Topics

SOSP takes a broad view of systems and solicits contributions from many fields of systems practice, including: operating systems, file and storage systems, distributed systems, cloud computing, mobile and edge systems, secure and reliable systems, systems aspects of big data and machine learning, embedded and real-time systems, virtualization, networking as it relates to operating systems, and management and troubleshooting of complex systems. We also welcome work that explores the interaction of computer systems with related areas such as computer architecture, networking, programming languages, analytics, verification, and databases. In keeping with SOSP tradition, we will favor work that explores new territory, continues a significant research dialogue, or reflects on experience with or measurements of state-of-the-art implementations.

Submission Criteria

Submissions will be judged on novelty, significance, interest, clarity, relevance, and correctness. A good paper will:

    Motivate a significant problem;
    Propose and implement an interesting, compelling solution;
    Demonstrate the practicality and benefits of the solution;
    Draw appropriate conclusions;
    Clearly describe the paper's contributions;
    Articulate the advances beyond previous work; and
    Be accessible to the broader systems community. 

We encourage submission of groundbreaking work in significant new directions, with the understanding that the evaluation criteria for papers addressing new problems may be different from those continuing a line of work in a more established area.

Originality

Submissions should contain original, unpublished material. Simultaneous submission of the same work to multiple venues, submission of previously published work, or plagiarism is not allowed.

Submissions that extend the authors' previous work are welcome, but authors must explain the differences between the SOSP submission and the prior work, much in the same way that the authors are expected to articulate the contributions of their submission as they relate to prior work by others.

Prior or concurrent workshop publication does not preclude publishing a related paper in SOSP. As long as there is significant additional content in the submission compared to the prior workshop publication, the PC will evaluate the submission's entire contribution, not just the delta.

Prior or concurrent publication in non-peer-reviewed contexts, like arXiv.org, technical reports, talks, and social media posts, is explicitly permitted.

Resubmissions

Submitting a paper that had been previously submitted to and not accepted by another conference is permitted, although authors are expected to have improved the paper to address substantive issues raised in previous reviews. Authors should provide information regarding the previous submission(s) and a summary of the subsequent revisions to the paper. This description, which will be supplied to reviewers after they’ve completed their reviews, helps reviewers who may have reviewed a previous draft of the work to appreciate any improvements to the currently submitted work. Please try to limit the description of changes to one page. All information should be properly anonymized, as described below, and should be uploaded via the submission form.

Anonymity

SOSP will use double-blind reviewing. Please make a good faith attempt to anonymize your submission. Avoid identifying yourself or your institution explicitly or by implication (e.g., through the references or acknowledgments). The first page should use the paper ID assigned during registration in place of the author names. If the name of your project or system is already known to the community (e.g., through arXiv, technical reports, talks, social media posts, or other uses), your SOSP submission must use an anonymized name.

Use care in referring to your own related work. Do not omit references to your prior work, as this would make it difficult for reviewers to place your submission in its proper context. Instead, reference your past work in the third person, just as you would any other piece of related work. For example, you might say "Our system modifies the XYZ operating system built by Lee et al. [Lee17]".

For concurrent submissions on related topics, cite an anonymized version of the concurrent submission and discuss the relation between the submissions. Additionally, email the PC chairs (sosp2025@gmail.com) with a copy of your other concurrent submission.

If your submission reports on experiences with a system at your institution or organization, you should refer to the system anonymously but describe the properties of the system that are needed to appreciate the work (e.g., size of the user base, volume of requests, etc.). We recognize that, in some cases, these properties may allow a reviewer to identify your institution or organization.

Supplementary Material

Authors may optionally include supplementary material as a separate document. Supplementary material is intended for items that are not critical for evaluating the paper but may be of interest to some readers. Examples include: formal proofs that are only sketched in the submission, additional analyses, and methodological details that aren’t essential for the PC’s assessment but are important for reproducibility. PC members are not required to read this optional supplementary material, so the submission must stand alone without it.