pictured above: the 2015 Unified Jury group
Trailers for SIGGRAPH 2015 will be out very soon so we sat down with Technical Papers Chair Doug James to go behind the jury process for this year’s program content. Here’s what he had to say.
Why does SIGGRAPH use a jury process to determine much of the program content for the conference?
The SIGGRAPH Technical Papers Program uses an academic peer-review process to identify high-quality research papers that introduce new ideas to the field and stimulate future trends. Submitted papers must adhere to the highest scientific standards, and they cannot overlap substantially with any paper previously accepted for publication or under review by any conference or journal during the SIGGRAPH review process – unlike some venues where invited (or “curated”) content may appear.
There are hundreds of submissions on a vast array of topics, so we need a lot of help to review the submissions. Therefore, the Technical Papers Chair assembles (with the help of the Technical Papers Advisory Board) a Technical Papers Committee (PC). The PC consists of approximately 55 respected individuals in the graphics community, from academia and industry, whose expertise spans the entire field. These individuals, along with thousands of other tertiary reviewers, read and review the submitted content. They discuss the pros/cons of submissions, and ultimately determine what you see in the SIGGRAPH Technical Papers Program. It is a complex process, but the fairest and best way we have found to identify the very best Technical Papers content.
Being part of a jury is a big commitment and requires a lot of collaborative energy. What’s the secret to a good jury process?
The secret is to recruit great people. They need to be leaders in their graphics sub-fields. They should be critical thinkers, and be able to identify pros and cons of submissions. They must be open-minded about new ideas. Also they need to be reasonable and relatively non-contentious so that they can work together effectively as a PC to identify the most stimulating new ideas.
What advice would you give to someone who is submitting their work and might be new to this review process?
Read the ‘Call for submissions’ and the individual program F.A.Q. on the SIGGRAPH website. Many details of the review process, and tips on improving your submission can be found there.
Complete this sentence. “SIGGRAPH juries are _____________________________”
SIGGRAPH juries are a lot of work, but the best way for us to determine what you see at SIGGRAPH!
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