Communications of the ACM (CACM) is the leading online and print magazine for computing and information technology professionals. CACM is widely recognized as a trusted and knowledgeable source of news, opinions, research, technology, and public policy information for scientists and practitioners. For over 60 years, it has provided the highest-quality information written by and intended for computing professionals in industry and academia.
CACM welcomes submissions that address topics of relevance and professional value to CACM‘s very broad-based readership. Authors should strive to consider the diverse backgrounds of CACM readers. Please keep in mind that most readers are not experts in your discipline but are reading your article in CACM to gain a broad perspective on computing practice and research. Unlike conference papers and journal articles, CACM articles should focus on the larger picture, not details, and provide adequate context to understand the techniques and results.
These Author Guidelines provide information on the mechanical aspects of submitting your article.
CACM has gone web-first with the website. Accepted articles will appear first on the website, and many will eventually appear in the print magazine. When an article appears online, it will have a DOI and be considered published in CACM. In addition, online articles can offer richer media options, such as attached videos, appendices, and even links to running software.
CACM Editorial Structure
CACM comprises five editorial sections: Opinion, Research and Advances, Practice, Research Highlights, and News. In addition, it publishes Letters to the Editor and a section called Last Byte.
To ensure a high degree of rigor and quality, an editorial board led by the CACM Editor-in-Chief (EiC) oversees content selection. While the selection and editorial criteria vary by section, the board is responsible for maintaining a consistently high quality in all sections.
Submissions
CACM welcomes unsolicited submissions for some of its editorial sections. Submissions should address topics of relevance and professional value. Articles should provide a broad perspective on computing practice and research that appeals to a large segment of CACM‘s readership. They reach a very diverse and technical audience in the general computing and information technology community. Narrow articles or those that cannot be explained without substantial subject matter expertise belong in other, more specialized journals.
Submissions are peer-reviewed to ensure the highest quality. The Editorial Board and EiC review all submissions and reserve the right to accept or reject any submissions at their discretion.
These articles have a length limit. Authors should use an acmsmall template (Word or LaTeX). Formatted this way, manuscripts should not exceed a section’s page limit when formatted single-spaced, including tables, graphics, and figures (these elements are strongly encouraged to improve readability). References are not included in the page limit; however, they are limited in quantity and should be ordered alphabetically by the author’s last name and first initial. The text must cite all listed references. More preparation details are below.
Please submit all articles at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cacm. Submissions to this section require the following:
- Title and complete author list.
- Abstract.
- Statement explaining why the material would interest the computing field and is valuable to a CACM reader.
- Optionally, recognized experts’ names and email addresses who are appropriate to review the submission.
Opinion
The Opinion section presents commentary on issues of broad interest to the computing community. These issues may be nontechnical. Controversial issues are welcome and will be dealt with fairly. Authors are encouraged to submit carefully reasoned “Opinion” pieces in which facts or principled arguments substantiate their positions.
Opinion submissions should be no more than four pages, single column, single-spaced. The number of references is limited to 10 or fewer.
Research and Advances
Research and Advances articles present innovative ideas across the broad spectrum of computing—its open challenges, technical visions and perspectives, educational aspects, societal impact, significant applications, and research results of importance and broad interest.
A Research and Advances article should set the context, provide introductory references, define fundamental concepts, compare alternate approaches, and explain the significance or application of a particular technology or result through well-reasoned text and pertinent graphical material. The use of sidebars to illustrate significant points is encouraged.
Research and Advances submissions should be no more than eight pages, single-column, single-spaced. The number of references is limited to 40 or fewer.
Practice
CACM‘s Practice section targets professionals in the technology industry with an emphasis on software development. Articles published in this section frame and define technical problems and future challenges while helping readers sharpen their thinking and ability to pursue innovative solutions. Practice does not focus on industry news or the latest solutions. Instead, Practice articles explore disruptive technologies that are on the verge of breaking through. This section highlights problems that are likely to arise, poses questions that software developers should consider while dissecting industry issues that matter most, and examines the challenges faced by software architects, project leaders, IT managers, and corporate decision-makers. Submissions to this section are by invitation.
Research Highlights
Research Highlights provides readers with outstanding research articles selected from a broad range of computing-research conference publications. Articles are first nominated by Editorial Board members or approved nominating organizations and are then subject to final selection by the CACM Editorial Board. The Editorial Board invites authors to submit their articles, which must be rewritten and expanded in scope to be appropriate for the broad CACM readership.
It is important to note that publication in CACM, a computing-technology and science magazine, does not conflict with publication in archival journals. Articles in archival journals are typically expanded versions of conference publications. At the same time, CACM can publish a different, shorter, and higher-level version of an article for a larger audience.
Research Highlights articles should consist of no more than eight pages formatted with the CACM Research Highlights Template (a link to which is sent to authors upon invitation) and contain at most 25 references.
Each Research Highlights article is preceded by a one-page (700-800 words) Technical Perspective. This summary essay provides readers with an overview of the underlying motivation, the important ideas of the featured Research Highlight, and its scientific and practical significance. The Editorial Board invites noted experts in the field to write these Perspectives.
News
News publishes brief updates and in-depth articles (up to 2,000 words) on computing, information technology, and technology-related public policy topics and international news. News employs full-time professional science and technology writers and a network of freelance writers to supply current news about computing and related topics for publication in online and print magazines.
If you are a professional science or technology writer and would like to pitch a story to appear in Communications, contact news@cacm.acm.org. Otherwise, if you have an idea for a news article on a topic you believe would interest the computing community, please send a brief email to this address.
Guest posts and marketing and/or promotional content will not be considered for the Communications News section.
BLOG@CACM
The BLOG@CACM section accepts first-person submissions from an international community of bloggers on issues of importance to the computing community. Please recommend a blogger or blog topic or volunteer as a contributor at blog@cacm.acm.org.
Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor can comment on articles published in the print or online CACM. Submitted letters should not exceed 500 words and must include the contributor’s name, email address, and postal address. Due to limited space, CACM cannot publish all submitted letters. Preference will be given to responses that start new discussions, add significant new points to prior discussions, or are highly time-sensitive. Send letters to letters@cacm.acm.org.
Last Byte
Last Byte consists of lighter fare such as Q&As, futurist articles dealing with computing, and mathematical puzzles for those who like a good challenge. If you have an idea for a one-time or regular Last Byte contribution that might be appropriate for the computing community, please email LastByte@cacm.acm.org.
Manuscript Preparation
The preferred file type for submitted manuscripts is Word or LaTeX, but PDF is also acceptable. These templates do not produce camera-ready copy but enable us to judge the length of submissions. The required template is acmsmall, and all submissions should be single-spaced and single-column. All accepted material is heavily edited and copyedited before appearing. More details on preparing a manuscript are online at https://www.acm.org/publications/authors/submissions.
All files should reflect the following guidelines:
- Headlines: Article titles should be inviting and manageable. Use six or seven words at most, and avoid colons if possible.
- References: Submissions should include references to previous work at the end of the article (see the appropriate section for citation limits). References must be ordered alphabetically by last name, first initial, and numbered. All references must be referred to in the text by their corresponding number.
- Artwork: Clear sketches and accurate graphs are sufficient for initial submissions. Upon acceptance of an article, authors will receive instructions on how to submit the final artwork. Any artwork derived from sources other than the author’s work must have an appropriate letter of permission and source citation. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain such copyright permission and credit wording.
Accepted Submissions
Upon acceptance, CACM editors provide authors with further information about final electronic submissions. When an article is scheduled for publication, CACM contacts its lead author.
When scheduled, CACM editors edit the article for substance and presentation. All articles are copyedited to conform to The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press) and CACM‘s house style.
Authors should provide concise captions for all accompanying figures and tables.
Articles published in the print CACM magazine will run in a two-column or three-column format. Therefore, authors must ensure that any programming code or equations included in the manuscript have correct line breaks, indentations, and punctuation. Code over 35 characters wide will be pulled from the text and reset as a figure, in which case a figure caption is necessary.
Supporting Online Material
Informational resources for online-only presentation of articles are welcome in every CACM editorial section. These materials may include but are not limited to additional tables; figures; URLs for online references; video files; audio files; a list of print references; presentations; and other related materials and links. Information regarding the submission of this material is available upon article acceptance.
ACM Policies
Articles submitted simultaneously to other magazines or journals will be declined outright and not reconsidered. Authors should review the ACM Information for Authors (https://www.acm.org/publications/authors/information-for-authors) before submitting material to CACM. In particular, it is essential also to understand ACM Author Rights and Responsibilities (https://authors.acm.org/author-resources/author-rights).
Only people who contributed significantly to an article’s content should be listed in the byline as “authors.” Other contributors can be noted in a brief acknowledgment. Please see ACM’s policy for more details on what qualifies as authorship.
Author Checklist
Before submitting your article, please ensure that it meets the following guidelines:
Who is the audience? CACM‘s readership is broad and diverse. Everyone will not read your article, but it must interest a significant segment of CACM readers. Both the topic and presentation must be appropriate. Conference and journal articles generally speak to a community of experts and do not offer the background and motivation required by CACM.
What is the novelty? We are looking for articles that attract a reader’s attention and interest. The 100th article on ChatGPT faces a very high bar to say something new and different.
Is the result general? A description of a single use case or the measurements of a small sample group may indicate a significant result, but CACM wants strong evidence of generality and utility before putting it in front of the CS community.
Are the technical details present? Our readership is the CS community. They want to know how things work and the details of related work.
Did you follow the guidelines? Articles that are too long or missing required aspects will be rejected quickly.
If the answer to these questions is no, please revise before submitting. Editors’ and reviewers’ time is valuable and better spent suggesting improvements than rejecting articles.