Goal and Scope
IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution (ICSME) is the premier forum for researchers and practitioners to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, experiences, and challenges in software maintenance and evolution. We invite high quality submissions describing significant, original, and unpublished results related to but not limited to any of the following software maintenance and evolution topics (in alphabetical order):

Change and defect management
Code cloning and provenance
Concept and feature location
Continuous integration/deployment
Empirical studies of software maintenance and evolution
Evolution of non-code artefacts
Human aspects of software maintenance and evolution
Maintenance and evolution of model-based methods
Maintenance and evolution processes
Maintenance and evolution of mobile apps
Maintenance versus release process
Mining software repositories
Productivity of software engineers
Release engineering
Reverse engineering and re-engineering
Run-time evolution and dynamic configuration
Service oriented and cloud computing
Software and system comprehension
Software migration and renovation
Software quality assessment
Software refactoring and restructuring
Software testing

ICSME welcomes innovative ideas that are timely, well presented and evaluated. All submissions must position themselves within the existing literature, describe the relevance of the results to specific software engineering goals, and include a clear motivation and presentation of the work.

To establish a consistent set of expectations in the review process, the authors are asked, as part of the online submission process, to identify their papers with one or more of the following categories:

Analytical
A paper in which the main contribution relies on new algorithms or mathematical theory. Examples include new bug prediction techniques and algorithms for dynamic and static analysis. Such a contribution must be evaluated with a convincing analysis of the algorithmic details, whether through a proof, complexity analysis, or run-time analysis, among others and depending on the objectives.

Empirical
A paper in which the main contribution is the empirical study of a software evolution technology or phenomenon. This includes controlled experiments, case studies, and surveys of professionals reporting qualitative or quantitative data and analysis results. Such a contribution will be judged on its study design, appropriateness and correctness of its analysis, and threats to validity. Replications are welcome.

Technological
A paper in which the main contribution is of a technical nature. This includes novel tools, modeling languages, infrastructures, and other technologies. Such a contribution does not necessarily need to be evaluated with humans. However, clear arguments, backed up by evidence as appropriate, must show how and why the technology is beneficial, whether it is in automating or supporting some user task, refining our modeling capabilities, improving some key system property, etc.

Methodological
A paper in which the main contribution is a coherent system of broad principles and practices to interpret or solve a problem. This includes novel process models and maintenance methods. The authors should provide convincing arguments, with commensurate experiences, why a new method is needed and what the benefits of the proposed method are.

Perspectives
A paper in which the main contribution is a novel perspective on the field as a whole, or part thereof. This includes assessments of the current state of the art and achievements, systematic literature reviews, framing of an important problem, forward-looking thought pieces, connections to other disciplines, and historical perspectives. Such a contribution must, in a highly convincing manner, clearly articulate the vision, novelty, and potential impact.

All papers should be full papers, and papers may belong to more than one category. Note that papers from any research area can fall into any of these categories, as the categories are constructed surrounding methodological approaches, not research topics (e.g., one could write an analytical paper on a new analysis technique, an empirical paper that compares a broad range of such techniques, a technological paper that makes an analysis technique practically feasible and available, or a perspectives paper that reviews the state of the art and lays out a roadmap of analysis techniques for the future).