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Conferences and Journals in Software Engineering
 

Though India has emerged as a major software centre in the world, its presence in these conferences and journals is very small – not at all commensurate with its stature and size. The reason is not that there is no innovation taking place. Though most organizations are not engaged in fundamental research, most are innovating in various ways. The current need is to package and present the innovation in conferences and journals. Submitting and presenting papers in conferences will enhance the respect and credibility of the  organization and the Indian IT industry. The process of writing and packaging results in an internationally acceptable manner will also help the organizations in their own knowledge management and visibility.
 

To make a visible impact, it is best to focus on a few conferences and journals. This list gives a set of conferences and journals, which I believe that Indian companies should focus on. These are the conferences/journals which are highly respected and can be interested in the type of work that is going on in Indian organizations. These conferences are also such that attendance in these will benefit the organizations. The list represents my view – I will keep updating it based on feedback from Indian researchers (for your opinion/suggestion send me your comment about these conferences and others they might have attended and which they want to add to this list.)
 

For most conferences, approximate dates are given below. These conferences are held every year – for the web-site for the latest conference, simply search for it in Google.


Research Conferences 

  • International conference on Software Engineering (ICSE). This is the flagship conference in software engineering and also one of the oldest. It frequently has special sessions/track for “industrial practice” works. Generally, there are a few specialized workshops organized with ICSE (which change from year to year), which focus on special topics. Acceptance rate is usually low (around 20%), though may be higher for industry tracks. Dates: Submission – around Aug/sept (for workshops it is often Oct/Nov or even later), Acceptance notification – December, Conference – early May.

  • Asia Pacific Software Engineering Conference (APSEC). Like the ICSE, this is also a general software engineering conference, but focuses an AP, and is also a smaller conference. As India is one of the participating countries in this, and since the conference is likely to come to India in 2005, it is a good conference to focus on. The acceptance is also easier than ICSE. Dates: Submission – June, Acceptance notification – August, Conference – December first/second week (held in AP countries).

  • International Conference on Software Maintenance (ICSM). This is the main conference on software maintenance, and is sponsored by IEEE. As many commercial organizations have maintenance as one of their core activities, this can be a very useful conference for Indian Organizations. Dates: Submission – Feb end/March; Acceptance notification – May; Conference – September.

  • International Conference on Requirements Engineering (RE). This is the main conference in the requirements area. Again, as this is a main activity for many projects, it can be very useful for Indian organizations and can help upgrade practices in this key area. Dates: Submission – Jan end/Feb; Acceptance notification – April; Conference – September.

  • International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE). This is a very specialized conference on software reliability. Due to its focus, it is a good conference to attend to find out what is going on in the software reliability community. The conference now also covers more applied and practical methods. Dates: Submission – April; Acceptance notification – July; Conference – November.
     

Journals

  • IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering. This is the main, and widely read, journal for software engineering research. It is truly international and covers both theoretical and practical/experimental work. Submission can be done any time.

  • IEEE Software. This is a magazine, but is very widely read. It has many different sections, including opinions. This is a good place to send “practice” or “experience” papers. Already some papers from Indian organizations have appeared in this.

  • Journal of Systems and Software. This is also an old-timer. It is not as widely read as TSE, but is more general and is more likely to accept applied/practical work. It is also easier to get into.

 
Practitioners Conferences

  • Software Engineering Process Group (SEPG). This is the main conference in the process area. As is organized by SEI, its focus is primarily on CMM-based approach. As CMM is popular in India, this is a good conference to attend and in which to present the work.
  • SEPG in India/Asia. Organized by QAI; generally has many good tutorials.
  • International Test Conference. Focuses on testing. I have never attended this conference, hence cannot say anything about the quality and usefulness of the conference.

 

 

  


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