PLoP 2001 Submission Information

Deadline!

Monday, May 11^th, 2001, 5:00 PM CST (hard deadline). 

Paper Submission

We need:

1. Your patterns document (PDF)  --> Note that we changed the format for the submission (see below).
2. Your contact info  in plain text.
1. Few minutes of your time while using the submission system.

Getting Papers accepted

• Acceptance criteria
• Improving your chances

Workshop Submission Process

See detailed workshop submission process below

Authors should submit an electronic copy in English by the aforementioned deadline. There is no limit on the length of a Pattern submission; it should be as long as necessary to fully describe the pattern (most papers submitted to previous PLoPs have been 20 pages or less). In addition, the submission of pattern languages containing many pattern descriptions, each possibly short (1-2 pages with Name, Context, Forces, Problem, Solution and Resulting Context), is also encouraged.

To ease the shepherding and workshop process, for submissions longer than 10 pages (2000 words) please designate a 10 page section to be reviewed in detail. When preparing your submission, remember that readers often prefer concise writing. Please contact the program chair if you have any other questions about the paper length, or how to select sections for detailed review.

To facilitate the assemble of the full proceedings on CD-ROM, we require all submissions to be in PDF format. Note that we also allowed Word format before but the problems that we may have with the conversion may slow down all the process, so we decided to ask the authors to do the conversions. You can generate PDF in several ways:

• If you can generate PostScript, GhostScript does a pretty good job of converting it into PDF. (GhostScript binaries for various platforms are available free of charge.)
• Also, Adobe Acrobat converts a variety of formats into PDF.
If you cannot generate PDF, please contact us at plop-2001@jerry.cs.uiuc.edu for special arrangements.

Acceptance Criteria

The criteria for acceptance to a writers' workshop will include:
• Quality and maturity of the individual patterns;
• Quality and wholeness of the pattern language.
• Degree of improvement during the shepherding process, and openness of the authors to revisions; and
• Relevance of the pattern or pattern language, based on the opinions of the program committee
Authors whose patterns are not accepted for formal workshopping may also attend the conference. As in previous years, we will have activities to develop pattern writing skills.

Suggestions for Improving Your Chances of Acceptance

One of the best ways to learn how to write successful patterns is to read successful patterns. Therefore, look at:
• the PLoP online proceedings (see the main PLoP page)
• the PLoP books: PLoPD-1, PLoPD-2, PLoPD-3 and PLoPD-4.
• and the landmark pattern books, such as:
• Design Patterns (GoF)
• Pattern-Oriented Software Architure (POSA)
Do not limit yourself to technical material. Alexander's A Pattern Language presents patterns from the realm of building in a clear, engaging, erudite fashion.

A fine place to start is "A Pattern Language for Pattern Writing" by Gerard Meszaros and Jim Doble, which simultaneously presents patterns for writing patterns, and examples of their use. This paper appeared in the PLoPD-3 book.
 

Detailed Workshop Submission Process

Submit workshop proposals to the program chair as plain text. Each proposal should include the following:

• a brief description of refactoring area that will be addressed
• the objectives of the workshop
• the format of the workshop (e.g. half or full day, including a rough outline of the schedule)
• the requirements for the attendees (e.g. do they need to submit a position paper or a pattern and what are the deadlines for submission?)
• a list of potential attendees