ACL 2008 Publication Instructions - Main Conference

When and where do I send my final camera-ready paper?

The deadline is April 21, 2008. You may upload your paper starting April 1 via the START Conference Manager: https://www.softconf.com/acl08/papers/final.html.

How should the final copy differ from the original submission?

The paper should be improved to address the comments of the reviewers, and in any other way that you see fit. The final version should, of course, not be anonymous:

How long can it be?

At most 8 pages of text; one additional page containing only references is permitted. Short papers get 4 pages of text total (no additional page for references).

What is the format for the camera-ready copy?

The file must be in Portable Document Format (PDF) on US Letter paper (8.5 x 11 inches). Style files and detailed formatting instructions have been updated since the submission deadline, so please download the latest version.

If you are using LaTeX, please create the PDF file with pdflatex. This ensures use of the proper Type 1 fonts and also takes advantage of other PDF features. (If you can't use pdflatex for some reason, use latex, and then turn the resulting dvi file into pdf with dvips -Ppdf (do not use dvips -Pps). See here for a comparison of latex vs. pdflatex.)

How do I ensure that my file is correctly formatted?

Please check the paper size by viewing your document in Acrobat Reader. The bottom of the window should show the size as "8.5 x 11 in." Unfortunately, pdflatex is configured by default to produce A4 output. You can change this default by editing your system's pdftex.cfg file, as described here. If you don't want to change the default, you can change just this one paper by adding three simple lines to its TeX or LaTeX source, as described here.

If your paper uses Asian fonts, please ensure that they are encoded in the PDF file so that they can be displayed by non-Asian versions of the PDF reader. (Asian versions ship with a larger set of default fonts.) See Adobe's discussion of this issue, which unfortunately does not discuss LaTeX. Suggested diagnostics and solutions are welcomed.

What if my paper includes graphics?

Remember that you are providing a camera-ready copy. Thus, artwork and photos should be included directly in the paper in their final positions. Resolution for raster images should be at least 160 dpi. Avoid GIF or JPEG images that are low resolution or highly compressed. If images contain screen gradients, do not use screen values below 20%.

Your paper must look good both when printed (8.5" x 11" size, black-and-white) and when viewed onscreen as PDF (zoomable to any size, color okay). Thus, you may want to use color high-resolution graphics, allowing onscreen readers to zoom in on a graph and study it. However, please check that the same graph or photograph is legible when printed on a black-and-white printer. For example, different lines in a graph should not be distinguished only by color, although they can also be distinguished by color.

A good test is to print the paper on your own black-and-white laser printer, and to view it in a PDF viewer at different resolutions.

Don't go overboard on resolution; keep file sizes manageable. Note that vector graphics (e.g., encapsulated PostScript) look good at any scale and take up little space (unless you are plotting many thousands of data points).

How about copyright?

When you submit the paper, you will be asked to electronically or physically sign ACL's Copyright Transfer Agreement on behalf of all authors. Authors retain many rights under this agreement. The agreement linked above is appropriate in the vast majority of cases. A revised agreement that is more relaxed in certain circumstances (e.g., work done for governments) is also available here. If the latter form is appropriate for you, please contact the publications chairs.

Before signing this form, please confirm with your co-authors (and, if applicable, your and their employers) that they authorize you to sign on their behalf.

What if my paper's title or author list has changed?

Then please edit those metadata fields when you upload the camera-ready version, so that they will appear correctly in the table of contents, author index, conference schedule, etc.

My question isn't answered here ...?

Please email the publications chairs (Joakim Nivre and Noah Smith) at acl08pub@gmail.com. We will update this page as new issues arise.


Last updated on $Date: 2008/04/18 18:38:38 $