ACM SIGIR “IN COOPERATION” GUIDELINES

ACM SIGIR works with conference, workshop and technical meeting organizers to increase the visibility of quality scientific events in information retrieval. Event organizers may apply to SIGIR for “in cooperation” status, which provides the following benefits:

• The event may use the ACM SIGIR name and logo in all publicity material
• The event may be advertised on the SIGIR homepage
• SIGIR Forum may publish a final report on the meeting

This document explains the process for obtaining “in cooperation” status. This status must be approved by the ACM and the SIGIR Executive Committee who will assess the quality of the proposed event and the likely interest to the SIGIR community. Approval is granted only for a single occurrence of an event. If an event runs annually, approval for “in cooperation” status must be granted each year. Queries about this process should be sent to the SIGIR Vice Chair (vc_SIGIR@acm.org).

SIGIR is willing to give support to events that have existing “in cooperation” agreements with another SIG, other professional societies or non-profit organizations. However, in line with ACM regulations we cannot give “in cooperation” status to an event organised by a for-profit organization. Requests for “in cooperation” or sponsorship status should make clear any existing agreements or proposed agreements. A specific requirement of SIGIR “in cooperation” status is that ACM/SIG members receive the same registration discount that is available to other sponsoring organizations. If there is no other sponsoring organization (such as another ACM SIG or professional body) then there is no obligation to offer a discounted fee for ACM/SIG members, though it is certainly encouraged.

Events seeking “in cooperation” status may also wish to apply for SIGIR Friends funding, depending on the size and nature of the event. A request for Friends funding may be included as part of the application for “in cooperation” status. Just include your request for Friends funding as a section in your application, detailing the amount of funding requested (up to US$5,000) and how the funding will be used.

If you are making an application to have your conference proceedings become part of the ACM Digital Library through the ACM International Conference Proceedings Series (ICPS), then you must apply for in-cooperation status BEFORE applying to ICPS. ACM regulations do not allow in-cooperation status to be granted after your conference has been accepted to AICPS. See: Details on how to apply to ICPS.

Eligibility

The following three criteria will be used to evaluate requests for SIGIR “in cooperation” status:

1. The relevance of the event to SIGIR: SIGIR “in cooperation” status denotes that an event is likely to be of interest to SIGIR members. Consequently the topics covered by an event should be of interest to the SIGIR community as expressed, for example, in the topics of the annual SIGIR conference. We also welcome events which focus on new research topics, new application areas and new communities. Topics which have only marginal relevance to SIGIR are unlikely to achieve SIGIR “in cooperation” status.
2. The scientific quality of the event: Established events seeking SIGIR “in cooperation” status are asked to provide evidence on the scientific quality of the event. Such evidence may include information on the acceptance rates of previous occurrences of the event, reviewing procedures (e.g. lists of program committee members of previous events, details on how contributions are selected for inclusion, etc.), contribution formats (e.g. length and format of contributions) and details on dissemination routes (e.g. publisher, availability online, etc.). New events will be asked to provide evidence that indicates the likely quality of the event. Such evidence will include details on the publicity arrangements, likely sponsors, review process, and the estimated size of the event. For all events, relationships with established scientific organizations (e.g. IEEE) should be noted.
3. The background and experience of the organizers: The organizing team should have clear connections to the SIGIR community and should generally include individuals with a record of publication in SIGIR sponsored and co-sponsored conferences. For smaller events, leading members of the organizing team (e.g., program chairs) should be established members of the SIGIR community. The organizing team should also have experience organizing events of similar size and scope.

Additional eligibility criteria for “in cooperation” conferences, which applies to all SIGs, have been established by the ACM. These and all other ACM policies must be followed by events holding “in cooperation” status.

How to apply for “in cooperation” status

Any proposal for SIGIR “in cooperation” status should make clear the benefits to SIGIR in being associated with the event. This may include facilitating greater focus on a topic of interest to SIGIR members, providing SIGIR members with access to new resources or providing SIGIR members with access to new communities of interest. Benefits to the event should be clearly stated in the application. SIGIR “in cooperation” status may help the event be attractive to financial sponsors; however potential financial support should not be the only benefit to the event. All proposals should indicate participation policies; SIGIR encourages events to be open to all members of the research and practitioner community.

All requests for “in-cooperation” status must be approved by the ACM and the SIGIR Executive Committee. SIGIR has a two stage approval process: first the event organizers should submit a proposal to the SIGIR Executive Committee who will advise on the proposal and make an initial recommendation. If this recommendation is positive then the event organizers should apply for official approval from the ACM. Please note that while ACM rules disallow “in cooperation” status for events that are run on behalf of a for-profit organization. Individual organisers, such as program chairs, may be employed by a for-profit organisation and for-profit organisations may provide financial sponsorship to the event.

Requests for “in cooperation” status should be sent to the SIGIR Vice-Chair who will liaise with the Executive Committee and event organizers. Requests should be accompanied by a description of the proposed event that is sufficiently detailed to allow the Executive Committee to assess the technical quality, likely interest to SIGIR members and the fit with the eligibility criteria outlined above. This should be sent 6-12 months before the event. The description should contain, as a minimum, information on the topics of the meeting, dates of the meeting, intended size, audience, participation policies, names, affiliations and previous experience of the organizers, and intended publication route. Established events should provide details on the prior attendance, registration fees and submission/acceptance rates of previous events. New events should provide details on the proposed organization and structure of the event. If the Executive Committee approves the initial proposal then the event organizers will be asked to seek official ACM approval using the ACM’s Technical Meeting Request Form (TMRF). Events may not use the SIGIR logo or advertise “in cooperation” status until approval has been granted by ACM.