--- name: pods-workflow description: Use when planning an ACM PODS project timeline across its multiple submission cycles per year, from venue fit through the EasyChair abstract-then-paper deadlines, the 48-hour rebuttal, the accept/reject/revision decision and shepherded revision round, PACMMOD-track publication, the arXiv full version, and presentation — with backward-planning offsets for a theory paper and honest handling of cycle choice. --- # PODS Workflow Use this as the project-management skill for a PODS submission. Replace every date with the current official timetable and work backwards from the **abstract** deadline, which precedes the full-paper deadline by about a week in each cycle. PODS runs **multiple submission cycles per year** and every paper may hit a **revision** round with a shepherd, so plan for a two-round-per-cycle process, not a single accept/reject. PODS is a symposium whose papers are journal articles in the **PACMMOD PODS track**: it has **no standing editor-in-chief** and no APC in the systems sense. Rotating leadership is the per-edition PODS PC Chair (PODS 2026: Ke Yi, HKUST, verified 2026-07-09) appointed with ACM SIGMOD and SIGACT; the cost model is registration and at least one author presents. Chairs rotate yearly — re-check the organization page rather than carrying a name forward. ## Choosing a cycle PODS's multi-cycle calendar is a planning lever, not just a constraint. As of 2026-07-09, PODS 2026 (Bengaluru) has already met, so the live target is **PODS 2027** (Huntington Beach): Cycle 1 closed 30 May 2026, and **Cycle 2 (abstract+COI 10 Oct 2026, paper 17 Oct 2026) is the next live deadline**. - **Submit when the proof is complete, not when the cycle is nearest.** A rushed, gap-filled proof draws a reject that burns the cycle; PODS's next cycle is only a season away, so the cost of waiting one cycle is far smaller than at a once-a-year venue. - **A reject cannot be immediately re-submitted.** Recent SIGMOD/PODS policy bars resubmitting rejected research-track work for roughly a year of cycles — so a premature submission can cost more than one cycle. Verify the exact wording before relying on the next cycle as a safety net. ## Milestones - **Venue fit:** confirm PODS over SIGMOD/VLDB/ICDE and over ICDT (`pods-topic-selection`). - **Result lock:** fix the model, the theorem statements, and complete every proof; the appendix is incorporated at submission, so proofs cannot be deferred to a later "full version." - **Abstract + COI:** register the real title, abstract, authors, and declared conflicts of interest by the earlier abstract deadline of the chosen cycle. - **Submission:** upload the anonymized `acmsmall` PDF (body + references + appendix) on EasyChair by the full-paper deadline. - **Rebuttal:** use the ~48-hour window to correct factual misreadings only. - **Decision:** accept / reject / **revision** (minor or major). - **Revision (if invited):** implement the revision items within the given window; a shepherd judges whether the revision is satisfactory. - **Acceptance:** prepare the PACMMOD camera-ready, post the **full version on arXiv**, register, and present at PODS. ## Backward plan from the paper deadline | Weeks out (heuristic) | Theory-paper milestone | |---|---| | 10+ | Model and problem fixed; main theorem statements conjectured | | 8 | Core proofs complete; lower-bound/upper-bound gap closed or scoped honestly | | 6 | Full draft in `acmsmall`; every stated theorem has a complete proof in body or appendix | | 4 | Appendix assembled and incorporated; anonymity sweep on paper and appendix | | 3 | Internal read by a theory colleague who checks a proof end to end | | 2 | Tighten definitions, related-work delta, page budget (15 pp excl. refs) | | 1 | Final proof-read of the hardest proof; COI list prepared | | 0 | Abstract by its earlier cutoff, then paper + appendix on EasyChair | These offsets are planning heuristics only — anchor every one to the current Important Dates page, never to a previous cycle's calendar. ## Failure modes by stage - **A proof still open at week 6** forces a "sketch in the appendix" that the reviewers will not accept — the classic PODS reject in the making. Close the gap or scope the claim. - **Leaving the appendix to the final week** produces incomplete proofs and identity leaks under double-anonymity (a named system, an acknowledgement). - **Skipping the colleague read** forfeits the one chance to hear "your Lemma 4 is circular" from a friend instead of a reviewer. - **Treating a revision as automatic** and under-budgeting the revision window turns a winnable minor revision into a reject when the shepherd is unsatisfied. ## Coordination notes - Assign one author to own the proof appendix and its anonymity, and another to own the EasyChair fields and COI list; shared ownership is how both slip. - Archive the exact submitted PDF and appendix — the revision round and the arXiv full version must correspond to them precisely. ## Output format ```text [Current stage] idea / proofs / writing / abstract-registered / submitted / revision / accepted [Chosen cycle] cycle 1 / cycle 2, with the next official deadline (date + source, or unknown) [Critical path] [Risk register] [Owner map] person or role> ```