Call for Papers

Software visualization is a broad research area whose general goal is to enhance and promote the theory, realization, and evaluation of approaches to visually encode and analyze software systems, including software development practices, evolution, structure, and software runtime behavior. Software visualization is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on theories and techniques from areas such as information visualization, human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and data science, and applying these in the software engineering domain.

The VISSOFT conference is primarily a venue for publishing and discussing research on software visualization. Consequently, VISSOFT brings together a community of researchers from software engineering, information visualization, human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and data science to discuss theoretical foundations, algorithms, techniques, tools, and applications related to software visualization.

VISSOFT, co-located with ICSME, encourages a variety of submissions that address outstanding challenges in software systems using visualization.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the visualization of:

  • Software Engineering data, which may include (but is not limited to) source code, dependencies, repositories, developer social networks (like StackOverflow and GitHub), mobile app reviews, documentation, runtime logs, and DevOps data
  • Software development activities, which may include design, requirements engineering, software maintenance, program comprehension, software performance, software testing, and debugging
  • Software analytical approaches based on data science concepts
  • Empirical evaluations of software visualizations, including eye-tracking studies
  • Tools, techniques, and frameworks that include visual programming languages
  • Interactive and immersive techniques and algorithms related to software development
  • Integrating tools with development environments
  • Industrial experience with using software visualization
  • Techniques used in Software Engineering Education
  • Application of trendy techniques such as Machine Learning and AI-assisted models (Large Language Models, Large Multi-Modal Models with Software)
  • Application of techniques such as Augmented and Virtual Reality, and Sonification, to software engineering activities

We solicit papers that present original, unpublished research results. Papers will be rigorously reviewed by an international program committee. In addition to full technical papers, VISSOFT features both a New Ideas and Emerging Results (NIER) Track and a Tools Track, which present ideas still under development or demonstrate the functionality of newly developed tools. This year, we also include the Visualization Challenge, which aims to catalyze research efforts around a shared software engineering dataset. Additionally, we introduce a new Visions and Reflections Track, welcoming forward-looking visions and reflective perspectives that can shape the future of software visualization research. All accepted submissions will appear in the conference proceedings and the IEEE Digital Library.

Submission Types

Research Track:

A paper submitted to the Research Track must describe an in-depth and mature research result relevant to software visualization. The content of a technical paper can be a maximum of 10 pages long (including all figures, tables, and appendices). However, the 10-page limit does not include the bibliography, which is limited to two additional pages.

All paper types common in information visualization (technique, design study/application, system, evaluation, and model, as described in [1]) could be accepted for presentation. When convenient, papers should include a user evaluation demonstrating their effectiveness, such as showcasing improvements over comparable tools or, if novel, demonstrating their utility and practical application. However, depending on the kind of paper, maybe results can be shown to be sound without a user evaluation. This could be the case, for example, of structured literature reviews, or of papers solving specific problems already shown to be relevant for users, or to address relevant technical problems.

The submission of a video (up to 5 minutes in length) to accompany the paper is highly encouraged to show interaction possibilities where this matters for understanding of the paper. Even when, for convenience, the video could be uploaded to some streaming platform, it is encouraged that it is also archived in an open access archive, such as Zenodo. Following open science practices, authors are also encouraged to archive their artifacts in a reproduction package, also archived in an open access archive. Authors who provide a video and/or a reproduction package should add the corresponding links in a specific section at the end of the paper (“Supplementary materials” section).

Paper Awards: VISSOFT 2025 may award distinguished technical papers. In case a paper is awarded as “best paper”, it will be invited to submit an extended version, with at least 30% of new materials, to the IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics journal. This submission will go through the usual peer review process of the journal, and is not guaranteed to be accepted.

Artifact Evaluation: Paper authors are encouraged to submit research artifacts (e.g., tools, data repositories, frameworks, videos) for evaluation. For more details, please refer to the Artifact Evaluation Track.

Important Dates (23:59:59 AoE)
Paper Abstract: June 6, 2026
Paper Submission: June 13, 2026
Notification: July 26, 2026

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2026

[1] l. Munzner, T. (2008). Process and pitfalls in writing information visualization research papers. In Information visualization: human-centered issues and perspectives (pp. 134-153). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

NIER Track:

The NIER Track of VISSOFT accepts New Ideas and Emerging Results. NIER contributions have a limit of 5 pages (including bibliography).

NIER contributions describe work-in-progress and preliminary, exciting ideas and results. Authors are encouraged to include open questions and even provocative hypotheses to get early feedback on their research ideas. Usually, NIER contributions do not require an evaluation. One of the goals of the NIER Track is to foster collaboration among different research groups, by showcasing ideas which may lead to joint research activities.

Paper Awards: VISSOFT 2026 may award distinguished NIER papers.

Important Dates (23:59:59 AoE)
Paper Abstract: June 6, 2026
Paper Submission: June 13, 2026
Notification: July 26, 2026

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2026

Tools Track:

The Tools Track of VISSOFT accepts submissions describing already implemented and functional tools. Contributions to the Tools Track have a limit of 4 pages for short papers, and a limit of 10 pages for long papers (in both cases, including all figures, tables, and appendices). For bibliography, short papers can use up to one additional page, and long papers up to two additional pages.

Tools Track papers describe the design or actual utilization of software visualization tools, with a focus on the architecture of the tool or its use to gain new insights. We also invite submitting significant evolutions of tools already presented (in past VISSOFT editions or in other venues).

Evaluation criteria:

  • Short tool papers usually just describe the presented tool, and will be evaluated mostly in terms of novelty and interest.
  • Long tool papers are expected to present a user evaluation which shows evidence of its effectiveness, for instance, improvements over other similar tools, or if it is novel, showing its utility and practical use. Long papers will be evaluated following the same criteria as in the Research track.

The submission of a video (up to 5 minutes in length) to accompany the paper is mandatory. Even when, for convenience, the video could be uploaded to some streaming platform, it is encouraged that it is also archived in an open access archive, such as Zenodo. Following open science practices, authors are also encouraged to archive their artifacts, such as the tool presented in the paper, in a reproduction package, also archived in an open access archive. Authors who provide a video and/or a reproduction package should add the corresponding links in a specific section at the end of the paper (Supplementary materials" section).

Paper Awards: VISSOFT 2026 may award distinguished tool papers.

Showcase session: During the conference, we will organize an informal tool-demonstration session in which authors of TD papers are invited to showcase their tools.

Important Dates (23:59:59 AoE)
Paper Abstract: June 6, 2026
Paper Submission: June 13, 2026
Notification: July 26, 2026

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2026

Journal-First Track:

A submission to the VISSOFT call for journal-first paper presentations must adhere to the following criteria:

  • The paper was accepted by a relevant journal and it is in the scope of the conference
  • The paper was published between July 1, 2025 and July 28, 2026.
  • The paper reports new research results and/or presents novel contributions that significantly extend, and were not previously reported in, prior work
  • The paper has not been presented at and is not under consideration for journal-first programs of other conferences

Authors of a paper that meets these criteria are invited to submit a one-page presentation proposal consisting of the paper’s title, the paper’s authors, a short statement on how the work satisfies the journal first criteria, and a pointer to the original journal paper at the journal’s Website. If the paper is not online yet, then specify so. The original paper (or a preprint) should also be sent during submission.

The journal-first manuscripts are published through the journals and will not be part of the Conference proceedings. The journal-first papers will be listed in the conference program. Journal first presentations will have a presentation time similar to technical papers.

Important Dates (23:59:59 AoE)
Submission: July 28, 2026
Notification: August 3, 2026

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2026

Poster Track:

The poster track of VISSOFT provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to present their new and innovative preliminary work in an informal, interactive setting. Conference attendees can learn about novel on-going research projects that might not yet be complete, but whose preliminary results are already interesting. Poster presenters will have an opportunity to discuss their work and get feedback from knowledgeable sources at an early stage of their research.

The poster track of VISSOFT accepts two-page documents, typically combining text and images, that embody a succinct description of work that has been done. Presenting a poster is a good way to discuss and receive feedback on a work in progress that has not been fully developed into a paper. Posters should not present previously published work.

Poster manuscripts will be part of the Conference proceedings, and evaluated by the Program Co-Chairs on their suitability to VISSOFT topics of interest.

Important Dates (23:59:59 AoE)
Submission: July 28, 2026
Notification: August 3, 2026

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2026

Visions and Reflections Track:

The Visions and Reflections Track of VISSOFT provides a forum for thought-provoking contributions that can shape the future of software visualization research and practice. We welcome papers that articulate bold visions grounded in strong, well-motivated scientific intuition, as well as critical reflections that revisit and reassess past and current research directions.

Examples of suitable submissions include:

  • Visions of the future: unconventional synergies with other disciplines, or compelling arguments for the importance of software visualization in software engineering problems that have been underexplored so far.
  • Reflections on the past: insightful perspectives that challenge prevailing assumptions, identify potentially misguided directions, or synthesize key ideas that have influenced the field and where they may lead next.

Submissions should clearly motivate the proposed direction or reflection and provide a sound rationale for why it matters to the VISSOFT community. Extensive evaluation is not required; when applicable, authors may include preliminary evidence or a sketch of an evaluation plan to clarify scope and feasibility.

Papers in this track should not be incomplete full research papers lacking evaluation, nor re-packaged advertisements for previously published results. A submission must not exceed four pages.

Important Dates (23:59:59 AoE)
Submission: July 28, 2026
Notification: August 3, 2026

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2026

Visualization Challenge Track:

The Visualization Challenge track of VISSOFT 2026 provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to contribute their expertise focused on a single software system. This collective effort aims to combine different perspectives so that insights from the visualization can reveal new understandings for the VISSOFT community.

This year, the target software system is the Linux kernel. Authors are free to use any existing dataset available related to the raw data source, which is the Linux kernel.

Raw data sources are:

Examples of Datasets that can be used (if you happen to know any other dataset, inform the PC chairs so we can include it in this list):

  • Yulin Xu and Minghui Zhou. 2018. A multi-level dataset of Linux kernel patchwork. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR '18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 54–57. https://doi.org/10.1145/3196398.3196475
  • Maes Bermejo, M., Gonzalez-Barahona, J. M., Gallego, M., & Robles, G. (2023). A dataset of Linux Kernel commits [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10654193

Examples of submissions could be a research team applying one of their tools to the dataset, or a part of it, aiming for a specific outcome; some analytical and empirical approaches with visual outputs; the customization of a tool to analyze a specific aspect of the Linux kernel which could include the source code, developer contributors or the bug fixes to the project; etc. In general, visualizations that help to understand the utility of tools (using the Linux kernel as a use case), or that show interesting aspects of the Linux kernel will be welcome.

The visualization challenge track of VISSOFT 2026 accepts submissions composed of a short abstract, a video (up to 5 minutes in length), and optionally (but conveniently) a link to a tool demo. Authors should add the URL to the video at the end of the abstract (e.g., Video URL: https://youtu.be/XXX).

Challenge abstracts will be evaluated mostly in terms of novelty and interest.

After notification, accepted papers must submit a 2-4 page challenge response that describes the design or actual use of software visualization tools, with a focus on the tool's architecture or its use to gain new insights into the kernel.

Challenge manuscripts will be part of the Conference proceedings, and evaluated by the Program Co-Chairs, based on their suitability for VISSOFT topics of interest.

Important Dates (23:59:59 AoE)
Submission: July 1, 2026
Notification of invitation to submit: July 5, 2026
Paper submission: July 28, 2026
Feedback from PC Chairs: August 3, 2026

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2026

Showcase Session

As successfully done in the past, at VISSOFT 2026 authors of all accepted papers in all tracks, and specially in the Tools Track and in the Visualization Challenge Track, will be invited to demonstrate their approaches and tools to the participants in an informal setting. More details will follow a few weeks before the conference.

How to submit

Papers must strictly adhere to the two-column IEEE conference proceedings format and the page. Please use the available IEEE Manuscript Templates for Conference Proceedings: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html

If a submission is accepted, at least one author of the associated journal paper must register and present the paper at the conference.

Supplemental material (e.g., video, data, software) that might be helpful for reviewers can be linked in your paper. Following open science practices, authors are also encouraged to archive their artifacts in a reproduction package in an open access archive. Authors who provide a video and/or a reproduction package should add the corresponding links in a specific section at the end of the paper (“Supplementary materials” section).

Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=vissoft2026

Note: VISSOFT uses a single-blind review process (i.e., the names and affiliations of the authors are revealed to reviewers, but reviewers' identities are not revealed to authors).

Conference Dates: September 14-15, 2026