Track Chair Guideline Pack

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At Emerging Tech Conference (ETC2027), Track Chairs (TCs) also serve for improved efficiency and accountability as Program Chairs for their respective tracks, holding full responsibility for both managing the review process and making final acceptance decisions. In this dual role, they oversee reviewer assignment, evaluate review quality, resolve conflicts, and ultimately determine which papers are accepted into the program. All decisions must align with the quality and ethical standards expected of conferences associated with IEEE.

TCs are responsible for assigning submissions to suitably qualified reviewers, primarily from the Technical Program Committee. Assignments must be based on subject expertise, methodological fit, and the absence of conflicts of interest. Where necessary, TCs may recruit external reviewers to ensure each paper is evaluated by individuals with appropriate domain knowledge.

TCs must actively monitor the quality and completeness of reviews. Reviews that are superficial, lack justification, or demonstrate bias should not be relied upon as the sole basis for decisions. In such cases, TCs should request clarification, seek revised reviews, or assign additional reviewers to ensure that each decision is supported by rigorous and balanced evaluation.

As final decision-makers, TCs must ensure consistency across all accepted and rejected papers within their track. Papers of comparable quality should receive comparable outcomes, regardless of reviewer variability. This requires calibration across submissions, with TCs applying their own judgment to normalize differences in reviewer scoring standards.

When reviewer opinions diverge significantly, TCs must critically assess the reasoning behind each review rather than relying on numerical scores alone. Greater weight should be given to well-argued and technically sound evaluations. Where uncertainty remains, an additional expert review may be solicited before a final decision is made.

TCs make final acceptance decisions. Papers selected for acceptance must meet the minimum quality threshold required for inclusion in IEEE Xplore. Submissions with significant methodological flaws, weak contributions, or poor clarity should not be accepted unless substantial and verifiable improvements are achievable within the revision process.

In making final decisions, TCs may consider program-level factors such as thematic balance, emerging topics, and session coherence. However, such considerations must not override minimum quality standards. Borderline papers should only be accepted if they meet baseline academic rigor and contribute meaningfully to the track.

TCs are responsible for identifying and addressing ethical issues, including plagiarism, duplicate submissions, and conflicts of interest, in accordance with the standards of IEEE. All concerns must be handled confidentially and, where necessary, escalated to the overall conference leadership.

TCs are responsible for communicating final decisions to authors. Decision letters must clearly reflect the rationale for acceptance or rejection and synthesize reviewer feedback into coherent guidance. Feedback should be constructive, professional, and aligned with the conference’s academic standards.

For conditionally accepted papers, TCs oversee the revision process and determine whether reviewer concerns have been adequately addressed. Only papers that meet required standards after revision should be confirmed for inclusion in the final program and proceedings submitted to IEEE Xplore.

TCs are accountable for ensuring that all stages of the review and decision process are completed on schedule. This includes timely reviewer assignment, monitoring progress, issuing reminders, and finalizing decisions within deadlines. Effective process management is critical to maintaining the integrity and timeline of the conference.

All aspects of the review and decision process must be treated as strictly confidential. TCs must exercise impartial judgment, avoid conflicts of interest, and uphold the highest standards of professionalism. In their combined role as Track and Program Chairs, they are directly responsible for maintaining the credibility and academic quality of ETC2027 in line with IEEE expectations.