InSTA 2026

The 13th International Workshop on Software Test Architecture (InSTA 2026) represents the latest installment in a series of international workshops dedicated to software test architecture. This field encompasses the analysis of systems under test, methodologies for designing test cases, and the notation used in software testing. The development of improved software test architectures is crucial for enhancing the efficacy of software testing. Indeed, software test architecture is a cornerstone of effective test strategy. In software testing, numerous keywords pertain to test design concepts. However, there is a notable absence of widely standardized diagrams or notations that facilitate the communication of these concepts. Such standardization could significantly boost the productivity and reusability of tests by elevating their levels of abstraction and providing a comprehensive overview of the software being tested. By concentrating on the higher-level concepts inherent in software test architectures, our discussions can contribute to improving the quality of testing. Software test architectures should be considered as an integral component of test strategies, approached indirectly. While some organizations are pioneering new methodologies for designing innovative software test architectures, a unified understanding of the fundamental concepts of software test architectures remains elusive. At the InSTA workshop, researchers and practitioners will engage in discussions on research findings, industrial experiences, and emerging ideas related to software test architectures. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the abstraction of test cases, the design of software test architectures by using large language models through the application or enhancement of existing notations such as UML and UTP, test requirement analysis including patterns for such analysis, and the application of software test architecture in the quality evaluation of software test architecture, alongside other software testing-related subjects.

InSTA 2026 web site: https://conf.researchr.org/home/icst-2025/insta-2026

Past events:
InSTA 2025
InSTA 2024
InSTA 2023
InSTA 2022
InSTA 2021
InSTA 2020
InSTA 2019
InSTA 2018
InSTA 2017
InSTA 2016
InSTA 2015

Call for Papers

Recommended Topics or Themes

Concepts of software test architecture

• Software test architecture for machine learning systems
• Abstraction of test cases (e.g. test levels, test types, abstract equivalent classes, high-level test conditions and high-level test cases)
• Relationships of abstract test cases
• Separation of concerns for test
• Architecture of test suite based on abstract test cases (e.g. design of test levels and test types)
• Types of software test architecture (e.g. architecture of test suite and architecture of test system/environment)
• Similarities, differences and harmonization between test suite architecture and test system architecture
• Similarities and differences among software test architecture, test strategy, test plan and test sub-process in ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119

Design of software test architecture

• How to design several test levels
• How to design complicated test types and test cycles
• Design concepts for software test architecture design
• Modeling technique for software test architecture design
• Design patterns for software test architecture design
• Styles of software test architecture
• Quality characteristics of software test architecture (e.g. maintainability of test suite)
• Original diagrams and notation for software test architecture design
• Application or enhancement of existing notation (e.g. UML/UTP, SysML and future diagram for SPL)
• Connection of software test architecture design and test case design (e.g. structure of test case based on test architectural components)
• Meta-models or ontology for software test architectures

Test requirement analysis

• Whether software requirement specification is the goal of software test or not?
• How to model holistic test requirement
• How to model nonfunctional requirement for test
• How to organize test requirement for several source (e.g. from customer, from design and from environment)
• How to overview large-scale and complex requirements for test
• Analysis patterns for test requirement analysis
• Emerging techniques of test requirements analysis (e.g. using Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and etc.) Application of software test architecture
• Quality evaluation of software test architecture
• Overall test engineering methodology based on software test architecture design
• Reuse of software test architecture design
• Product line engineering of test suite (e.g. how to design and manage variants of test suite)
• Design example of software test architecture for large-scale and complicated system
• Roles and responsibilities of test architect
• Automation based on software test architecture (e.g. separating automated test and manual test in keyword driven testing based on software test architecture)
• Test process improvement based on software test architecture
• Relationships between software architectures and software test architectures
• Typical software test architecture for a domain and/or comparison among domains (e.g. banking, logistics, cloud, automotive, medical, industrial automation and telecommunications)
• Industrial experiments and case studies of software test architectures

Paper Submission

• Research papers (up to 10 pages)
• Industrial experience reports (up to 6 pages)
• Emerging idea proposals (up to 4 pages)

NOTE :

• Research papers must conform to the two-column IEEE conference publication format, not exceed 10 pages, including all text, figures, tables, and appendices; two additional pages containing only references are permitted.
• Research papers require both original work and quantitative evaluation. Industrial experience reports require practical insight or actual improvement in industry as well as (quantitative if possible) evaluation. Emerging idea proposals require vision, perspective, concept, new idea, new research theme proposal and cross-technical discussion around test architecture design.

All papers must conform to IEEE’s format: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html

Authors must comply with the IEEE Plagiarism Guidelines. In particular, a submission must not have been published elsewhere and must not be under review elsewhere while under review for this workshop. The submission must also comply with the IEEE Policy on Authorship.

Workshop papers will be published in the IEEE Digital Library in the form of a post-proceedings.

InSTA 2026 papers submissions site : https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=insta2026

InSTA will employ a single-blind review process and each paper will be reviewed by two program committee members.