Improving the Computer Architecture Conference Review Process
Blog by the TCCA EC Members who Voted Against the Revised R2 Proposal
A joint statement about recent events
SIGARCH, SIGMICRO, TCCA and TCuARCH join together to express our denunciation of racism and to stand together, particularly in support of African American members of our community, as representatives of our research community. Together, we mourn the innocent Black lives violently taken recently, without cause, including but not limited to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.
We recognize that recent events have led to stress, fear and righteous indignation—especially for Black members of our community and for all of us. The values and truths we all hold dear and defend were violated by the torture and killing of an innocent person, a human being, in broad daylight and in front of numerous witnesses by law enforcement, captured on video for all to see and detest. We understand that it is difficult to carry on with business as usual, and we respect time away from professional commitments taken by individuals to deal with these events and the mental load/toll these events are having.
These are indeed dark and difficult days made worse by the isolation we are currently experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we cannot express our distress, empathy, and support in person, we hope that our members find support and comfort in knowing that we as a community stand in solidarity with this moral movement against racism and social injustices.
It is the goal of our SIGs and TCs to support all members of our community in their professional pursuits. With this message, we reaffirm that discrimination and harassment have no place at our events or on our online platforms. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive community that allows all of our members to thrive and breathe.
We hope no one will ever experience racism at one of our sponsored events. But if this happens, please know that CARES members and senior leadership are available assist you. Let’s remain hopeful and act, together.
June 5, 2020
Dear members of the computer architecture community,
The ACM SIGARCH and IEEE TCCA Executive Committees, and the ISCA Steering Committee express their deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Huixiang Chen, a doctoral student at the University of Florida who recently passed away. It is our understanding that the University of Florida administration is currently investigating this case. ACM SIGARCH and IEEE TCCA will follow our respective processes to assist with this investigation.
IEEE TCCA has recently launched the TCCA Student Advocates initiative to provide help and advice to students who are experiencing difficulties (tcca-chair@computer.org). In response to this tragic event, ACM SIGARCH is working into broadening CARES (sigarch.org/benefit/cares) to include support beyond discrimination and harassment. To the student members of our community who need support we encourage you to reach out where you feel comfortable. To all members, please contact the SIGARCH Chair (chair_sigarch@acm.org) or the TCCA Chair (tcca-chair@computer.org) for any questions, concerns or feedback.
ACM SIGARCH & TCCA Chairs
Babak Falsafi & Josep Torrellas
Feb 15, 2020
Dear members of the computer architecture community,
In light of the recent tragedy of a PhD student’s death, we hereby inform the community that there is an ongoing investigation into the alleged reviewing irregularities surrounding the event. The investigation was launched by IEEE TCCA and ACM SIGARCH, in cooperation with IEEE and ACM.
The ACM SIGARCH and IEEE TCCA Executive Committees hold members of our community to the highest standards of ethics, and assure our members that the integrity of our publication procedures is of utmost importance to us.
ACM SIGARCH & TCCA Chairs
Babak Falsafi & Josep Torrellas
Feb 15, 2020
Dear members of the computer architecture community,
The jointly appointed committee of the IEEE Computer Society TCCA and ACM SIGARCH has concluded its investigation into the peer review process of ISCA 2019. This investigation was undertaken because of anonymous emails distributed broadly within the computer architecture community, related to an accepted conference paper. The committee which conducted the investigation included members from the IEEE Computer Society TCCA and ACM SIGARCH, as well as members of the ISCA Program Committee.
The committee evaluated whether the paper in question was reviewed according to the established conference guidelines and the review practices of maintaining double blindness, without any contacts from the outside or discussions outside the review process. The committee has determined that there was no evidence of misconduct as part of the paper review process.
While there was no evidence of improper action found during the peer review process investigation, we are assessing current processes to improve them for the future.
ACM SIGARCH & TCCA Chairs
Babak Falsafi & Josep Torrellas
Feb 15, 2020
Dear members of the computer architecture community,
We recently communicated an announcement about an ACM SIGARCH / IEEE TCCA jointly-appointed committee investigating the review process related to an accepted ISCA’19 paper. In this announcement, we would like to provide further information about how the investigation was conducted:
- 1. The investigation process, the questions the reviewers of the paper were asked, and the preparation of the report were each conducted by a committee that was established in consultation with leadership and ethics committee members from IEEE and ACM. The investigation process, the questions, and the participants in the investigation were reviewed and approved by the IEEE leadership in consultation with IEEE TCCA and ACM SIGARCH. At least one lawyer from the societies provided advice in the process.
- 2. The investigating committee was composed of two leading members of the ISCA’19 Program Committee and two senior members of our community who were neither in the ISCA 2019 Program Committee nor part of the ISCA Steering Committee. No member of the committee had reviewed the paper under investigation during the peer review process. As per the societies’ publications policy, the names of any and all participants involved in the investigation must remain anonymous.
- 3. The investigation involved interviewing ISCA’19 Program Committee members. In all interviews conducted for the investigation, the ACM and IEEE representatives had an opportunity to ask additional questions and ensure that all questions, interviews, and interview summaries were handled fairly and without bias.
- 4. The investigation did not include any segments involving Program Committee members from ISCA’19 without additional oversight present from the IEEE and ACM representatives of the committee.
- 5. The investigation was not a self-investigation. Throughout the investigation, ACM and IEEE representatives participated.
If you have further questions about ACM’s or IEEE’s involvement in the investigation, please contact Scott Delman (ACM’s Director of Publications at scott.delman@hq.acm.org) and Melissa Russell (IEEE Computer Society’s Executive Director, at m.a.russell@computer.org) respectively.
ACM SIGARCH & TCCA Chairs
Babak Falsafi & Josep Torrellas
Feb 15, 2020