Author How To & FAQ

Instructions for Authors

PNSQC values practical information that can be applied directly to software engineering practices. Our conference attendees expect to get information from your technical paper and your presentation that they can bring back and use at their workplace following the conference. The primary Author of any paper receives free admission to the two-day technical conference. In most cases and as needed, PNSQC can assist with a modest travel/lodging stipend.

How Do I Submit My Proposal?

Authors first submit a proposal abstract here. Your abstract will be reviewed by a selection committee, and if you have a great story to tell, you will be invited to write your paper and attend to present it. Please note that if your paper is accepted, you are expected to present your paper physically at the conference. There are limited exceptions for virtual remote presentations and prefer in-person attendance, as virtual presentations reduce the quality of the experience for conference participants.

Note that the program includes Keynote and Invited Speakers, Full Technical Papers, and Poster Papers.

How Are Proposals Selected?

All proposals are reviewed by the Program Selection Committee. The program selection committee looks at the whole picture when reviewing your proposal:

• How impactful will your paper be to the attendees?
• What is the relevance of the problem you solved?
• What is the reach of your technical contribution to the community?
• Is your contribution applicable to other domains or organizations?

We also take into account the topic of your paper and its relationship to past conferences. The program selection committee also prepares for the inevitable by selecting backup technical papers, in case there is a cancellation.

Acceptance And Review

The Program Committee Chair will then assign one or more reviewers to work with you on your technical paper. Reviewers assigned to you will make contact via email and our abstract submission portal. Technical papers must meet all conference deadlines before the event.

Please note that if you decide to write a technical paper, you will be the author. Our reviewers will work with you to ensure that your content is clear and that it meets the PNSQC standards. They are your resource to assist you in writing a professional paper and have been given specific Reviewer Guidelines on how to give you feedback and work with you towards this objective. However, they will not rewrite sentences, restructure content, or edit for grammar and vocabulary. If you are unsure about your abilities to deliver a technical paper that meets PNSQC standards, please arrange for reviewers, editors, or co-authors at your company to help you. If English is your second language, congratulations on stepping up to the challenge! You may want to have a native English speaker review your paper to help you with grammar, punctuation, and spelling. English isn‘t easy! Keep in mind that while you may use Generative AI to provide minimal assistance, it must be fully disclosed as per our Generative AI Policy.

At any time, you may submit your revisions to an existing proposal by logging with the email and password used when first submitting.

Papers that are approved by reviewers will be uploaded to the PNSQC website. The program committee has the final authority to reject a paper if it decides that the paper does not meet the PNSQC quality standards.

How Do I Submit My Paper?

You may access your existing proposal through our abstract submission system. Once your abstract is accepted, you‘ll work with two reviewers toward a final camera-ready paper. You must submit your paper, presentation, or poster in the right format using the templates below. This is critical for our conference proceedings to look professional as all content will be consistent. Some important notes are:

1. You are encouraged to use color in your drawings if you think it would add value to the visual aspect of the graphics.
2. You must not change the margins on the left, right, top, and bottom of the template as this will affect our formatting for the proceedings.
3. The maximum number of pages for your paper is 12 pages. We cannot accept anything over this page limit.

Templates

• PNSQC Paper Template (Doc)
• PNSQC Presentation Template - Coming Soon!
• PNSQC Poster Template (Portrait) or (Landscape)

Writing Resources

If you‘re new to writing technical papers, you may want to check out these for help getting started.

• How to Write an Abstract
• Author Guidance for a High-Quality Paper
• Survival Skills for Scientific Writing in the Academic and Professional Environments, a summary of best writing practices.
• On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser
• The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Do I Have To Be Present At The Conference?

Yes. To present your paper at the conference you must agree to attend the event. Although we waive your conference fees, presenters are responsible for presenting their papers in-person at the conference. While we do have some limited presentation slots for virtual presentations, we strongly encourage live in-person participation to maximize the experience for both authors and conference attendees. If you have a co-author, they can receive admission to the conference at 1/2 price, so encourage your co-authors to attend as well.

What If I Am A First-Time Presenter?

Great! PNSQC strongly encourages first-time presenters. Giving a talk can be scary if you are new to it, so we recommend that you practice in front of friends before the big day. If you have a good idea but are unsure how to begin, please reach out to us and we will help you get started! There are some great references above that will also help.

Winning A Presentation Award

The Program Committee values the professional presentation of content contributing to the body of knowledge for software quality. We take pride in ’growing our own‘ and, through attendee feedback, invite the top three presenters to return the following year as invited speakers. We hope that these speakers will join the field of QA professionals who feel comfortable standing up and sharing their knowledge and expertise.

Speaker Agreement

Download the PNSQC Speaker-Author Agreement

Video Tips & Recommendations

Download the Video Tips & Recommendations PDF

Presentation Resources

• Lee Copeland's Speaking 101: Tips and Tricks for Conference Speakers is an excellent slide set on conference speaking for beginners
• TED has several good videos on public speaking and guidelines for preparing presentations
• James Whittaker has a lot to say about presentations in this Microsoft podcast

Guide About Copyright

Copyright law allows presenters fair use of previous works. As long as the presenter follows normal writing style guidelines, there shouldn’t be an issue. PNSQC suggests the Chicago Manual of Style; see the PNSQC Paper Template or PNSQC Presentation Template (coming soon!) for additional details. More care needs to be taken with songs, poems, and other artistic works. The presenter should take care when using these in either the paper or the presentation, especially if using the ‘whole’ item (e.g. a complete poem). The presenter should check with the source to make sure that appropriate permissions are obtained prior to publishing the paper/presentation.

PNSQC is not a platform for any political ideology and the author should refrain from expressing political views.

Presenters, by confirming that they will develop and present a paper, also confirm acceptance of the PNSQC Author Copyright Agreement that indemnifies PNSQC from claims arising from copyright issues and gives PNSQC the right to publish your work, while also ensuring that the author retains the right of ownership for their work.

We suggest Wikipedia's Copyright as a starting point for presenters looking for more information on fair use and copyright issues.