--- name: interspeech-submission description: Use when auditing an INTERSPEECH submission before the CMT deadline — the strict 4-page-plus-references format, double-anonymous rules and the pre-deadline anonymity period, scientific-area and metadata choices, the post-deadline paper-update window, dual-submission policy, and the desk-reject triggers specific to ISCA's flagship. --- # INTERSPEECH Submission Run this audit against the live author pages (Interspeech 2026 kept them under interspeech2026.org → Calls / Author Resources), not against memory. Interspeech re-issues its paper kit every cycle, and the format police here are unusually strict because the whole review pipeline assumes a uniform 4-page object. ## The format contract The regular Interspeech paper is **4 pages of content in two columns, plus one additional page restricted to references and acknowledgments** (2025 wording; confirm the 2026 kit). Nothing else goes on page 5. Consequences worth internalizing: - There is no appendix escape hatch. Whatever reviewers must see lives in the 4 pages. - Figures compete directly with argument; every plot must earn its column-inches. - The Long Paper track (introduced for 2026; reported 8 pages + 2 reference pages) has its own rules — do not mix the two templates. - Use the official paper kit (LaTeX template on the conference site/Overleaf) with fonts, margins, and the PDF checker untouched. Interspeech validates PDFs mechanically at upload. ## Anonymity: stricter than you remember Interspeech runs double-anonymous review, and since 2025 the policy has included an **anonymity period that starts one month before the submission deadline** and lasts until decisions: no non-anonymized version of the work may be posted online (arXiv included) in that window. Audit for: - Author names, affiliations, grant numbers, and lab-identifying acknowledgments (acknowledgments generally wait for camera-ready). - Demo and repository links that resolve to identifiable accounts — speech papers leak identity through audio-sample pages more than through text. - Self-citation phrasing ("our previous system [3]") and dataset names that only one lab could hold. - PDF metadata and embedded fonts carrying usernames. ## The paper-update window (Interspeech's oddest mechanic) Interspeech allows the PDF to be **revised for a short window after the submission deadline** — in 2026, submissions closed 25 February and paper updates were accepted until 4 March. Title, authors, abstract, and area typically freeze at the deadline; only the PDF may change. Plan for it deliberately: | Days after deadline | Sanctioned use of the update window | |---|---| | 0–2 | Full-team proofread of the actually-submitted PDF | | 2–5 | Fix typos, broken references, figure glitches, overfull boxes | | 5–close | One final upload; verify the portal shows the new checksum/version | Do not treat the window as a deadline extension for experiments — reviewers may be bidding on the metadata you froze, and wholesale content swaps invite chair scrutiny. ## Metadata and area selection - The scientific area you pick routes the paper to its reviewer pool; choose for the claim, not the method (see `interspeech-topic-selection`). - Abstract in CMT must match the PDF abstract; it is what reviewers bid on. - Declare all authors at submission — post-deadline author changes are restricted. - Answer dual-submission questions honestly: the same work may not sit under review at another conference or journal simultaneously. ## Desk-reject triggers observed at this venue - Fifth page containing anything beyond references/acknowledgments. - Template tampering (margin, font, or line-spacing tricks) caught by the PDF check. - Identity leakage anywhere in the PDF or linked material. - Posting a de-anonymized preprint inside the anonymity period. - Missing mandatory metadata fields or an invalid PDF at the CMT cutoff. ## Final 72 hours, in order 1. Rebuild the PDF from a clean clone; confirm the kit's checker passes. 2. Anonymity sweep: text, links, metadata, audio-demo pages, repo history. 3. Freeze metadata early on CMT — the portal slows near the cutoff. 4. Upload, download what CMT stored, and read *that* file end to end. 5. Diary the paper-update close date for the sanctioned typo pass. ## CMT field audit, one by one Portal fields outlive the PDF — the Archive entry, review assignment, and program are generated from them: - **Title**: identical to the PDF, punctuation included; it freezes at the deadline in most cycles. - **Abstract**: paste from the PDF source, not from an old draft; reviewers bid on this text. - **Authors + order**: complete and final; adding an author later needs chair intervention. Verify each co-author's CMT account email — collisions create duplicate identities that break conflict detection. - **Scientific area (+ any secondary)**: the routing decision from `interspeech-topic-selection`; do not delegate it to whoever uploads. - **Conflicts/domains**: list every co-author's institutional domains; missed conflicts surface as review-integrity problems months later. - **Policy checkboxes** (dual submission, ethics, anonymity attestations): read the year's wording — the sentences change, and a false attestation is a desk-reject with memory. ## If something goes wrong at the wire - Portal outage or personal emergency at the cutoff: email the Technical Program Chairs immediately with evidence; discretion exists but shrinks by the hour. - Wrong file uploaded and the deadline passed: the paper-update window is your sanctioned repair channel for the PDF — but metadata errors need a chair email. - Discovered identity leak after the deadline: update the PDF within the window and document the fix; do not silently hope. ## Output format ```text [Submission verdict] ready / fixable / not ready [Format] 4+1 compliance, template integrity, PDF checker result [Anonymity] text / links / metadata / demo-page findings [Metadata] area, abstract match, author list, dual-submission answers [Update-window plan] [Blockers] ``` ## Currency note The 2026 anchor dates — portal open 17 January, deadline 25 February, update close 4 March, all for the Sydney edition — were checked 2026-07-08 via official-page renderings (see `resources/official-source-map.md`). Every one of them is cycle-specific; the 2027 São Paulo cycle will publish its own kit and calendar.