Call for Papers - Research Papers

The 21st annual ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER) aims to gather high-quality contributions to the Computing Education Research discipline.

Aims and Scope

The “Research Papers” track invites submissions describing original research results related to any aspect of teaching and learning computing, from introductory through advanced material. Submissions are welcome from across the research methods used in Computing Education Research and related fields.

Each contribution will be assessed based on:

• the appropriateness and soundness of its methods
• its relevance to teaching or learning computing
• the depth of its contribution to the community’s understanding of the question at hand.

Research Areas of Particular Interest

• design-based research, learner-centered design, and evaluation of educational technology supporting computing knowledge or skills development,
• discipline based education research (DBER) about computing, computer science, and related disciplines,
• informal learning experiences related to programming and software development (all ages), ranging from after-school programs for children, to end-user development communities, to workplace training of computing professionals,
• learnability of programming languages and tools for learning programming and computing concepts,
• learning analytics and educational data mining in computing education contexts,
• learning sciences work in the computing content domain,
• measurement instrument development and validation (e.g., concept inventories, attitudes scales, etc) for use in computing disciplines,
• pedagogical environments fostering computational thinking,
• psychology of programming,
• rigorous replication of empirical work, relevant to computing education, to compare with or extend previous empirical research results,
• professional development for computing educators at all levels.

Authors are also invited to consider the calls for papers for the “Lightning Talks & Posters” and “Work-in-Progress” tracks if in doubt about the suitability of their work for this track.

Submission Instructions

• Submission System: Submit at the ICER 2025 HotCRP site.
• ACM Policies: By submitting your article, you acknowledge that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM’s new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Ensure you and your co-authors obtain an ORCID ID.
• AI Use: Use of AI for spell/grammar check is permitted. AI for images is permitted with declaration. AI for multi-sentence text generation is not permitted and may lead to desk-rejection.
• Conflicts of Interest: The SIGCSE Conflict of Interest policy applies. All conflicts must be declared.

ICER Anonymization Policy

ICER research paper submissions are reviewed using a double-anonymous process. To ensure anonymity:

• Avoid titles that clearly identify the research project.
• Remove author names and affiliations. For LaTeX, use \documentclass[manuscript,review,anonymous]{acmart}.
• Avoid self-references in citations (e.g., "In earlier work...").
• Redact identifying portions of positionality statements.
• Reference affiliations generally (e.g., "A Large Metropolitan University") instead of specifically.
• Redact other identifying information like grant details or IRB names.
• Ensure PDF export properties do not reveal author information.
• Do not cover identifying details with black boxes; remove them entirely.

Work that is not sufficiently anonymized may be desk-rejected.

Submission Format and Publication Workflow

• Submission Format: Single-column presentation using ACM TAPS workflow. Download templates from the ACM Master Article Templates page (Word or LaTeX with manuscript,review,anonymous style).
• Publication Format: ACM two-column conference PDF format via TAPS.
• LaTeX Packages: Adhere to the approved list of LaTeX packages for ACM TAPS.

Submission Length

• Up to 18 pages (excluding references) in single-column format.
• Up to 3 additional pages can be requested with justification.
• Appendices count towards the page limit.
• External materials must be anonymized.

Accessibility

Authors are strongly recommended to follow the SIGCSE list of accessibility tips to make their papers accessible.

Abstracts

Summarize the research question and findings clearly. For empirical papers, a structured abstract (Background, Objectives, Method, Findings, Implications) is recommended.

Acceptance and Conditional Acceptance

Papers are accepted or conditionally accepted. Conditionally accepted papers require minor revisions within one week, followed by approval.

Important Dates (AoE - Anywhere on Earth)

1. Titles, abstracts, and authors due: Friday, March 14th, 2025
2. Full paper submission deadline: Friday, March 21st, 2025
3. Decisions announced: Thursday, May 15th, 2025
4. “Conditional Accept” revisions due: Thursday, May 29th, 2025
5. “Conditional Accept” revisions approval notification: Thursday, June 5th, 2025
6. Final versions due to TAPS: Wednesday, June 11th, 2025
7. ICER 2025 Conference: Sunday, August 3rd through Wednesday, August 6th 2025

Contact

All questions about this call should go to the ICER 2025 program committee chairs at pc-chairs@icer.acm.org.