Frequently Asked Questions

Can I submit both a paper and a poster?

Only if they are different projects. Submissions based on the same work should be made to only one track. The paper track is for original work that is not simultaneously submitted elsewhere, while the poster track is more flexible and can accommodate work that is under consideration elsewhere.

Is there a cap on the number of papers one person can submit?

There is no formal cap on the number of submissions per individual. However, the conference may act against submissions that appear abusive or intended to game the review process.

Can I serve as a reviewer and also submit a paper?

Yes. STAI-X uses double-blind review, so reviewers do not know author identities and authors do not know reviewer identities during the review process.

My paper is under review at a journal or another conference. Can I submit it to the paper track?

No. Per STAI-X's dual submission policy, paper submissions must be original and may not be under concurrent review at another journal or conference. Preprint posting is allowed.

Can work under review elsewhere be submitted as a poster?

Yes. Poster submissions are long abstracts, and parallel submissions to other journals or conferences are permitted. Accepted poster submissions are eligible for poster presentations, lightning talks, and stellar abstract awards.

Will work that is under review elsewhere be considered for partner-journal fast-track review?

Partner-journal fast-track consideration only applies to eligible accepted papers to STAI-X. Submitting work that is already under review elsewhere is a violation of the STAI-X dual submission policy, even if the work is intended for fast-track consideration by the same journal.

When will authors be notified about partner-journal invitations of fast-track reviews?

The notification timeline depends on the journal. After paper acceptance by STAI-X, authors will be asked to indicate their partner-journal preferences, after receiving the fast track review timeline and guidance for authors from the participating journals at that stage. A limited subset of top-ranked accepted papers may receive fast-track journal invitations.

If a paper is accepted by the conference but not selected by a partner journal, will it still be published in the proceedings?

Yes. Papers accepted by the conference will be published in the STAI-X Proceedings unless withdrawn by the authors before the camera ready deadline.

How does STAI-X partner with journals?

A limited subset of STAI-X accepted papers will be invited for fast-track review opportunities by partner journals. STAI-X's current partner journals include Journal of the American Statistical Association (JASA); Annals of Applied Statistics (AoAS), Canadian Journal of Statistics, Harvard Data Science Review (HDSR), ASA Discoveries, ASA Data Science in Science, ASA Statistics and Data Science in Imaging, and Genome Research, Genetics. After conference paper acceptance by STAI-X, authors will be asked to indicate their preferred partner journal for consideration of publishing an expanded version of their work. Guidance for authors of accepted papers, including information on the journal's fast-track review process and selection criteria such as topic preference and the number of invited papers, will be provided to authors to help them choose appropriate journals.

Editors of each partner journal will select and invite a few well-aligned and top-ranked accepted papers for submitting expanded versions for fast-track reviews, among those papers that have indicated a preference for the given journal. Journals will ask authors of selected papers to prepare a substantially expanded journal version. Specific journals may have specific additional requirements, in addition to expanding the conference version, for example, by including: stronger motivation and positioning, additional methodological details or theory when needed, more comprehensive experiments or data analysis, and a clearer discussion of scientific or practical impact. Journal review processes will be handled by the respective journals independently, and acceptance is not guaranteed.

After the invitation, authors will decide whether or not to submit their paper to the journal. Certain partner journals may request authors to withdraw from publishing in the STAI-X proceedings before submitting their papers for fast-track consideration. All accepted papers will be published in the STAI-X Proceedings unless the authors withdraw their submissions before the camera-ready deadline.

How will the papers be reviewed?

In the paper track, each paper will be reviewed by at least two reviewers. As part of our efforts to improve the consistency, transparency, and efficiency of the review process, authorized AI tools may be used to improve review quality of the submissions that have already been made publicly available by the authors (e.g., arXiv, bioRxiv) or, at a later stage, camera-ready manuscripts of accepted papers. These systems are designed to (i) assist reviewers by providing structured feedback on their review reports and (ii) generate reproducibility reports that assess submitted code and its consistency with the manuscript for all accepted papers.

The automated AI-assisted feedback provided to reviewers does not introduce new substantive content and is intended to support, rather than replace, human judgment. Reviewers remain fully responsible for their evaluations, and all decisions are made by the program committee. The goal of these tools is to reduce time spent on routine or labor-intensive checks, allowing reviewers to focus more directly on the intellectual contributions and significance of the work. For accepted papers, the AI-assisted reproducibility report will be shared with all authors, who will have the opportunity to revise their manuscripts accordingly.

How does STAI-X partner with professional organizations and journals?

STAI-X actively collaborates with partner organizations and journals, with representatives of partner organizations and journals serving program committee members and area chairs. Editorial representatives of partner journals serve on the program committee. The top accepted papers have an opportunity to be invited for fast-track reviews by partner journals. STAI-X also works with partner organizations to promote accepted papers through their networks, amplifying the reach and engagement of the published papers across disciplines to help authors disseminate their published work.

What is the deadline for submitting the expanded manuscript to a partner journal after receiving an invitation?

There is no single STAI-X-wide deadline. Different journals may have different policies. For authors invited to submit an expanded version to a partner journal, the corresponding journal will provide the expansion deadline at that stage.

If authors receive an invitation from a partner journal, can they decline the invitation and still publish in the PMLR proceedings?

Yes. Authors have full discretion to decide whether to proceed with the partner journal option or remain in the STAI-X/PMLR proceedings. They should inform STAI-X before the camera-ready deadline of July 15, 2026.

Does merely receiving a journal invitation require withdrawing from the proceedings?

No. Receiving a journal invitation does not itself require withdrawal from the proceedings. Authors may decline the journal invitation and remain in the proceedings, provided they communicate their decision before the July 15 camera-ready deadline.

If authors accept a partner journal invitation, withdraw from the proceedings, and are later rejected by the journal, can they return to the proceedings?

Practically, no after the camera-ready deadline. STAI-X maintains the proceedings offer only until the camera-ready submission deadline, currently July 15, 2026. Since full journal review will extend beyond that deadline, returning to the proceedings after journal rejection would be incompatible with the proceedings timeline.

If a paper selects one journal but is not invited by that journal, will it automatically be considered by other journals or receive a second-choice option?

Not guaranteed. At this stage, STAI-X can only commit to one journal choice per paper. The organizers may consider a second-choice process if many papers are not selected by their target journals and some journals receive too few choices, but this is not guaranteed because of process-management constraints.

If a paper is not invited by the journal selected by its authors, will it be published in the proceedings?

Yes, in that case, the paper will be published through the regular proceedings route.

Does opting out of the proceedings for a partner journal prevent the paper from being presented at STAI-X?

No. Opting out of proceedings publication does not preclude oral or poster presentation at the conference.

Can journal editors provide an indication of acceptance likelihood before authors withdraw from the proceedings?

No.

Will partner journals use the existing STAI-X OpenReview reviews as initial peer-review input?

Authors are welcome to provide these reviews. However, it is at the discretion of the journals about how they will use them.

What happens if an award or oral-selected paper accepts a journal invitation and therefore withdraws from the proceedings?

In order to allow for authors to submit to journals, this is a possibility that we need to accept.

What is the camera-ready deadline for papers that remain in the proceedings?

The camera-ready PDF deadline is July 15, 2026 AOE, corresponding to 7:59 AM EDT on July 16, 2026. Camera-ready papers will be published in Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, Volume 335.

Should the final camera-ready version be uploaded by updating the existing OpenReview submission, or should it be submitted by email?

It should be uploaded to OpenReview.

Should authors use \usepackage[final]{staix_2026} or \usepackage[preprint]{staix_2026} for the final layout?

\usepackage[final]{staix_2026}

May authors include a non-anonymized public GitHub repository link in the final camera-ready paper?

Yes.

May authors host the final camera-ready PDF on GitHub project repositories or personal websites?

Yes.

What are the presentation confirmation and registration deadlines?

Authors must accept the presentation invitation by June 19, 2026, and at least one presenting author must register by July 1, 2026. Papers without a registered presenting author by July 1 may be removed from the conference presentation program.

When will oral presentation selections be announced?

June 20, 2026.

What size are the poster boards?

The poster boards are 8'×4' (96''×48'', or 243 cm×121 cm). The poster can be any size smaller than this. For example, if the poster has a landscape orientation, then almost every standard poster size can fit. If the poster has a portrait orientation, it is recommended that the height is smaller than 48''. Magnetic solutions will be provided to adhere the poster onto the board.

Is remote or virtual poster presentation available?

Not currently. At the moment, STAI-X does not offer remote presentation options. If such an option is opened later, the organizers will notify authors.

Is STAI-X offering discounted registration?

No.