VLSI Symposium Policy on Prepublication
Adapted from IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society
The
purpose of VLSI Symposium is to make available the latest advances in the field
of VLSI Technology and Circuits. As the premier world forum for the debut of
such technical innovation, the Symposium will accept only works in which the
preponderance of the material being disclosed has not previously been made
available to the public.
All
publications necessarily include a mix of pre-published material (e.g. motivation,
background information, summary of prior work in the field) and new material
(not previously disclosed to the public). It is the responsibility of the
technical program chair to ensure that each work contains significant new
material and that the new material constitutes the majority of the work.
Though
the final decision for what constitutes pre-published material lies with the
appropriate
technical program chair, the following guidelines should
make clear how to comply with this policy. A key guideline consists of
evaluating whether material is publicly available either through electronic
download or orderable in printed form. Such material is considered prepublished and does not qualify as new material.
Disclosures
that are not usually considered prepublication include:
1)
Preliminary data sheet(s)/product announcement(s) with no technical details.
2)
Presentation at a limited-attendance workshop with no proceedings (e.g. IEEE
SSCTW or
Computer
Elements, or presentations to research sponsors). A key element here involves
the ability to find any handouts etc. via electronic means or printed catalog.
If handouts are available, but not subsequently downloadable or orderable, this
is acceptable.
3)
Information from an advance program, after its publication, or information from
the IEEE sponsored press meetings, after the formal press release.
4)
Information provided under NDA to customers, partners, or other parties.
5)
Final signed versions of Master’s and PhD thesis at public or private
universities available in open access repositories (i.e. libraries), either
printed or online. A thesis published for profit is an exception and is
considered prepublication.
6)
Published patents and patent applications.
Disclosures
that would normally be considered prepublication include:
1)
Publicly available manuals, data sheets and applications notes that contain
substantial technical information such as schematics and principles of
operation.
2)
Previously copyrighted material.
3)
Material submitted and accepted for publication elsewhere.
4)
Material submitted for which publication decision is still pending.
5)
Material available on a public website. (e.g., presentations
done internal to an organization and disclosed on a publicly accessible web
site).
Invited
papers should be identified as such in either conference proceedings, as they
contain, by their nature primarily pre-published material but are of interest
to the society as a whole.
The
best policy is to disclose all questionable material to the editor or technical
program committee as part of the submission process. If your organization is
planning publicity for your work, which you believe might possibly be
interpreted as a violation of prepublication policy, contact the technical
program chairman PRIOR to the publicity event for approval. Providing
preprints, granting interviews, discussing data with members of the media, or
participating in press conferences in advance of publication without prior
approval from the technical program chair may be grounds for rejection.