| Archive | Location | Acceptance Rate (Accepted/Submitted) |
|---|---|---|
| CHI ’21 | Online | 747/2845 = 26.3% |
| CHI ’20 | Honolulu, Hawaii (moved to fully virtual) | 760/3126 = 24.3% |
| CHI ’19 | Glasgow, UK | 703/2958 = 23.8% |
| CHI ’18 | Montreal, QC, CA | 666/2592 = 25.7% |
CHI trust and transparency in one community
As Papers Chairs, it is our mission to develop an engaging CHI program that will appeal to participants with a variety of interests. Although it is an honor for us, the Papers Chairs, to take on this responsibility, there are challenges involved. We hope that by making the decision-making process transparent, our CHI community (authors, reviewers, Subcommittee Chairs – SCs, and Associate Chairs – ACs) can develop a sense of trust and understanding.
Size and Diversity of CHI
The main conference location for all SIGCHI specialized conferences and various topics with Human-Computer Interaction research is ACM SIGCHI. The subcommittee structure (detailed below) is a way to divide the evaluation of papers into topic areas and disciplines due to the abundance of papers and variety of topics at CHI, allowing papers to be judged by appropriate experts in the respective fields. Even these subcommittees occasionally grow to the point where they must be divided into two (or even three) groups (splits), thereby minimizing the number of papers that must be discussed in each subcommittee during the PC meeting. In particular, we strive to limit the number of papers per subcommittee to 200 papers. We had 16 different subcommittees for CHI2021, of which five were further divided into splits.
As Papers Chairs (PCs), it is our duty to make SIGCHI more cohesive than its 21 separate sub conferences. We accomplish this by carefully selecting suitable subcommittee chairs (SCs), who in turn choose the associate chairs (ACs) who will represent their constituents. Our role also entails responding to specific inquiries from authors, SCs, and ACs, as well as informing all SCs of the results so they can cooperate.
The selection of Subcommittee Chairs (SCs) takes into account each candidate’s academic standing, professional background, involvement in previous SIGCHI (and other) conferences’ paper reviews, and capacity to facilitate fair discussions of papers. We believe the SCs will be impartial and fair in evaluating the papers and choosing their Associate Chairs (ACs). Each pair of SCs chooses the appropriate ACs (12–25 depending on the subcommittee) to make up their subcommittee.
Associate Chairs (ACs) are responsible for selecting external reviewers and for reading, analyzing, and summarizing numerous reviews. Based on their familiarity with the technical subject matter covered in the submission, the external reviewers are chosen for specific papers. The ACs lead the discussions and decisions both before and during the PC meeting as a group.
Our review process departs from the conventional practice of author-reviewer anonymity, in which neither party is aware of the other’s identity. Throughout the evaluation process, concerns about conflicts of interest are handled with great care. Each SC and AC must identify their institutional conflicts and the authors with whom they are in conflict from the entire list of submitted authors. Additionally, SCs are aware of the authors’ identities when distributing papers to ACs, allowing them to double-check that those papers are distributed to ACs who have no conflicts of interest. Additionally, the primary AC is aware of the authors’ identities so they can find impartial external reviewers. When writing the review or discussing the reviews prior to the committee meeting, the other AC and the external reviewers are not aware of the identity of the authors.
Subcommittee Chairs (SCs) manage paper assignments, guide discussion, manage confidentiality concerns, and supervise paper review procedures. The SC’s responsibility is to ensure that papers are treated fairly and discussed in the PC meeting as if the authors were seated next to the committee and listening in. The associate chairs (ACs) who make up the subcommittee ultimately decide which papers to accept, not the SCs. During the papers committee meeting, each paper will be read by at least two ACs (in some cases more) and at least two external reviewers. The SCs are the facilitators of these discussions.
Creating a common ethos
Keeping the subcommittees engaged with one another and achieving a common ethos is a particular challenge for coherence throughout the entire conference.
This year, due to the ongoing global pandemic known as COVID19, there were unprecedented circumstances in addition to the usual difficulties of keeping all the subcommittees in sync. A program committee meeting that was entirely virtual presented new challenges. For our unified conference, SCs had little opportunity to interact and discuss common concerns. Additionally, it was extremely difficult for us to hold a big synchronous meeting across such a wide range of time zones. Future PCs, SCs, and ACs will need to address these issues as having all 600 people in one place to meet in person would already be prohibitively expensive and bad for the environment.
The overall acceptance rate [in the last ten years] for CHI has been consistently within the range of 20-27% Historically, in the 1980%E2%80%99s the acceptance rate has been as low as 16% and as high as 39%!
Different subcommittees and splits of subcommittees have historically had varying acceptance rates, which also varies from year to year. These can range from below 15% or be much higher. Again, no committee is expected to meet (or not exceed) any particular target percentage rate. Each paper must be evaluated on its own merits and determined to be worthy, but as papers chairs, we encourage authors to submit work that they believe will advance their field and spark interesting discussions. In the words of one pair of SCs:
The papers committee as a whole hopes that the collection of accepted CHI papers will result in a program that we are all passionate about and eager to attend.
Steven Drucker and Pernille Bjørn
CHI 2022 Teaser – Technical Program
FAQ
How many people attend Chi?
| Year | Member | Student |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1,127 | 1,358 |
| 2018 | 1,241 | 1,069 |
| 2017 | 1,076 | 1,106 |
| 2016 | 1,391 | 1,262 |
What is Sigchi Conference?
SIGCHISpecial Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction. The largest organization of experts working in the study and application of computer-human interaction is the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction.
What does ACM Chi stand for?
ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction. Executive Committee. All Committees.
What are chi papers?
Excellent original research from all areas of human-computer interaction (HCI) is presented in CHI Papers. Global readership and citation of CHI Papers has a significant impact on the advancement of HCI theory, methodology, and practice. Authors must present accepted papers at the CHI Conference.