Journal FirstREFSQ 2027

For the first time, the 33rd International Working Conference on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality (REFSQ) 2027 will host a journal-first track, allowing authors of selected journal-first papers to present and discuss their research with the REFSQ community either as a poster or as a short presentation within the main program.

The Journal First Track at REFSQ 2027 provides an opportunity to present and discuss recent high-quality research that has already been published in leading journals, but has not yet been presented at a conference.

This track aims to foster interaction between journal authors and the REFSQ community, enabling the dissemination of mature and rigorously reviewed work to a broader audience of researchers and practitioners. It also offers a platform for exchanging ideas, receiving feedback, and strengthening connections between journal and conference research communities.

Call for contributions

Your research does not end with its publication by a journal - make it heard, seen, read, discussed, and inspire your community!

The Journal-First track at REFSQ 2027 aims to give journal papers relevant to the REFSQ conference a spotlight and forum for discussion. A submission to the REFSQ 2027 Journal-First track must adhere to the following criteria:

• The journal paper was accepted and first appeared online between August the 1st, 2025 and February 27th, 2027.
• The paper is in scope of the conference.
• The paper is published by a reputable and relevant journal. We have agreements with REJ, JSS, IST, and EMSE to present papers published in their journal at REFSQ 2027, but if you have a relevant paper published at a different journal, feel free to submit it and we will contact the respective editor-in-chief.
• The paper has not been presented at, and is not under consideration for, presentation on another Journal-First track at a different conference.

Submissions that do not satisfy the above-listed criteria will be-desk-rejected. As the papers have already been reviewed and accepted by the journals, they will not be reviewed again for technical content.

Submission

Authors of papers that meet the above criteria are invited to submit a proposal consisting of

• the title of the paper as published by the journal,
• the names of all authors,
• an extended abstract,
• a pointer to the original journal paper at the journal’s Web site, and
• a brief description of
• why the paper is relevant for the REFSQ conference,
• what the authors would like to present, and
• why they believe the paper would make for a compelling presentation.

Journal-first proposals must not exceed 3 pages and must be submitted as one PDF using the Springer conference template. Submit your paper via EasyChair making sure to select the option “REFSQ 2027 Journal First”.

Presentation and Selection Criteria

By default, authors of accepted submissions will present their paper in a session at the conference. At least one author must register for and attend the conference to present the paper.

If we receive more submissions than we can accommodate in the REFSQ 2027 conference program, we will select submissions based on the following criteria:

• Increasing opportunities for authors to attend REFSQ 2027, who might not otherwise attend.
• Best fit between the paper and the technical program of REFSQ 2027, offering a balance across the conference topics.

Accepted submissions will be presented either in a session or as a poster, based on the track chairs’ decision and suitability for the conference program. Presenting a poster at REFSQ 2027 entails pitching the poster to the audience in a joint session, and becoming eligible for the poster voting process.

The journal-first manuscripts are published through the journals and will not be part of the proceedings for this conference. The journal-first papers will be listed in the conference program and participants will have access to the paper abstracts and a pointer to the journal publication outside the conference proceedings (if provided by authors).

Questions

In case of questions, kindly reach out to the co-chairs Grischa Liebel and Julian Frattini.