tacas-topic-selection

TACAS Topic Selection

Decide two things before drafting: is this TACAS, and which TACAS category. TACAS — Tools

and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems — is the ETAPS conference at the

tool-and-algorithm end of verification: model checking, program analysis, SMT and decision

procedures, testing and synthesis, and the systems that implement them. Its defining feature versus

its siblings is that a usable, evaluated tool is a first-class contribution, backed by a

mandatory artifact. A brilliant idea with no tool and no experiment can still be a research paper,

but a paper that is really a benchmark ranking is a SV-COMP contribution, not a TACAS paper.

First cut: is this TACAS, or a sibling?

TACAS overlaps heavily with the other verification venues, so decide by emphasis and calendar,

not by topic alone.

| Signal in your project | Better home | Why |

|---|---|---|

| A tool or algorithm for constructing/analysing systems, with real experiments, ETAPS timing fits | TACAS | Tools-and-algorithms core; mandatory-artifact culture; LNCS open access |

| Deep new verification theory/algorithm, breadth of formal methods, larger page room | CAV | Closest sibling; broader FM flagship, different calendar and process |

| Principled study of verification/abstract-interpretation foundations | VMCAI | Verification, model checking, and abstract interpretation focus |

| Hardware / SAT-centric formal methods, industrial hardware verification | FMCAD | Its named center |

| Explicit-state / software model checking around the SPIN lineage | SPIN | Community and tooling match |

| A full journal-length treatment with proofs and extended evaluation | STTT / FMSD / a journal | No conference page ceiling; STTT is the TACAS-adjacent journal |

| A verifier to be run on the common task set and ranked | SV-COMP (at TACAS) | It is a competition entry, not a stand-alone tool paper |

CAV is the trap. Many canonical tools (NuSMV, CPAchecker, Storm) debuted at CAV, not TACAS.

Differentiate by TACAS's ETAPS context, its tool/tool-demo/case-study categories, its per-category

page limits, and its artifact-as-first-class model — and check dblp before assuming a lineage.

Second cut: which of the four categories?

| Your contribution | Category | Page limit | Note |

|---|---|---|---|

| A new algorithm, encoding, decision procedure, or theory with a correctness argument | Regular research | ≤16 | Double-blind; artifact voluntary |

| Applying existing methods/tools to a substantial real system, with lessons | Case-study | ≤16 | Single-blind; artifact voluntary |

| A usable tool realizing a technique, with an evaluation | Regular tool | ≤16 | Single-blind; mandatory artifact |

| A mature tool shown in operation, focused on usage/UI/workflow | Tool-demonstration | ≤6 | Single-blind; mandatory artifact |

The category is a commitment: a research paper is judged on the idea and its soundness; a tool paper

is judged on the tool and its runnable artifact; a case-study paper is judged on the realism of

the system and the honesty of the lessons; a tool-demo is judged on a working demonstration in six

pages. Pick the one whose bar your evidence actually clears.

Contribution shapes TACAS rewards

• Algorithm / reduction — a new way to construct or analyse systems with a soundness (and often

completeness/complexity) argument (the BMC lineage).

• Tool — a downloadable, evaluated implementation others can point at their own inputs (the

CBMC / Z3 lineage), now inseparable from a working artifact.

• Case study — a substantial application of verification to a real system that teaches the

community what works and what breaks at scale.

• Competition-driven — participation in SV-COMP / VerifyThis that advances shared benchmarks and

reproducible comparison.

The tool-vs-research and re-label tests

• Tool-vs-research test: if the paper's core would survive with the tool removed (an algorithm

and a proof), it is a research paper; if the core is the working tool and its evaluation,

it is a tool paper — and then the artifact is mandatory.

• Re-label test: could this be submitted to CAV/VMCAI/FMCAD unchanged and read as native there?

If its heart is FM breadth or new theory depth, weigh those venues; TACAS rewards the

tool-and-algorithm framing with reproducible experiments.

Cheap reconnaissance before committing

[Scope]   scan the last two TACAS proceedings (dblp, Springer LNCS) for your subarea
          -> several recent papers = a reviewer pool exists; none = mismatch or a CAV/FMCAD topic
[Category] find 2-3 recent papers in the category you plan to use; match their evidence depth
[Artifact] if tool/tool-demo, can you package a clean-VM artifact by the post-paper deadline? if
          not, the category is wrong for this cycle
[Calendar] compare the next ETAPS/TACAS deadline with CAV/VMCAI/FMCAD dates -> route to the
          nearest honest fit rather than idling a year

Decision procedure

[Is it TACAS?] tool/algorithm to construct/analyse systems + experiments? -> yes; else CAV/VMCAI/FMCAD/journal
[Competition?] a verifier to be ranked on common tasks -> SV-COMP, not a tool paper
[Category] algorithm+proof -> research; usable tool+eval -> regular tool; mature tool in use -> tool-demo;
          real-system application -> case-study
[Blind + artifact] research -> double-blind, voluntary artifact; tool/tool-demo -> single-blind, mandatory artifact
[Verdict] TACAS <category> / sibling venue / SV-COMP / journal, with a one-line reason

Run this before the writing skills; a wrong venue-or-category decision wastes every later step. When

the verdict is TACAS, continue with tacas-workflow for the calendar and tacas-writing-style for

the paper shape.