Call for Papers

Scope

The International Conference on Similarity Search and Applications (SISAP) is an annual forum for researchers and application developers in the area of similarity data management. It aims at the technological problems shared by numerous application domains, such as data mining, information retrieval, multimedia retrieval, computer vision, pattern recognition, computational biology, geography, biometrics, machine learning, and many others that make use of similarity search as a necessary supporting service. From its roots in metric indexing, SISAP has expanded to become the only international conference entirely devoted to all issues surrounding the theory, design, analysis, practice, and application of content-based and feature-based similarity search. Since 2021, SISAP has been a CORE Rank B conference.

The conference proceedings will be published by Springer as a volume in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. A small selection of the best papers presented at the conference will be recommended for inclusion in a special issue of Information Systems. These extended versions will be subject to a second round of peer review at the journal.

Types of papers

• Regular Papers: up to 14 pages (full papers), or up to 8 pages (short papers)
• Demo Papers: up to 6 pages
• Doctoral Symposium Papers: up to 8 pages
• Special Session Papers: up to 14 pages (full papers), or up to 8 pages (short papers)
• SISAP Indexing Challenge: implementation plus a paper up to 8 pages

All papers have to be submitted in PDF LNCS format through EasyChair. Please see the submission guidelines.

Regular Papers

We call for novel and original research papers addressing topics of interest. We encourage contributions both to theoretical aspects and applications.

Full papers (from 9 to 14 pages) are expected to be descriptions of complete technical work, whereas short papers (of up to 8 pages) can describe innovative approaches or preliminary results which may nevertheless require more work to mature. Vision papers and other position papers should be submitted as short research papers.

Page limits include references. Any appendices, if needed, can only be posted online, and the reviewers are not expected to take them into account. Vision papers and other position papers should be submitted as short research papers.

Regular papers will be peer-reviewed in a double-blind review process. Thus, the submissions must be properly anonymized.

A small selection of the best papers presented at the conference will be recommended for inclusion in a special issue of Elsevier Information Systems. These extended versions will be subject to a second round of peer review at the journal.

The Best Paper will be recognized with a certificate and a monetary prize, thanks to Springer's sponsorship.

Demonstration Papers

The organizers of SISAP 2026 cordially invite authors to submit novel and compelling demonstrations on any of our topic of interest. The demonstration submissions will be evaluated not only on novelty and academic impact but also on the interestingness and on-site impact. Other evaluation criteria will include novelty, technical advances and challenges, the overall practical attractiveness of the system.

Demonstration papers will be peer-reviewed in a single-blind review process.

The conference will provide a table, power outlet, a screen, wireless (shared) internet and a poster board. If authors have special needs (e.g., extra space, specific furniture etc.), please include all such information in the 1-page appendix and we will try to accommodate as best we can.

Accepted demonstration papers will be presented in a dedicated session during the conference. The authors of accepted demonstration papers are expected to register for the conference and present their work in person. If the presenting author of a Demonstration paper is also the presenting and registered author of an accepted SISAP research paper, then one registration will cover both presentations and no additional registration fee will be required for the Demonstration paper.

Additional Submission Guidelines:

Doctoral Symposium Papers

SISAP 2026 Doctoral Symposium provides a forum for PhD students to present their research ideas and receive feedback from senior members of the research community. The Symposium fosters a collaborative environment, encouraging constructive discussions and sharing of ideas.

The doctoral symposium papers will be peer-reviewed in a single-blind review process.

We welcome submissions from active PhD students devoted to all issues surrounding the theory, design, analysis, practice, and application of content-based and feature-based similarity search who are in the early/mid-stage of their research and are expecting to graduate in more than one year. A detailed list of possible topics of interest is here.

Submissions from students who are in the early stages of their research should provide a clear statement of the problem being addressed, and a clear outline of the planned methodology. Submissions from students who are in the mid-stage of their research should clearly state the contributions made so far, and the work lying ahead.

Additional Submission Guidelines:

A submission to the doctoral symposium consists of a paper and an additional 1-page appendix. Submissions must be single-author and written by the student alone. Bothp aper should be no longer than 6 pages plus up to 2 pages of references. Also the 1-page affilitation should be formatted according to the rules as SISAP papers.

The manuscripts should contain the statement of the problem being addressed, an outline of the planned methodology, contributions made so far, and the work lying ahead. It is anticipated that the thesis work has been published elsewhere or submitted for publication, and concurrent submission of a regular paper to SISAP with technical contributions is encouraged.

An addition to the paper, the applicants are expected to provide a 1-page Appendix describing

• A statement by the student saying why they want to attend the Doctoral Symposium, i.e., what are the desired benefits.
• A statement by their advisor saying how the student would benefit by attending the Doctoral Symposium.
• Advisors should also specifically state whether the student has written, or is close to completing, a thesis proposal (or equivalent) and when they expect the student would defend their dissertation if they progress at a typical rate.
• A list by the student of the 2 or 3 members from the SISAP Program Committee who are likely to be suitable experts to review the paper.

The file with the paper should be uploaded to the ‘Paper’ field, and the 1-page file to the ‘Additional Information’ field in the EasyChair conference management system. When submitting, please select the 'SISAP 2026 Doctoral Symposium' track.

SISAP Doctoral Symposium papers will be published as part of the main conference proceedings.

Review Process

Submissions will be reviewed by at least two members of the SISAP Program Committee, including one of the reviewers asked by the student, if possible. The review and decision of acceptance will balance several factors, including the topic and the quality of the proposal, quality of presentation, potential for future impact of the research on the field, and expected benefit to the other doctoral students attending the conference. The committee will also consider external factors, such as a diversity of backgrounds and topics. The strongest consideration will be given to the candidates with a clearly developed idea who are considered by their advisors to be working on their dissertation, and who still have time to be influenced by participation in the PhD Doctoral Symposium will receive.

Further Information

• Accepted papers will be presented during a dedicated session at SISAP 2026.
• A one-to-one discussion between a student and the reviewer in charge of the accepted paper will be organized during the conference: Either on-site if both are present on-site, or on-line if the PC member is away.
• If three or more submissions are received, the author of the best Doctoral Symposium paper will be considered to receive an award with a monetary prize.
• PhD students of the accepted Doctoral Symposium papers who register for another paper, will not be asked to pay a second registration fee.
• PhD students of the accepted Doctoral Symposium papers coming to the conference solely to present their Doctoral Symposium paper will be entitled to a student registration fee for the entire conference.

Special Sessions

Special sessions are mini-venues, each focusing on one state-of-the-art research direction as proposed by the research community. The topics are within the field of similarity search, similarity management and applications that utilise the similarity. The call for Special Session Proposals is now open!

Special session papers will supplement the regular research papers with generally the same requirements. They will be included in the same proceedings of the conference published by Springer.

Similarly, the special session papers will be peer-reviewed in a double-blind review process. Thus, the submissions must be properly anonymized.

Indexing Challenge

Within a conference, a dedicated members of the SISAP research community organize the Indexing Challenge which aims to comapare state-of-the art algorithms addresing challenging topics of the contemporary large-scale data processing.

For details, see the website dedicated to the SISAP Indexing Challenge.