Pods submission

PODS Submission

Run this audit before uploading to the PODS EasyChair site. PODS research papers are published in the PACMMOD PODS track and presented at the symposium, and the review is lightweight double-anonymous with a proof appendix that ships with the submission. Every number below was read from the PODS 2026/2027 calls on 2026-07-09 via search renderings of the sigmod.org PODS pages (see resources/official-source-map.md); treat them as a one-cycle snapshot and reopen the live call first.

Pick the cycle, then the two-step deadline

PODS runs multiple cycles per year; choose the cycle whose paper deadline your proofs will actually be complete for. Within a cycle there are two steps, both AoE:

• Abstract (and COI) registration locks title, abstract, authors, and the declared conflicts of interest about a week early (PODS 2026 Cycle 1: 3 Jun 2025; Cycle 2: 3 Dec 2025). Miss it and the system will not accept the PDF.
• Full paper submission uploads the anonymized PDF (PODS 2026 Cycle 1: 10 Jun 2025; Cycle 2: 10 Dec 2025). As of 2026-07-09 the live next deadline is PODS 2027 Cycle 2: abstract+COI 10 Oct 2026, paper 17 Oct 2026.

Register with the real title and abstract; the abstract drives reviewer bidding, and a placeholder that diverges from the paper worsens your PC match.

Format and page budget

• \documentclass[acmsmall,review,anonymous]{acmart}, unmodified, single-column review format — this is the current PODS format, not the older two-column sigconf style and not an IEEE template.
• Budget (verify per cycle): up to 15 pages excluding references, plus unlimited references, plus a clearly marked appendix of unlimited length incorporated in the same PDF. No online/external appendices — every proof ships with the submission.
• Margins, font, and spacing are fixed by acmart; recover space by editorial compression and by moving long proofs to the appendix, not by tampering with the template.

Lightweight double-anonymous sweep

PODS review is double-anonymous: omit author names and affiliations, phrase self-citations in the third person, and remove identity-revealing material from the body and the appendix.

# Mechanical pass on the submission PDF (single file: body + refs + appendix)
pdfinfo paper.pdf | grep -Ei 'author|creator|producer'
pdftotext paper.pdf - | grep -nEi 'acknowledg|grant|funded|thanks|university of|@[a-z0-9.]+\.edu' | head
pdftotext paper.pdf - | grep -nEi 'arxiv\.org/abs|github\.com|https?://[a-z0-9.-]*~' | head

The theory-specific leaks: an acknowledgement or funding line, a named system or prototype that identifies the group, a self-citation phrased in the first person ("in our earlier work [12] we..."), and a link to an author's arXiv preprint or homepage. Withhold or anonymize the arXiv full version until acceptance.

Conflicts of interest

• Declare the full COI list at submission (PODS 2027 Cycle 2 pairs the COI declaration with the abstract deadline of 10 Oct 2026). Include advisors, recent coauthors, and same-institution PC members per the call's definition.
• An incomplete COI list is a real integrity problem, not a formality; assemble it a day early.

Desk-risk triage

Finding at audit time	Severity	Real fix
A stated theorem with no complete proof (body or appendix)	Reject-grade	Complete the proof or scope the claim before submitting
Body over 15 pages (excl. refs)	Format violation	Move long proofs to the appendix; references do not count
Template altered, or old sigconf/two-column used	Format ground for return	Recompile in acmsmall[review,anonymous]
Identity leak in body or appendix (acks, named system, arXiv link)	Anonymity violation	Scrub and re-anonymize; withhold the arXiv link
Abstract/COI not registered by the earlier date	No submission slot	Nothing fixes this post-AoE — calendar it now
A proof deferred to an external/online appendix	Not allowed at PODS	Fold all proofs into the single submitted PDF
Same result under review elsewhere	Dual-submission exposure	Withdraw one; verify the current concurrent-submission wording

Final-week order of operations

1. Freeze the theorem statements and complete every proof; the appendix is not a place to hide a gap.
2. Register abstract, authors, and the COI list well before the abstract cutoff.
3. Assemble the appendix into the single PDF with forward references from the body.
4. Run the mechanical anonymity checks on the final PDF (body + appendix), not a draft.
5. Fill every EasyChair field — topics matching your result, coauthors, conflicts — a day early.
6. Re-download the uploaded PDF and read the hardest proof cold to confirm it is the file you meant.

Reverify each cycle

• Which cycle you are targeting and its exact abstract/paper AoE dates.
• The page budget and the exact acmart variant the current call names.
• The revision/shepherd mechanics, the resubmission rule, and any AI-disclosure policy — all cycle-volatile; none should be assumed stable.

Output format

[PODS submission status] ready / blocked / needs work
[Cycle] cycle 1 / cycle 2, abstract+COI and paper dates for it
[Proofs] every stated theorem fully proved (body/appendix)? yes/no
[Format] pages used (body/refs/appendix), acmsmall[review,anonymous] compliance
[Anonymity] clean / leaks: <where, incl. appendix and arXiv link>
[COI] declared list complete? yes/no
[Fix queue] <ordered, with owners and dates before the AoE cutoff>