PoPETs Go to PETS

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is the relationship between the Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PoPETs) and the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS)?
    PoPETs is a scholarly research journal with quarterly issues in an annual volume. PETS is an annual conference during which the authors of that year’s PoPETs papers present them. The PoPETs Editorial Board is the PETS Program Committee, and the PoPETs Co-Editors-in-Chief are the PETS Program Co-Chairs. PoPETs provides high-quality journal-style reviewing and is designed to yield fast decisions and create a timely PETS program. Papers accepted for PoPETs that were submitted by the February deadline must be presented at that year's PETS.
  2. When did PETS and PoPETs start?
    PETS grew out of the Workshop on Design Issues in Anonymity and Unobservability which was held in July 2000. PETS conference proceedings before 2015 were published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science series. PoPETs began publishing papers starting with PETS 2015.
  3. How is PoPETs published?
    As of April, 2022, PoPETs is a self-published open access journal. Previously, PoPETs was published by Sciendo, part of De Gruyter.
  4. Why did PoPETs become a self-published journal?
    The strength of PETS/PoPETs relies on our community, values, and processes, not the publisher. By moving to self publication, we reduce our reliance on a contract-signing third party (which the Tor Project has generously done for PETS since 2014), simplify our publication process, and avoid exorbitant publication fees.
  5. Are PoPETs papers journal or conference publications?
    PoPETs is a fully-refereed journal. You may include PoPETs publications in the “journal publications” section of your CV, if you split out your journal and conference publications. Note that PoPETs is published only in electronic form.
  6. Does PoPETs require authors to pay article publishing charges (APCs) or article submission charges?
    No.
  7. Does PoPETs have an ISSN?
    PoPETs has been assigned ISSN 2299-0984.
  8. Is PoPETs indexed or ranked in any way?
    PETS is currently rated by CORE as an A-ranked venue, and PoPETs has been indexed by Google Scholar, DBLP, and others. Please note that there may be some delays in indexing as we transition from our prior publishing arrangement to self-publishing. PoPETs builds on the scholarly tradition initiated by PETS in July 2000. The membership of the Editorial Board and Program Committee, as well as the high-quality publications, make PoPETs a premier venue for scholarship in the area of privacy and technology.
  9. What is PoPETs's copyright policy?
    Authors retain copyright of their work. Papers are published under an open-access policy using a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license. For details see the Copyright Information and Open Access License.
  10. What is the benefit of the several deadlines per year that PoPETs provides, compared to having a traditional annual conference deadline?
    From an author's viewpoint, you can submit to the next regular deadline, whenever your results are ready. If you miss the February deadline, closest to PETS, you can still submit long before the next year's deadline. Newly accepted papers appear online at regular intervals each year. Regardless of when your paper appears, you will be invited to present your results at the subsequent PETS. From a reviewer's viewpoint, the reviewing load is spread across the year, smoothing some of the burstiness associated with a traditional annual conference. The regular deadlines keep things moving faster than the slow pace of many traditional journals.
  11. What is the reviewing timeline for PoPETs?
    PoPETs is structured with quarterly submission deadlines. Decisions are provided approximately 2 months after the deadline. If your paper receives an Accept decision, then you are expected to submit the final version by the camera-ready deadline (about six weeks after notification). If your paper receives a Revise decision, then you have the opportunity to revise the paper for up to 4 months after author notification under the supervision of an assigned revision editor. Papers that receive a Reject decision may be resubmitted to any subsequent issue. A summary of changes is required upon resubmission of papers that received a Reject decision. These resubmissions must demonstrate that the authors have made substantial modifications to warrant a resubmission.
  12. What is the cutoff date for making the upcoming PETS (i.e. the conference)?
    The February deadline is the latest that allows for a paper to appear at the same year's PETS. Submissions for later deadlines appear at the following year's conference. Of course, accepted papers appear online as soon as the regular journal publication occurs.
  13. We would like to submit a paper based on something previously published elsewhere (e.g., in a computer science workshop). Is that OK?
    A paper submitted to PoPETs must present original work not described in any prior publication that is more than 4 double-column ACM conference-style pages in length. A prior publication is a paper that has been accepted for presentation at a refereed conference or workshop with proceedings, or an article that has been accepted for publication in a refereed journal. If a PoPETs submission has overlap with a prior publication, the submission must cite the prior publication, along with all other relevant published work, even if this prior publication is at or below the 4-page length threshold.
  14. If PoPETs is a journal, can I still publish extended versions of PoPETs papers in traditional journals?
    This depends on the particular journal's policies about overlap with prior published work and the additional contributions of the extended version. Some journals have a “25% new content rule” whereas other journals require previously unpublished work. Authors of extended versions should consult the submission guidelines for other journals.
  15. What is the benefit of the journal-style reviewing of PoPETs, compared to traditional computer science conference reviewing?
    Many good papers have some technical shortcomings that prevent them from being accepted for conferences when submitted the first time. Some computer science conferences offer an author-reply phase during which can authors can clarify misunderstandings, but it is limited regarding both the length and detail of the reply and the time for addressing reviewers' concerns. When a conference like PETS occurs only once a year, it seems a shame to potentially have authors wait an entire year to get another shot at publication. The regular deadlines for PoPETs help bring these papers into publication faster. Furthermore, when resubmitting an improved paper to a new conference, you are usually faced with a new set of reviewers who may raise different concerns. In contrast, the journal-style reviewing of PoPETs allows for revision of your work within a reasonable timeframe and the opportunity for a consistent technical dialog between the author and reviewers across manuscript revisions.
  16. Who will review my paper?
    Generally speaking, every paper will be subject to double-blind review by multiple members of the PoPETs Editorial Board. Papers are usually reviewed by 3–4 members before being accepted. We also seek external reviewers to provide needed expertise, but Editorial Board members do the bulk of the reviewing. In this respect, PoPETs acts more like some computer science conferences and less like a journal. It also helps us keep the process running on schedule.
  17. Does PoPETs provide editorial or other production support for authors?
    PoPETs ultimately expects its authors to submit camera-ready manuscripts. Authors who need professional copy-editing or other production services should seek outside assistance before submitting to PoPETs.
  18. How does governance for PETS and PoPETs function?
    The PET Board is responsible for guiding PETS, including PoPETs, by selecting each year's General Chair and the Program Co-Chairs (who also serve as the PoPETs Co-Editors-in-Chief), as well as overseeing the operations of both the symposium and the journal. The Co-Editors-in-Chief have the primary responsibility for their issues of PoPETs and the program of PETS.
  19. How does PoPETs compare to other hybrid journal/conferences like JETS and PVLDB?
    This FAQ was borrowed and modified from the PVLDB and JETS FAQs, and the structure of PoPETs borrows liberally from PVLDB and JETS. PVLDB accepts submissions on a monthly basis whereas JETS has less frequent but regular deadlines. PoPETs has regular quarterly deadlines.
  20. Do I need to present my paper in person at the PETS symposium?
    A PETS acceptance requires that the paper be presented in person at the symposium. At least one author of each accepted paper should plan to attend PETS and give the presentation. The continued success of PETS depends on fostering a community and providing a venue for in-person discussion with authors. Travel support may be available for authors that need financial assistance to attend and present their work.
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