Information and Software Technology (IST)
Special Issue on Mutation Testing

* Submission deadline: July 31, 2015 *

-----------------------
Background
-----------------------

Mutation is acknowledged as an important way to assess the fault-finding effectiveness of tests sets. Mutation testing has mostly been applied at the source code level, but more recently, related ideas have also been used to test artefacts described in a considerable variety of notations and at different levels of abstraction. Mutation ideas are now used in requirements validation (where distinguishing test cases can be used to challenge users about what they really want), with formal specifications (to assess resilience of specification properties to deviations), architectural design notations, and informal descriptions such as use cases. Data mutation has also been investigated for critical systems and web services. Mutation is now established as a major concept in software and systems V&V and uses of mutation are increasing. This special issue serves as a platform for researchers and practitioners to present theory, results, experience and advances in mutation testing.

-----------------------
Topics
-----------------------

This special issue focuses on all topics relevant to mutation analysis. In particular, the topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

* Mutation-based test adequacy criteria (theory or practical application). 

* Mutation-based test data generation. 

* Higher order mutation testing. 

* Mutation analysis for abstract models
* Novel mutation testing paradigms and applications. 

* Empirical studies of mutation testing. 

* Mutation for security and reliability.
* Formal theoretical analysis of mutation testing. 

* Mutation for mobile, Internet and cloud-based systems 
(e.g., QoS, power consumption, stress testing, perfor- 
mance, etc). 


-----------------------
Submission Information
-----------------------

All submissions must contain original unpublished work not being considered for publication elsewhere. Submissions will be refereed according to standard procedures of IST and should be formatted according to the Elsevier guidelines (http://www.elsevier.com/journals/information-and-software-technology/0950-5849/guide-for-authors).
All submissions must be made through the online submission and editorial system of the Information and Software Technology journal (http://ees.elsevier.com/infsof/) by selecting “SI: Mutation Testing” as article type.

The submission deadline is July 31, 2015.


-----------------------
Guest Editors
-----------------------

Mike Papadakis, Luxembourg University
René Just, University of Washington, Seattle