The 26th ACM Symposium on Document Engineering
August 25, 2026 to August 28, 2026
HES-SO / University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Call for Papers
The ACM Symposium on Document Engineering seeks original research papers that advance the state of the art in computational creation and processing of documents as structured, multifaceted information objects. The notion of document covers text, images, equations, tables, diagrams, musical scores and other notations, both in current and historical documents. DocEng focuses on the principles, models, technologies, and tools that enable the design, creation, processing, transformation, management, and use of documents and document collections. This includes aspects of security, interoperability, reliability, accessibility, and human factors in this field. Attendees at this international forum share an interest in treating documents as engineered artifacts that underpin trustworthy communication, effective knowledge exchange, cultural preservation, and innovation across diverse domains.
In addition, DocEng'26 particularly welcomes contributions on the theme of Document Engineering in the Era of AI and Sustainability. This theme reflects the ongoing evolution of document technologies in response to two major global imperatives: the integration of artificial intelligence and the adoption of sustainable digital practices.
You are invited to submit original papers to DocEng'26, to be held in-person in Fribourg, Switzerland.
Important Dates
Important Dates
| Full Papers | Short Papers & Demonstrations | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract deadline | April 21, 2026 | Abstract deadline | June 9, 2026 |
| Manuscript deadline | April 28, 2026 | Manuscript deadline | June 16, 2026 |
| Acceptance notification | June 2, 2026 | Acceptance notification | July 14, 2026 |
All deadlines are 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth).
Proceedings
Accepted articles will be published in the DocEng 2026 proceedings in the ACM Digital Library.
The program committee will evaluate the technical contribution of each submission as well as its general accessibility to the DocEng audience. Papers will be judged on significance, originality, and clarity. The paper must be organized so that it is easily understood by an audience with varied expertise. The paper should clearly identify what has been accomplished, why it is significant, and how it relates to previous work.
Submissions
-
Full papers: describing complete works of research (up to 10 pages).
-
Short papers: describing smaller complete works of research, novel challenges or visions (up to 4 pages).
-
Demonstrations: of interesting use-cases of systems or tools (up to 2 page abstract).
Submissions should be prepared using the ACM format. Guidelines are available at https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template.
Please note that Word users should use the interim template; DocEng does not use TAPS.
Papers can be submitted online at: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=doceng26.
Symposium Format
DocEng is a single-track conference attended by a community of academic and industrial researchers. The first conference day consists of workshops and tutorials.
Relevant Topics
We seek original contributions that are mainly focused on, but not necessarily limited to, the following topics:
| AI and Sustainability in Document Engineering |
|---|
| AI-powered solutions and LLM integration: artificial intelligence-driven document solutions, intelligent automation systems, and integration of large language models in document systems and workflows Sustainability: sustainable and energy-efficient approaches to document processing and environmentally conscious document engineering practices Security and trust: document security mechanisms, trust frameworks, and verification systems to ensure document authenticity and integrity Accessibility and applications: inclusive and accessible document systems for all users, with real-world applications in education, healthcare, law, and public administration |
| Document Creation and Use |
|---|
| The application of algorithms, including machine learning, large language models, or others, to analyse, process and generate digital documents. Topics include: Automated content creation: systems that can automatically generate, manipulate, present or customize documents, including document authoring tools and systems, and document modelling Typography, formatting and layout generation: algorithms and systems for visual aspects of documents, including typography, formatting and layout generation Document recognition: methods for analysing images, historical documents or specialised content like equations or musical scores Semantic analysis: algorithms that understand the meaning and relationships within document content |
| Human-Document Interaction, Accessibility and Inclusive Document Design |
|---|
| Focusing on users' experience and interaction with documents in various forms and contexts. Highlighting the importance of making documents usable and accessible to all. Topics include: Accessibility models: creating standards and models to ensure documents are accessible to people with disabilities Document transformation: algorithms and systems for presenting documents effectively across different devices and platforms User experiences: how users navigate, search, and collaborate on documents |
| Scalable Document Collections & Systems |
|---|
| Focusing on how document collections are represented, managed and accessed at scale. This includes: Modelling and representation: developing new document models, structures and standards for complex, modern data types like multimedia and graphs Large-scale management: systems for storing, indexing, retrieving, and managing massive collections of digital documents and archives Distributed processing: algorithms and systems designed for efficient and safe document processing across distributed networks |
| Document Trust, Privacy and Security |
|---|
| Addressing the challenge of ensuring the security, privacy and authenticity of digital documents, in a world of increasing data breaches and misinformation. Topics include: Document security: methods for encrypting and protecting documents and their metadata Privacy and compliance: ensuring that document workflows adhere to privacy regulations and policies Authentication and integrity: systems for verifying the authenticity and integrity of documents to prevent forgery or tampering |
| Application of Emerging Algorithms and Technologies to Document Engineering |
|---|
| Focusing on how cutting-edge methods can advance the design, creation, processing, management, presentation and use of documents and document collections. Topics include: Blockchain, quantum computing Deep learning, generative AI, large language models Other emerging computational paradigms |
Fair Access and Student Support
SIGWEB is committed to provide fair access and student support to its sponsored conferences by means of travel grants. Details of how to apply can be found on the dedicated Fair Access and Student Support page.
Additional Information
Authors Take Note
- DocEng is sponsored by ACM by means of the ACM SIGWEB Special Interest Group. Proceedings are available through the ACM Digital Library.
- The official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of your conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work.
- Each DocEng paper must have at least one non-student registration for it to be presented at DocEng 2026 and be published in the DocEng 2026 Proceedings.
Important ACM Note
-
By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM's new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Alleged violations of this policy or any ACM Publications Policy will be investigated by ACM and may result in a full retraction of your paper, in addition to other potential penalties, as per ACM Publications Policy.
-
Please ensure that you and your co-authors obtain an ORCID ID, so you can complete the publishing process for your accepted paper. ACM has been involved in ORCID from the start and we have recently made a commitment to collect ORCID IDs from all of our published authors. The collection process has started and will roll out as a requirement throughout 2022. We are committed to improve author discoverability, ensure proper attribution and contribute to ongoing community efforts around name normalization; your ORCID ID will help in these efforts.
ACM Open Access Publishing Model (2026)
Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access for all publications, including conference proceedings. Authors will have two primary options:
- ACM Open institutional model - Over 2,600 institutions are already participating. Authors from these institutions will not need to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs).
- Article Processing Charges (APCs) - Authors from non-participating institutions will need to pay an APC unless they qualify for a financial waiver.
2026 Transition Subsidy:
To ease this transition, ACM is offering a temporary 65% discount for 2026 conferences:
- $250 APC for ACM/SIG members
- $350 APC for non-members
What should authors do?
- Check if your institution participates in ACM Open: List of participating institutions
- Review the APC waiver policy if needed
- Consider advocating for your institution to join ACM Open
For complete details, visit ACM Open Access.