Call for ICSE 2026 Shadow PC Participation

Mission Statement

The goal of the shadow PC is to train the next generation of reviewers through deliberate practice with specific guidance and feedback. The shadow PC is a professional development program to serve the entire software engineering research community.

Program Description

Shadow PC is a professional development program for early-career researchers (ECRs) to learn about the academic peer review process as a reviewer, with a focus on critically evaluating papers and writing good reviews. It provides an opportunity for ECRs who are interested in being embedded in the community. The Shadow PC will provide reviews on a subset of submissions to the research track of the conference (from authors who opt-in for their paper to be reviewed by the Shadow PC).

The Shadow PC will mirror several features of the regular PC of the research track, including evaluating ICSE submissions, bidding, discussions, and the technology platform used. However, it will deviate in part from ICSE’s review process to focus on deliberate practice, constructive feedback, and calibration – in a multi-step process with many intermediate deadlines and a smaller review load. Shadow reviews for papers that are reviewed by the Shadow PC will be sent out to authors after the end of the actual review process, but shadow reviews will not affect the official decision made by the regular PC.

Participants will have to abide by the same rules and restrictions applicable to regular PC members. This includes, but is not limited to, conflicts of interest, double-blind reviews, and rules against discussing the papers outside of the PC context, restrictions on the use of AI, and using in any way results from reviewed papers before such papers have been published. Delegated reviews (i.e., external reviews) are not allowed for the Shadow PC.

Who can participate in the Shadow PC?

Shadow PC is open to PhD students, post-docs, new faculty members and industry practitioners working in software engineering research who (a) previously have received reviews for a paper submission in the technical research track (or the main track) of the premier SE conferences (e.g., ICSE, FSE, ASE), and (b) have not previously served as a program committee member of the technical research track of these conferences. Authors of ICSE 2026 submissions are welcome to join the shadow PC. We will try to provide opportunities for many participants, but if we receive too many applications, we may select the shadow PC members based on motivation and research experience. We particularly value participation from community members who may not have a strong local support network or institutional support for professional development (particularly review training) and are hence often overlooked in PC member selections.

Why join a Shadow PC?

Serving on a Shadow PC is an excellent opportunity for ECRs to learn about how to evaluate papers and write strong, constructive reviews that benefit the entire software engineering research community. It provides an inside peek at how decisions are made, which can be useful for writing stronger submissions. It is also worthwhile for a number of reasons, including:

• Getting to know how a review process operates;
• Receiving feedback on reviews by experienced community members and practicing providing constructive feedback to other reviewers
• Gaining experience reviewing papers and understanding the challenges faced by reviewers reading multiple papers, which may not always be in their area of expertise;
• Observing the contrast between strong and weak papers at the submission stage, rather than just seeing published work;
• Discovering what it takes to publish a paper at a top-tier conference;
• Networking with other ECRs who are also serving on the Shadow PC and senior researchers
• Receiving recognition in the form of a certificate for completion, and a possible recommendation to the PC chairs of future ICSE/FSE/ASE conferences.

(see also Varghese, Delvin, Hafeni Mthoko, Jessica Watterson, Pranav Kulkarni, Dan Richardson, Shaimaa Lazem, and Patrick Olivier. “Shadow Program Committee: Designing for Diversity and Equity within Academic Communities.” ACM Journal on Computing and Sustainable Societies 2, no. 1 (2024): 1-24.)

What to expect and timeline

The shadow PC starts one week after the second round of ICSE submission (July 24) and ends one week after the ICSE notifications (Oct 24). Expect about 20 to 40 hours of work over this 3 month period, structured in multiple phases. We plan to have a synchronous Zoom meeting on August 29 to discuss some reviews (several times will be offered for different time zones). Participation in each phase and in the synchronous meeting is required. Participants who do not complete a phase will be excluded from subsequent phases of the Shadow PC.

In this 3-month period, you will set up a reviewer profile in HotCRP, bid for papers, review 5 to 6 papers in three separate batches, receive feedback on those reviews, and learn about the outcome of the discussion for those papers in the main ICSE PC from ICSE PC members.

Overall, we focus on deliberate practice, where we ask participants to incrementally draft and revise reviews with concrete guidelines and feedback, encouraging reflection on good review practices and learnings, even if this sometimes may slightly undermine the realism of the experience.

Here is a preliminary list of phases and corresponding deadlines:

Jul 24 Shadow PC application deadline

Jul 31 HotCRP account setup and ethics training due

Jul 31 to Aug 20 Write and revise 2 reviews

Aug 20 Synchronous Zoom meetings to discuss reviews

Aug 21 to Aug 28: Paper bidding

Aug 30 to Sep 18: Review 3 more papers

Sep 19 to Sep 27: Peer review for other reviews on the same paper due

Sep 28 to Oct 9: Review 1 more paper

Oct 9 to Oct 16: Discussions

17 Oct to 24 Oct: Debriefing with ICSE PC members

Oct 25: Release of shadow PC reviews to the authors

During ICSE (optional): Informal shadow PC lunch for networking and discussions

We will provide certificates for completed participation in all phases of the shadow PC and will suggest stellar shadow PC reviewers to the PC chairs of ICSE, FSE, and ASE 2027.

What is required of Shadow PC members?

Shadow PC members must commit themselves to participating in the review process and in all its phases across a 3-month period, writing reviews for 5 to 6 papers total (approximately 20 to 40 hours of work). Timely review commitment is essential to the good functioning of the Shadow PC. Candidates who might be unable to fulfil their reviewing duties should refrain from applying. Shadow PC members must follow the ethical standards of peer review (which we will explain), respect the anonymity of the review process, and not share which papers they have reviewed. Shadow PC members who do not adhere to the ethical standards of peer review will be excluded from the process and will be reported to the ACM for misconduct.

How to apply?

If you are interested in participating, please complete the online application form https://forms.gle/r8wKr2JzcQCEtEGL6 by July 24, 2024, AoE. In case you cannot access the form, email the Shadow PC chair Christian Kaestner from your institution’s email address with the following subject: “ICSE 2026 Shadow PC Application” and we will respond with an offline application form.