Call for Contributions / Important Dates

Attending EuroPLoP™ is particularly rewarding if you make an active contribution to the conference yourself. This way, you will not only discuss patterns in general, but will also receive feedback on your own work. There are different ways for you to do so; various kinds of workshops allow you to make an active contribution. However, to make sure all submissions receive the attention they deserve, at most two contributions (of whatever kind) will be accepted from each individual (including co-authorship).

Here are the important dates for submissions, as well as the submission guidelines.

Important Dates

Date Conference Pattern Papers Writing Group Focus Groups
28th February   papers due   focus group proposals due
10th March   shepherding starts    
24th March       notification of acceptance or rejection for focus group proposals
31st March       registration for focus groups opens 
(focus groups that require registration only)
12th May conference registration opens notification of acceptance or rejection   notification of acceptance or rejection for focus group participants 
(focus groups that require registration only)
30th May   shepherding ends    
2nd June   conference drafts due registration 
(unshepherded papers only)		 position papers due
20th June conference registration closes      
25th June – 29th June conference      
late 2003   final versions due   focus group reports due

Pattern Papers

A pattern paper should consist of an individual pattern or a pattern language.

Authors should submit an electronic copy of their paper in English by 28th February 2003 to the conference chairs. Format should be PDF or PostScript. Each paper must be prefaced with an ASCII text containing the paper's title, the authors' names, email address, postal address, phone and fax number, and a 100-word abstract.

We recommend that submissions not exceed 10 pages. However, complete pattern languages can be longer than that. In this case authors should either identify a part of their paper on which the feedback should be concentrated, or should ask that feedback be given on the pattern language as a whole, but not on specific details.

When you submit a pattern paper, your shepherd (an experienced and non-anonymous person) will contact you and help you improve your work prior to EuroPLoP™. The shepherd and a program committee member will decide on acceptance for a writers' workshop or the writing group near the end of the shepherding.

Writing Group

New authors can register for the writing group by submitting their rudimentary pattern material to the conference chairs until 2nd June, 2003. Format should be ASCII, PDF or PostScript.

Focus Group Proposals

Focus group proposers should submit a proposal that describes their workshop by 28th February, 2003 to the conference chairs. Format should be PDF, PostScript, or ASCII. Each proposal should include a brief description of the problem or area that will be addressed, the objectives of the workshop, and the format of the workshop including a rough outline of the schedule. If focus group attendees are required to register in advance, it is important that you clearly say so and actively advertise it, as well as any other requirements for attendees, e.g. do they need to submit a position paper. In case attendees should register, please mention a deadline (early enough so that you can send notifications of acceptance out by 12th May).

Focus group proposals are reviewed by the program committee.

Focus group leaders are expected to write a focus group report for the conference proceedings after the conference.

The Publication Process

All papers accepted for EuroPLoP™ will appear in the preliminary conference proceedings. These proceedings are not citable; they are only made available to conference attendees prior to the conference via the web.

The final EuroPLoP™ Conference Proceedings will appear about half a year after the conference, both as a booklet published by a local publisher and on the web; they form a citable publication. They will contain accepted writers' workshop pattern papers, focus group reports, and design fest reports. We will collect updated versions of papers workshopped at writers' workshops a couple of months after the conference. Authors retain full copyright on their papers.

Please note that the final conference proceedings will not be published as a part of the Software Patterns Series as with the PLoPD books. However, being workshopped at a conference such as EuroPLoP™ is one of the preconditions for publication in the Software Pattern Series.

Registration / Conference Fee

Registration for the conference will begin April 28th, 2003. The conference fee will be 900 euro. Registration will be done on a first come, first served basis, with preference given to active participants. Please check this site after 12th May, 2003, for more information.