Call for Proposals

SIGDOC’s mission is to advance the state of knowledge, encourage the research, and support the interdisciplinary practice of the design of communication. Our annual conference provides a forum for scholars and practitioners alike to come together and share research findings and best practices in all fields related to the design communication, including but not limited to technical communication and user experience. For our 2026 conference, we invite proposals that further this mission as we work together to build knowledge and address the myriad concerns facing researchers and practitioners in our communities and workplaces. Proposals can address a broad range of topics related to the practice or teaching of communication design, technical communication, and/or user experience including, but not limited to:

• Interdisciplinary problem solving
• Emerging modes of communication
• Theory and research methods
• Community-centered research and design practices
• User experience design and experience architecture
• Learning systems and environments
• Open source design solutions
• Collaborative platforms
• Design methods and principles
• Digital humanities and design
• Project management
• Content strategy
• Information literacy
• Information design and architecture
• International and intercultural communication design
• Computer-mediated communication
• Socially just implications for technical communication
• AI, LLMS and AI-assisted writing practices

We also welcome submissions that are rooted in neighboring disciplines, such as software development and computer science, healthcare, social work, crisis communication, digital humanities, rhetoric of science & technology, and beyond. Please direct any questions to the program chairs at sigdocconference@gmail.com.

Types of proposals

• Individual research papers or experience reports (500 words)
• Poster proposals (500 words)
• Panel proposals (700 words) should include short abstracts for all presenters
• Workshop proposals (800 words).

Why the Change?

• Overwhelming support from the computer science community
• Open Access (OA) articles are downloaded 100-150% & cited 70% more frequently

What is Changing?

• All ACM Publications will go fully open access starting on January 1, 2026. All authors will retain copyright through applicable Creative Commons licensing for all papers. 
• OA fees will be funded through:
• ACM Open (an institutional subscription that covers fees for faculty), or 
• Author-paid Article Processing Charges (APCs, individual fees paid by authors)

Is My University an ACM Open Institution? 

• Please check: https://libraries.acm.org/acmopen/open-participants

What Changes for Authors? 

• After January 1, 2026, to publish a proceeding paper, the corresponding author must either be affiliated with an ACM Open institution or individually pay the applicable APC. 
• The APC payment system will allow authors to share the APC cost with co-authors or third parties.
• Authors can apply for a discretionary waiver from ACM by demonstrating financial hardship and an inability to pay. Please see https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/policy-on-open-access-apc-waivers-and-discounts 

Are there any APC subsidies in 2026?

• ACM will charge $250 for ACM/SIG members and $350 for nonmembers (reduced from $700 and $1000, respectively) in 2026 before charging the full amount in 2027. 
• ACM will provide a very small number of Financial Hardship Waiver to authors with demonstrated financial needs.

For more information, please visit: https://www.acm.org/publications/openaccess 

Questions? Email: acmopen@hq.acm.org