Submissions

Paper submission

• Full papers (max 10 pages) must describe significant, original, and unpublished results related to, but not limited to, any SAM-related topics.
• Extended abstracts (max 5 pages + 1 page for references only) are insightful contributions on SAM-relevant topics, such as preliminary and initial research results for which a complete evaluation has not yet been performed.

We also encourage submitting papers that describe negative results and replication studies. These papers advance knowledge by allowing us to (re)evaluate our understanding of the current approaches continuously.

The page limit includes figures and appendices.

Submission Policy

The SAM 2026 proceedings will be published by ACM.

Submitted papers follow a single-blind peer-review process. At least three reviewers will evaluate each submitted paper based on significance, originality, substance, correctness, and clarity.

Accepted papers must be presented in person at SAM 2026 by an author registered for the conference.

Please ensure that you and your co-authors obtain an ORCID ID, so you can complete the publishing process for your accepted paper. ACM has been involved in ORCID from the start and we have recently made a commitment to collect ORCID IDs from all of our published authors. We are committed to improve author discoverability, ensure proper attribution and contribute to ongoing community efforts around name normalization; your ORCID ID will help in these efforts.

The program committee chairs and members will select one of the presented papers for a Best Paper Award. The best SAM 2026 papers will be invited to submit an extension of their work to Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering ISSE NASA Journal published by Springer.

Submission Instructions

• All submissions have to be in PDF and made through the SAM 2026 Easychair web page.
• All submissions must conform to SAM 2026 formatting instructions and must not exceed 10 pages for full papers and 5 pages (+ 1 for references only) for extended abstracts . The page limit is strict, and it is not possible to purchase additional pages.
• Formatting instructions are available at https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template for both LaTeX and Word users. LaTeX users must use the provided acmart.cls and ACM-Reference-Format.bst without modification, enable the conference format in the preamble of the document (i.e., \documentclass[sigconf,review]{acmart}), and use the ACM reference format for the bibliography (i.e., \bibliographystyle{ACM-Reference-Format}). The review option adds line numbers, thereby allowing referees to refer to specific lines in their comments.
• By submitting to the SAM 2026, authors acknowledge that they are aware of and agree to be bound by the ACM Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism. In particular, papers submitted to SAM 2026 must not have been published elsewhere and must not be under review or submitted for review elsewhere while under consideration for SAM 2026.
• Submissions that do not adhere to the stated page limits or violate the formatting guidelines will be desk-rejected without review. Accepted papers will be published in the MODELS 2026 Companion proceedings published by ACM.
• By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM’s new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Alleged violations of this policy or any ACM Publications Policy will be investigated by ACM and may result in a full retraction of your paper, in addition to other potential penalties, as per ACM Publications Policy.

Important update on ACMs new open access publishing model for 2026 ACM Conferences

Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access. All ACM publications, including those from ACM-sponsored conferences, will be 100% Open Access. Authors will have two primary options for publishing Open Access articles with ACM: the ACM Open institutional model or by paying Article Processing Charges (APCs). With over 2,600 institutions already part of ACM Open, the majority of ACM-sponsored conference papers will not require APCs from authors or conferences (currently, around 76%).

Extended abstracts

Authors of extended abstracts for SAM 2026 do not need to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC).

Full papers

Authors of full papers from institutions not participating in ACM Open will need to pay an APC to publish their papers, unless they qualify for a financial waiver. To find out whether an APC applies to your article, please consult the list of participating institutions in ACM Open and review the policy on APC waivers. Keep in mind that waivers are rare and are granted based on specific criteria set by ACM.

Understanding that this change could present financial challenges, ACM has approved a temporary subsidy for 2026 to ease the transition and allow more time for institutions to join ACM Open. The subsidy will offer:

• $250 APC for ACM/SIG members
• $350 for non-members

This represents a 65% discount. ACM encourages authors to help advocate for their institutions to join ACM Open during this transition period. This temporary subsidized pricing will apply to all conferences scheduled for 2026.

Important Dates