Call for Submissions

  • General Submission Guidelines

The Fifth AAAI Conference on Human Computation and Crowdsourcing (HCOMP 2017) will be held in Quebec City, Canada, Oct. 24-26, 2017. It will be sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and will be co-located with UIST (Oct. 22-25).

Topics of Interests. HCOMP strongly believes in inviting, fostering, and promoting broad, interdisciplinary research on crowdsourcing and human computation. Submissions may present principles, studies, and/or applications of systems that rely on programmatic interaction with crowds, or where human perception, knowledge, reasoning, or physical activity and coordination contributes to the operation of computational systems, applications, or services. More generally, we invite submissions from the broad spectrum of related fields and application areas including (but not limited to):

  • Human-centered crowd studies: e.g., human-computer interaction, social computing, cultural heritage, computer-supported cooperative work, design, cognitive and behavioral sciences (psychology and sociology), management science, economics, policy, ethics, etc.
  • Applications e.g., computer vision, databases, digital humanities, information retrieval, machine learning, natural language (and speech) processing, optimization, programming languages, systems, etc.
  • Crowd/human algorithms: e.g., computer-supported human computation, crowd/human algorithm design and complexity, mechanism design, etc.
  • Crowdsourcing areas: e.g., citizen science, collective action, collective knowledge, crowdsourcing contests, crowd creativity, crowd funding, crowd ideation, crowd sensing, distributed work, freelancer economy, open innovation, microtasks, prediction markets, wisdom of crowds, etc.

  • Call for Full Papers

Our Program Committee will oversee the review process and ensure that each submission receives a constructive and rigorous review.

Previously unpublished. All submitted papers must represent original work, not previously published or under simultaneous peer-review for any other peer-reviewed, archival conference or journal.

Length. Papers of up to 8 pages (references can extend beyond 8 pages) may be submitted.

Formatting. Submissions must be formatted in AAAI two-column, camera-ready style. (See the AAAI 2017 Author Kit). Papers must be in trouble-free, high-resolution PDF format, formatted for US Letter (8.5" x 11") paper, using Type 1 or TrueType fonts.

Anonymized. All papers must be anonymized (include no information identifying the authors or their institutions) for double-blind peer-review.

Supplemental Materials. Authors are invited, but not required, to include supplemental materials such as executables and data files so that reviewers can reproduce results in the paper, images, additional videos, related papers, more detailed explanations, derivations, or results. These materials will be viewed only at the discretion of the reviewers, who are only obligated to read your paper itself.

Archival. Accepted full papers will be published in the HCOMP conference proceedings and included in the AAAI Digital Library. HCOMP is a young but quickly growing conference, with a historical acceptance rate of 25-30% for full papers.

Submission. Papers should be submitted via EasyChair. For abstract submission, abstracts can be entered directly into the EasyChair form field; it is not necessary to upload any file. Please be sure to declare any conflicts-of-interest with PC members by selecting the "Declare Conflicts" link on upper-right of your EasyChair submission page.

Review criteria. Reviewers will be instructed to evaluate paper submissions according to specific review criteria. Our intent in posting these review criteria online is to further improve transparency of the conference's peer-review process and to provide additional guidance to authors in preparing their submissions. We encourage authors to review these criteria and contact us with any questions or feedback.

To ensure relevance, submissions are encouraged to include research questions and contributions of broad interest to crowdsourcing and human computation, as well as discuss relevant open problems and prior work in the field. When evaluation is conducted entirely within a specific domain, authors are encouraged to discuss how findings might generalize to other communities and application areas using crowdsourcing and human computation.

At least one author of each accepted paper must register for the conference to present the work or acceptance will be withdrawn.

Paper Awards
Continuing the tradition of Past Paper Awards, HCOMP 2017 will recognize a Best Paper and two Best Paper Finalists.

Continuing the partnership between HCOMP and the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research (JAIR), all HCOMP 2017 paper awardees (i.e., best paper through finalists) will be invited to submit extended versions of their papers for fast-track publication in JAIR's Award-Winning Papers Track. This track seeks to recognize the best work at leading conferences and bring additional exposure to the authors' work. Upon acceptance, extended papers will be published in a regular volume of JAIR, recognized in the Award-Winning Papers Track, and linked from the HCOMP Conference website's Past Paper Awards. While JAIR broadly covers all areas of artificial intelligence, JAIR recognizes that HCOMP's interdisciplinary research extends beyond traditional boundaries of artificial intelligence. JAIR is committed to inviting relevant HCOMP SPC & PC members to review extended papers submitted to the Award-Winning Track.

  • Call for Works-in-Progress & Demonstration Papers

Works-in-Progress. We encourage practitioners and researchers to submit Works-in-Progress as it provides a unique opportunity for sharing valuable ideas, eliciting useful feedback on early-stage work, and fostering discussions and collaborations among colleagues. Accepted submissions will be presented as a poster at the conference and made available to the community as a two-page poster abstract. A Work-in-Progress is a concise report of recent findings or other types of innovative or thought-provoking work relevant to the HCOMP community. The difference between Works-in-Progress and other contribution types is that Work-in-Progress submissions represents work that has not reached a level of completion that would warrant the full Refereed selection process. That said, appropriate submissions should make some contribution to the body of HCOMP knowledge, whether realized or promised. A significant benefit of a Work-in-Progress derives from the discussion between the author and conference attendees that will be fostered by the face-to-face presentation of the work. Each WIP poster will be provided a 30"x40" poster board and thumb tacks to hang your poster; make sure to print your poster ahead of time according to these dimensions.

Demonstrations. A demonstration is a high-visibility, high-impact forum of the HCOMP program that allows you to present your hands-on demonstration, share novel interactive technologies, and stage interactive experiences. We encourage submissions from any area of human computation and crowdsourcing. Demo promotes and provokes discussion of the role of technology, and invites contributions from industry, research, the arts and design. Demonstrations will showcase this year's most exciting crowd and human computation prototypes and systems. If you have an interesting prototype, system, exhibit or installation, we want to know about it. Sharing hands-on experiences of your work is often the best way to communicate what you have created.

Previously unpublished. All submitted Works-in-Progress papers must represent original work, not previously published or under simultaneous peer-review for any other peer-reviewed, archival conference or journal.

Length. Works-in-Progress & Demonstration papers can be up to 2 pages (references can extend beyond the 2 pages).

Formatting. Submissions must be formatted in AAAI two-column, camera-ready style. (See the AAAI 2017 Author Kit). Papers must be in trouble-free, high-resolution PDF format, formatted for US Letter (8.5" x 11") paper, using Type 1 or TrueType fonts.

Supplemental Materials. Authors are invited, but not required, to include supplemental materials such as executables and data files so that reviewers can reproduce results in the paper, images, additional videos, related papers, more detailed explanations, derivations, or results. These materials will be viewed only at the discretion of the reviewers, who are only obligated to read your paper itself.

NOT Anonymized. Authors should include information identifying themselves and their institutions for single-blind review.

NOT Archival. Accepted papers will NOT be included in official conference proceedings, and so may be submitted later to other conferences or journals for official publication.

  • Authors retain copyright and are encouraged to modify the copyright statement in the template to reflect this.
  • Authors will decide at submission what should be posted on HCOMP's conference's website if the paper is accepted: only the paper's title, or the PDF for the entire paper.

Submission. Papers should be submitted via EasyChair. Please be sure to declare any conflicts-of-interest with Works-in-Progress & Demonstration PC members by selecting the "Declare Conflicts" link on upper-right of your EasyChair submission page.

Questions? Please contact the Works-in-progress & Demonstration Co-Chairs.

  • Call for Doctoral Consortium

HCOMP's annual Doctoral Consortium provides doctoral students with a unique opportunity to meet each other and experienced researchers in the field. Students will be mentored by a group of faculty who are leaders in the diverse specialties that make up the HCOMP field. The objectives of the Doctoral Consortium are to provide students with an opportunity:

  • To present and discuss their research with experienced researchers: the Doctoral Consortium Mentors
  • To establish a supportive community, including other doctoral students at a similar stage of their dissertation research
  • To provide a platform for broader exposure for their research, both in general and in support of future a job search
  • Areas of Interest. HCOMP is unique in the diversity of disciplines it draws upon, and contributes to, ranging from human-centered qualitative studies and HCI design, to computer science and artificial intelligence, economics and the social sciences, all the way to cultural heritage, digital humanities, ethics, and policy.

Eligibility: Applicants must be currently enrolled in a full-time PhD program and have written, or be close to completing, a thesis proposal (or equivalent). We will give preference to students who have proposed or are about to propose but are far enough from completing their thesis that the feedback they receive at the event can impact their work. Before submitting, students should discuss this criterion with their advisor or supervisor.

Attendance: Those accepted are required to attend the DC in person. Participants will also likely be required to present a poster on their work during the poster session at the main conference.

Selection: Submissions will be reviewed by a Program Committee of Doctoral Committee Mentors, with selection based upon the expected potential of both the student and their proposed work, as well as the expected benefit to the student from participation. Priority will be given to students whose research goes beyond locally available expertise at their home institutions.

Financial support: In prior years, we have been able to support most expenses associated with attendance thanks to generous funding from the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Artificial Intelligence Journal (AIJ), and other sponsors. For instance, in 2015, we funded airfare, one night of accommodation, registration, and meals at the DC. We are seeking to provide similar levels of support this year and will post more information about sponsorship when it is available.

Applications: Applicants must submit a solely-authored paper in English containing: 1) a Doctoral Research Overview; and 2) a Supplemental Paragraph.

Doctoral Research Overview: Please summarize your doctoral research, including the following sections:

  • Motivation for the proposed research
  • Background and related work (including key references)
  • Description of proposed research, including key research questions and planned methodology to be used for investigating these research questions
  • Proposed experiments if appropriate; Any preliminary evaluation and findings are welcomed, but this is not required.
  • Specific research issues and/or challenges (do not skip these; the consortium is about helping you solve issues, not boasting about the issues you already solved!)

Supplemental Paragraph. Please write a paragraph explaining:

  • Why you want to participate in the consortium at this point in your doctoral studies and how you expects to benefit from the consortium.
  • The status of your dissertation proposal (writing, submitted, presented, or approved).
  • Your expected (approximate) defense date.

Length and Organization: Your paper should be no more than 4 pages in total: 3 pages for the Doctoral Research Overview (including all figures and references), and the 4th page being the Supplemental Paragraph. The first page must contain the title of the paper, full author name, affiliation and contact details, an abstract of up to 250 words, and up to 3 keywords describing the research topic areas.

Formatting. Submissions must be formatted in AAAI two-column, camera-ready style. (See the AAAI 2017 Author Kit). Papers must be in trouble-free, high-resolution PDF format, formatted for US Letter (8.5" x 11") paper, using Type 1 or TrueType fonts. Please submit a single PDF file (embedding all required fonts). It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that their submissions uses no unusual formatting and are printable on a standard printer.

Submission. Papers should be submitted via EasyChair, selecting the Doctoral Consortium track.

Dissemination. Submissions will be distributed only to mentors and other attendees of the doctoral consortium. Proceedings of the Doctoral Consortium will NOT be archived. As such, students may freely submit their research contributions for official publication in other venues. Participant names and university affiliations, as well as paper titles and abstracts, will be publicized on the conference website and in the conference program for the poster session.

Questions? Please contact the Doctoral Consortium Chair.

  • Call for Workshops

HCOMP workshops are a gathering place for people interested in Crowdsourcing and/or Human Computation to meet in the context of a focused and interactive discussion. They are an opportunity to move a field forward and build community. Workshops might address basic or applied research, crowdsourcing in industry, new methodologies, or emerging application areas. Each workshop should generate ideas that will give the HCOMP community a fresh way of thinking about the topic or that suggest promising directions for future work. Selected workshops will happen on October 24, the day before the main conference begins. If you would like to organize a workshop, please reach out to hcompconference@gmail.com by June 30 with a description of your proposed topic, intended audience, and a one-day schedule.

Current Workshops:
CrowdCamp
GroupSight