NSDI '26 Call for Papers

The 23rd USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation (NSDI '26) will be held on May 4–6, 2026, in Renton, WA, USA.

Sponsored by USENIX, the Advanced Computing Systems Association.

Important Dates

Spring deadline:

• Paper titles and abstracts due: Friday, April 18, 2025, 11:59 pm US PDT
• Full paper submissions due: Friday, April 25, 2025, 11:59 pm US PDT
• Notification to authors: Thursday, July 24, 2025
• Final paper files due: Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Fall deadline:

• Paper titles and abstracts due: Thursday, September 11, 2025, 11:59 pm US PDT
• Full paper submissions due: Thursday, September 18, 2025, 11:59 pm US PDT
• Notification to authors: Tuesday, December 9, 2025
• Final paper files due: Thursday, March 5, 2026

Overview

NSDI focuses on the design principles, implementation, and practical evaluation of networked and distributed systems. Our goal is to bring together researchers from across the networking and systems community to foster a broad approach to addressing overlapping research challenges. NSDI provides a high-quality forum for presenting results and discussing ideas that further the knowledge and understanding of the networked systems community as a whole, continue a significant research dialog, or push the architectural boundaries of network services.

Topics

NSDI invites any innovative solution for a significant problem involving networked systems, including topics from within the following list:

• Highly available and reliable networked systems
• Security and privacy of networked systems
• Distributed storage, caching, and query processing systems
• Sustainable, low-energy, and low-carbon networked systems
• Cloud/multi-tenant systems
• Mobile and embedded/sensor applications and systems
• Systems aspects of networking hardware and physical layer communication technologies
• Network and workload measurement systems
• Self-organizing, autonomous, and federated networked systems
• Managing, debugging, and diagnosing problems in networked systems
• Virtualization and resource management for networked systems
• Experience with deployed networked systems
• Networked systems for big data
• Testing and/or verification applied to networked systems
• Networked systems for machine learning (ML) and ML for networked systems

Papers with no clear contributions to the design of systems or the networking stack will be considered out of scope.

Excluded Topics

The NSDI Steering Committee has identified a list of topics that are explicitly excluded from upcoming NSDI symposia. Papers whose core contributions are on the following topics are likely to be rejected for reasons of scope:

• Physical layer contributions: beamforming, modulation techniques, communication through unconventional mediums (capacitative, inductive, acoustic)
• Sensing and localization contributions: gesture sensing, environment mapping, remote sensing
• Architecture contributions: voltage scaling, GPU resource scheduling, hardware level fault tolerance
• User interface contributions

Submission Process & One-Shot Revision

• Two Deadlines: NSDI '26 offers authors the choice of two submission deadlines (Spring and Fall).
• One-Shot Revision: Each paper may be accepted, rejected, or given the option of one-shot revision. Such a revision decision includes a summary of the paper's merits and a list of necessary changes. Authors may then submit a version addressing all revision instructions during the subsequent deadline. This revised paper will be reviewed primarily to judge if it addresses the requested changes. Papers revised and resubmitted following a one-shot-revision decision can only receive a decision of accept or reject, not revise.
• Concurrent Submission: Papers must not be submitted concurrently to other venues. USENIX prohibits simultaneous submission of the same work to multiple venues.
• Resubmission Policy: Papers rejected from one deadline cannot be submitted to the immediate next deadline.
• Workshop Paper Extensions: Work extending a previous workshop paper is welcome but must acknowledge prior publication anonymously and explain the differences.

Operational Systems Track

NSDI '26 also solicits papers describing the design, implementation, analysis, and experience with large-scale, operational systems and networks. These papers need not present new ideas but should validate techniques at scale or in new environments.

• Reviewing: Papers in this track will be reviewed in a more limited double-blind process. Authors' names should be withheld, but company names, links, and real system names can be kept as appropriate.
• Indication: Authors should indicate on the title page and submission form that they are submitting to this track.

What to Submit

• Double-blind review: Authors must make a good faith effort to anonymize papers by removing authors' names and affiliations, acknowledgments of funding sources, and avoiding self-identifying references. Care should be taken with file names.
• Page Limit: Submissions must be no longer than 12 pages, including footnotes, figures, and tables. Additional pages are allowed for references and supplementary material in appendices.
• Format: Two-column format, 10-point type on 12-point leading, text block 7" wide x 9" deep, .33" inter-column space, formatted for 8.5" x 11" paper.
• Submission Method: All papers must be submitted via the submission form: https://nsdi26spring.usenix.hotcrp.com/

On the Use of Generative AI

Authors must not submit papers generated entirely by generative AI. A statement attesting that their paper is not completely created by generative AI must be submitted as part of the submission process.

Policies

• Simultaneous Submissions: Prohibited.
• Extensions on Workshop Papers: Acceptable if the NSDI submission includes substantial new material. Must acknowledge prior publication anonymously and explain differences.
• Online Technical Reports: Allowed if authors use a different title and system name than the technical report to avoid reviewer bias.

Conflicts

At submission time, authors must provide information about conflicts with PC members based on Institution, Advisor, or Collaboration within the past two years.

Ethical Considerations

Papers describing experiments with users or user data must follow ethical research principles (beneficence, minimal risk, voluntary consent, respect for privacy, limited deception). Authors are encouraged to include a subsection on these issues and must attest that their work complies with all applicable ethical standards of their institution(s).

Processes for Accepted Papers

• Visa Invitation Letters: Contact conference@usenix.org for assistance.
• Shepherding: Accepted papers will be shepherded through an editorial review process.
• Registration Hardship: Contact conference@usenix.org if registration fees pose a hardship.
• Paper Availability: Papers will be available online to registered attendees before the conference and to everyone on the first day. Embargo requests can be sent to production@usenix.org.

Awards

• Best Paper Awards: Given for the best paper(s).
• Community Award: For the best paper whose code and/or data set is made publicly available.