Technical TrackMODELS 2022

About

Contributions related to all aspects of modeling, modeling languages and model-based software and systems engineering are cordially invited to the 25th edition of MODELS, in Montreal, Canada 16-21 October 2022.

MODELS is the premier conference series for model-based software and systems engineering. Since 1998, MODELS has covered all aspects of modeling, from languages and methods, to tools and applications. Attendees of MODELS come from diverse backgrounds, including researchers, academics, engineers, and industrial professionals. MODELS 2022 is a forum for participants to exchange cutting-edge research results and innovative practical experiences around modeling, modeling languages, and model-based software and systems engineering.

As in previous years, MODELS 2022 is offering two tracks for technical papers: the Foundations Track and the Practice & Innovation Track.

This year’s edition will provide an opportunity for the modeling community to further advance the foundations of modeling, and come up with innovative applications of modeling in emerging areas of cyber-physical systems, embedded systems, socio-technical systems, cloud computing, big data, machine learning, security, open source, and sustainability.

For this year’s edition, the conference has the special theme “Modeling for social good” #MDE4SG. Thus, we especially encourage contributions where model-based engineering intersects with research and applications on, not exclusively, socio-technical systems, tools with social impact, integrating human values, data science, artificial intelligence, digital twins, Industry/Society 5.0, and intelligent systems in general. Papers are eligible for the Best Theme Paper Award.

We invite you to join us at MODELS 2022, Montreal, Canada and to help shape the modeling languages, methods, and technologies of the future!

Topics of Interest (but not restricted to)

MODELS 2022 seeks submissions on diverse topics related to modeling for software and systems engineering, including, but not limited to:

• Foundations of model-based engineering, including definition of syntax and semantics of modeling languages and model transformation languages.
• New paradigms, formalisms, applications, approaches, frameworks, or processes for model-based engineering such as low-code/no-code development, digital twins, etc.
• Definition, usage, and analysis of model-based generative and re-engineering approaches.
• Models@Runtime: model-based monitoring, analysis, and adaptation towards intelligent systems, e.g., with digital shadows or digital twins.
• Development of model-based systems engineering approaches and modeling-in-the-large including interdisciplinary engineering and coordination.
• Applications of AI to model-based engineering problems including e.g., search-based and machine learning approaches.
• Model-based engineering foundations for AI-based systems.
• Human and organizational factors in model-based engineering.
• Tools, meta-tools, and language workbenches for model-based engineering, including model management and scalable model repositories.
• Integration of modeling languages and tools (hybrid multi-modeling approaches).
• Evaluation and comparison of modeling languages, techniques, and tools.
• Quality assurance (analysis, testing, verification) for functional and non-functional properties of models and model transformations.
• Collaborative modeling research to address global and team management issues (e.g., browser-based and cloud-enabled collaboration).
• Evolution of modeling languages and related standards.
• Evidence-based education research for curricular concerns on modeling topics.
• Modeling in software engineering; applications of models to address general software engineering challenges.
• Modeling for specific challenges such as collaboration, scalability, security, interoperability, adaptability, flexibility, maintainability, dependability, reuse, energy efficiency, sustainability, and uncertainty.
• Modeling with, and for, new and emerging systems and paradigms such as security, cyber-physical systems (CPSs), the Internet of Things (IoTs), cloud computing, DevOps, data analytics, data science, machine learning, big data, systems engineering, socio-technical systems, critical infrastructures and services, robotics, mobile applications, conversational agents, open-source software, sustainability and modeling for social good.
• Empirical studies of applying model-based engineering for domains such as smart production, smart cities, smart enterprises, smart mobility, smart society, etc.

Attendance

If a submission is accepted, at least one author of the paper is required to attend the conference and present the paper in person.

Accepted Papers

Practice and Innovation Track

The goal of the Practice and Innovation (P&I) Track is to fill the gap between foundational research in model-based engineering (MBE) and industrial needs. We invite authors from academia and/or industry to submit original contributions reporting on the development of innovative MBE solutions in industries, public sector, or open-source settings, as well as innovative application of MBE in such contexts. Examples include:

• Scalable and cost-effective methodologies and tools
• Industrial case studies with valuable lessons learned
• Experience reports providing novel insights

Each paper should provide clear take-away value by describing the context of a problem of practical importance, and the application of MBE that leads to a solution. A non-exclusive list of topics of interest is provided here.

Evaluation Criteria: A paper in the P&I Track will be evaluated mainly from its practical take-away and the potential impact of the findings. More specifically,

• The paper should discuss why the solution to the problem is innovative (e.g., in terms of advancing the state-of-practice), effective, and/or efficient, and what likely practical impact it has or will have;
• The paper should provide a concise explanation of approaches, techniques, methodologies and tools employed;
• The paper should explain best practices that emerged, tools developed, and/or software processes involved.
• Studies reporting on negative findings must provide a thorough discussion of the potential causes of failure, and ideally a perspective on how to solve them.
• Authors are encouraged to make the artifacts publicly accessible, e.g., through a Github repository or an alternative that is likely to remain available. There will be an optional artifact evaluation process, as discussed below.

Submission Process

The submission process for the MODELS 2022 P&I Track is similar to past MODELS editions, with the specific details below. We follow a single-anonymous review process for the P&I Track. In a single-anonymous process, authors’ names are identified to the reviewers and do not need to be removed from the paper. Please consult the submission information section below to prepare your manuscript accordingly.

For the P&I Track, papers must be submitted electronically through the MODELS 2022 EasyChair web page.

• P&I Track papers must not exceed 10 pages for the main text, inclusive of all figures, tables, appendices, etc. Two more pages containing only references are permitted.
• All submissions must be in PDF. The page limit is strict, and it will not be possible to purchase additional pages at any point in the process (including after the paper is accepted).
• Formatting instructions are available at https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template for both LaTeX and Word users. LaTeX users must use the provided acmart.cls and ACM-Reference-Format.bst without modification, enable the conference format in the preamble of the document (i.e., \documentclass[sigconf,review]{acmart}), and use the ACM reference format for the bibliography (i.e., \bibliographystyle{ACM-Reference-Format}). The review option adds line numbers, thereby allowing referees to refer to specific lines in their comments.
• Word users make sure you are using Times New Roman on the body of your text, author information, and section titles; and using Helvetica on the paper title.
• By submitting to the MODELS P&I Track, authors acknowledge that they are aware of and agree to be bound by the ACM Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism and the IEEE Plagiarism FAQ. In particular, papers submitted to MODELS 2022 must not have been published elsewhere and must not be under review or submitted for review elsewhere whilst under consideration for MODELS 2022.
• The P&I Track of MODELS 2022 will use a single-anonymous review process (i.e., authors do not have to hide their identities in their papers). Since industry papers typically rely heavily on the industrial/practical context in which the work was carried out, anonymizing the context may negatively impact the paper.
• Please contact the Program Chairs if you have more questions on the submission process.

Submissions that do not adhere to these limits or that violate the formatting guidelines will be desk-rejected without review. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings published by ACM.

Authors of selected papers from the conference will be invited to revise and submit extended versions of their papers for publication in the International Journal on Software and Systems Modeling (SoSyM).

Author Response Period

MODELS 2022 will offer an optional author response period for submissions which have reached a sufficient level of support. In this period, the authors will have the opportunity to inspect the reviews, and to answer specific questions raised by the program committee to inform the subsequent decision making process.

Artefact Evaluation

After the notification, the authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit their accompanying artifacts (e.g., software, datasets, proofs) to the Artifact Evaluation track to be evaluated by the Artifact Evaluation Committee. Participation in the Artifact Evaluation process is optional and does not affect the final decision regarding the acceptance of papers. Papers that successfully go through the Artifact Evaluation process will be rewarded with a seal of approval included in the papers.

Important Dates

The P&I Track has the following deadlines:

• May Wed 18, 2022, Abstract submission
• May Wed 18, 2022, Paper submission
• June 28 - July 1st, 2022, Author response period
• July Tue 12, 2022, Author notification
• August Mon 1, 2022, Camera Ready Version Due

Please note that:

• Abstract submission is mandatory.
• All deadlines are hard. No extensions will be granted.
• All dates are according to the time zone “Anywhere on Earth”, i.e., UTC-12.
• All accepted papers must be presented by an author who is registered as a “Regular” participant (student presenters must register as a Regular participant).

Foundations Track

We invite authors to submit high quality contributions describing significant, original, and unpublished results in the following two categories. A non-exclusive list of topics of interest is provided here.

1. Technical Papers

Technical papers should describe innovative research in modeling or model-based engineering activities. Papers in this submission category should describe a novel contribution to the field and should carefully support claims of novelty with citations to the relevant literature.

Evaluation Criteria: Technical papers are evaluated on the basis of originality, soundness, relevance, importance of contribution, strength of validation, quality of presentation and appropriate comparison to related work. Where a submission builds upon previous work of the author(s), the novelty of the new contribution must be described clearly with respect to the previous work. Technical papers need to discuss clearly how the results were validated (e.g., formal proofs, controlled experiments, rigorous case studies, or simulations). Authors are strongly encouraged to make the artifacts used for the evaluation publicly accessible, e.g., through a Github repository or an alternative that is likely to remain available. There will be an optional artifact evaluation process, as discussed below.

2. New Ideas/Vision Papers

We solicit short papers that present new ideas and visions. Such papers may describe new, non-conventional model-based engineering research positions or approaches that depart from standard practice. They can describe well-defined research ideas that are at an early stage of investigation. They could also provide new evidence that common wisdom should be challenged, present new unifying theories about existing modeling research that provides novel insight or that can lead to the development of new technologies or approaches, or apply modeling technology to radically new application areas.

Evaluation Criteria: New ideas and vision papers will be assessed primarily on their level of originality and potential for impact on the field in terms of promoting innovative thinking. Hence, inadequacies in the state-of-the-art and the pertinence, correctness, and impact of the idea/vision must be described clearly, even though the new idea need not be fully worked out, and a fully detailed roadmap need not be presented. A full evaluation is not required for new ideas and vision papers, but preliminary evaluation results may help the reviewers understand the scope of the work better. Authors are strongly encouraged to make the artifacts publicly accessible, e.g., through a Github repository or an alternative that is likely to remain available. There will be an optional artifact evaluation process, as discussed below.

Submission Process

The submission process for MODELS 2022 Foundations Track is similar to past MODELS editions, with the specific details given below. We follow a double-anonymous review process for the Foundations Track. In the double-anonymous review process, authors will not be identified to reviewers and reviewers will not be identified to authors. Please consult the submission information section below to prepare your manuscript for the double-anonymous process.

Papers must be submitted electronically through the MODELS 2022 EasyChair web page.

• Technical papers must not exceed 10 pages for the main text, including all figures, tables, appendices, etc. Two more pages containing only references are permitted.
• New Ideas/Vision papers must not exceed 6 pages for the main text, including all figures, tables, appendices, etc. One more page containing only references is permitted.
• All submissions must be in PDF. The page limit is strict, and it will not be possible to purchase additional pages at any point in the process (including after the paper is accepted).
• Formatting instructions are available at https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template for both LaTeX and Word users. LaTeX users must use the provided acmart.cls and ACM-Reference-Format.bst without modification, enable the conference format in the preamble of the document (i.e., \documentclass[sigconf,review]{acmart}), and use the ACM reference format for the bibliography (i.e., \bibliographystyle{ACM-Reference-Format}). The review option adds line numbers, thereby allowing referees to refer to specific lines in their comments.
• By submitting to the MODELS Foundations Track, authors acknowledge that they are aware of and agree to be bound by the ACM Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism and the IEEE Plagiarism FAQ. In particular, papers submitted to MODELS 2022 must not have been published elsewhere and must not be under review or submitted for review elsewhere whilst under consideration for MODELS 2022.
• The Foundations Track of MODELS 2022 will employ a double-anonymous review process. Thus, no submission may reveal its authors’ identities. The authors must make every effort to honor the double-anonymous review process. For more information, check the submission information section.
• Please contact the Program Chairs if you have more questions on the submission process.

Submissions that do not adhere to the stated page limits or that violate the formatting guidelines will be desk-rejected without review. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings published by ACM.

Authors of selected papers from the conference will be invited to revise and submit extended versions of their papers for publication in the International Journal on Software and Systems Modeling (SoSyM).

Author Response Period

MODELS 2022 will offer an optional author response period for submissions which have reached a sufficient level of support. In this period, the authors will have the opportunity to inspect the reviews, and to answer specific questions raised by the program committee to inform the subsequent decision making process.

Artefact Evaluation

After the notification, the authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit their accompanying artifacts (e.g., software, datasets, proofs) to the Artifact Evaluation track to be evaluated by the Artifact Evaluation Committee. Participation in the Artifact Evaluation process is optional and does not affect the final decision regarding the acceptance of papers. Papers that successfully go through the Artifact Evaluation process will be rewarded with a seal of approval included in the papers.

Important Dates

The Foundations Track has the following deadlines:

• May Wed 18, 2022, Abstract submission
• May Wed 18, 2022, Paper submission
• June 28 - July 1st, 2022, Author response period
• July Tue 12, 2022, Author notification
• August Mon 1, 2022, Camera Ready Version Due

Please note that:

• Abstract submission is mandatory.
• All deadlines are hard. No extensions will be granted.
• All dates are according to the time zone “Anywhere on Earth”, i.e., UTC-12.
• All accepted papers must be presented by an author who is registered as a “Regular” participant (student presenters must register as a Regular participant).

Submission Information

The Foundations Track of MODELS 2022 will follow a double-anonymous reviewing process in which the identity of authors will not be known to the program committee at any time during the process. The papers submitted must not reveal the authors´ identities in any way. Hence, the authors should make every reasonable effort to keep the paper anonymous, but of course there is no need to guarantee that the authors’ identity is undiscoverable.

Why Double-Anonymous?

There are many reasons for a double-anonymous review process at conferences, including to avoid (even unconscious) bias from the reviewers. Hence, to make the review process as fair as possible, we want to avoid either positive or negative bias of reviewers from the authors’ identities. Recently, many conferences have moved to a double-anonymous process to avoid such bias, including ICSE, ICSME, FASE, ESEC/FSE, and ASE, among many others. For more information on double-anonymous reviewing, please consult Claire Le Goues’s blog posting, a list of double-anonymous resources from Robert Feldt, and a study by Moritz Beller and Alberto Bacchelli.

How to prepare your paper for double-anonymous reviewing?

• Omit all authors’ names and affiliations from the title page. Omit also acknowledgements, if they mention any names or organizations.
• Refer to your own work in the third person. You should not change the names of your own previously published tools, approaches, or systems, because this would clearly compromise the review process. Instead, refer to the authorship or provenance of tools, approaches, or systems in the third person, so that it is credible that another author could have written your paper.
• If possible, do not use external sources for supplementary material (your website, your GitHub repository, your YouTube channel, a companion technical report or thesis) in the paper which might reveal author identities. It is possible to post a link to an anonymous GitHub repository, or anonymous web hosting services, but the repository should be checked carefully for any information that could reveal the author’s identity. In any case, you will be able to submit supplementary material through the EasyChair submission site, but check the material carefully for anything that can reveal the author’s identity. Here are some additional tips on anonymization from ACM.
• Authors are strongly encouraged to title their submission differently than preprints of the authors on ArXiV or similar repositories. During review, authors should not publicly use the submission title.

Authors having further questions on double-anonymous reviewing are encouraged to contact the Program Chairs by email. Papers that do not comply to the double-anonymous review process will be desk-rejected.