solution 2: Kill Oakland
• One less conference
• Why Oakland?
– Too many program chairs
– No longer in Oakland
– No real rump session
– Keeps rejecting my
papers!
WEEKS

9. Solution 3: Prevent resubmission
• Make notification time
after submission time
– 13 weeks to review
– 13 weeks to revise /
resubmit
– Fewer submissions
each round