Event Format

Attending REFSQ

REFSQ is a highly interactive event. Sessions are organized so as to stimulate discussion among the presenters of papers, discussants, and all the other participants. Typically, after a paper is presented, it is immediately discussed by a pre-assigned discussant, then subject to a free discussion involving all participants. The overall discussion is moderated by the session chair. Finally, at the end of each research track day (Tuesday and Thursday) of the conference, all session chairs are invited to provide an overview of the discussions that took place in their sessions.

Roles and Responsibilities

        Session Chair (SC)
        Introduces the presenters of the papers in a session.
Takes care of the time, organizes the discussion of a paper after its presentation, and gives the floor to speakers in the audience during discussions.
Moderates session and plenary discussions.

    

        Presenter (PR)
        Presents a paper. A PR is also often a discussant.
Must attend all three days of the event and actively participate in discussions.
Presentation durations:
                Full papers (Technical Design Papers, Scientific Evaluation Papers): 20 min presentation.
Short papers (Vision Papers, Research Previews, Experience Reports): 10 min presentation.

            
Meets the SC 10 minutes before the session starts.

    

        Discussant (DC)
        Prepares a critical review of an assigned paper and presents a summary (1.5–2 min).
Each paper has one DC, typically a presenter of another paper.
Reads the assigned paper and prepares answers to predefined questions based on the paper type.

    

How Do I Know My Role and What to Do?

        Presenter (PR)
        Your paper has been accepted, and you will be the author presenting it.
Prepare your talk within the available time:
                Full papers: 20 min.
Short papers: 10 min.

            
Meet the SC 10 minutes before the session starts.

    

Discussant (DC)

Check the programme to see when your assigned paper is scheduled.
Read the paper carefully and prepare a short summary (1.5–2 min).

Answer the following questions based on the type of paper:

Technical Design Paper

What can we do now that we could not do before?
- Whose goals are served or helped by this?
How sound is the solution?
What is the next step to take?
- Think of the quality attributes of a technical solution.
Pick one of the following controversial questions:
- What is the most questionable issue of the paper?
- Why wouldn’t I use the same approach?

Scientific Evaluation Paper

How sound is the research design?
What do we now know that we did not know before?
- Are the reported conclusions generalizable?
Pick one of the following controversial questions:
- What is the most questionable issue of the paper?
- Why is the study not very representative?

Vision Paper

In what sense does this vision make a difference to what researchers and practitioners should do?
- What new avenues of research does this vision imply?
- Who would share this vision?
Is the vision controversial?
- Who would disagree with this vision?
Pick one of the following controversial questions:
- What is the most questionable issue of the paper?
- Why is this vision not so visionary?

Research Preview

Answer questions similar to those for a Technical Design or Scientific Evaluation paper (depending on research type).
How feasible is the planned research?

Experience Report

What do we now know that we did not know before?
Who can benefit from the lessons learned?
- To what extent can you relate to the lessons learned?
Pick one of the following controversial questions:
- What is the most questionable issue of the paper?
- Why is the experience not very representative?

Meet the SC 10 minutes before the session starts.
Present your summary slide right after the PR.

        Session Chair (SC)
        You received an invitation to serve as SC or volunteered for the role.
Prepare by reviewing the papers in your session.
Meet PRs and DCs 10 minutes before the session starts.
Open the session and introduce the PRs.
Keep time and signal PRs when time is nearly up:
                Full papers: 20 min + 10 min discussion.
Short papers: 10 min + 10 min discussion.

            
Moderate discussions and keep them structured.
Summarize the session in 2 minutes, comprising:
                2-3 sentence summaries of each paper.
Key issues raised by DCs or the audience.

            
Chairs of parallel sessions summarize their discussions in a plenary session at the end of each research track day (Tuesday and Thursday).
May be asked to moderate the plenary session.

    

How Does It All Fit Together?

A typical session consists of 2–3 presentations. The session flow is as follows:

        Opening
        SC opens the session.

Paper Presentation & Discussion

For each paper:

PR presents the paper (10 min for short papers, 20 min for full papers).
DC presents a 1.5–2 min summary.
Open discussion with all participants (remaining time).
SC moderates, ensures structured discussion, and transitions to the next PR.

        Closing
        SC summarizes key points from the session and mentions discussion highlights.
Chairs of parallel sessions provide summaries in a plenary session at the end of each research track day (Tuesday and Thursday).

    