Pre-Submission Checklists

Consolidated checklists for paper audit across venues.

Universal Checklist (All Venues)

Compilation & Formatting

• [ ] Paper compiles without errors
• [ ] No overfull/underfull hbox warnings (LaTeX)
• [ ] Page limit respected (excluding references)
• [ ] Correct style file / template used
• [ ] Consistent font sizes and margins

Content Integrity

• [ ] No placeholder text (TODO, FIXME, XXX)
• [ ] All figures referenced in text
• [ ] All tables referenced in text
• [ ] No orphaned citations (every \cite has a bib entry)
• [ ] No unused bibliography entries
• [ ] All equations referenced if numbered
• [ ] Consistent notation throughout

Writing Quality

• [ ] All acronyms defined on first use
• [ ] No overly long sentences (> 60 words)
• [ ] Abstract is self-contained
• [ ] Abstract contains all 5 structural elements (Background / Objective / Methods / Results / Conclusion)
• [ ] Abstract Results section includes at least one quantitative finding
• [ ] Abstract within venue word count limit
• [ ] Contributions clearly stated in introduction
• [ ] No citation stacking in Introduction/Related Work (max 2 clustered citations per sentence without individual discussion)
• [ ] Limitations section included
• [ ] Figure/Table captions are concise, without AI-like redundancy, and use consistent casing
• [ ] Tables use three-line format (booktabs / no vertical lines)
• [ ] Table captions placed above table, notes placed below
• [ ] Number precision consistent within each table column
• [ ] Statistical significance markers defined in table note when used
• [ ] Literature review uses thematic organization, not author/year enumeration (A1)
• [ ] Each literature theme cluster ends with critical analysis (A2)
• [ ] Related Work concludes with explicit research gap derivation (A3)
• [ ] Discussion contains causal/attribution analysis, not just data repetition (B3)
• [ ] Related Work citations reappear in Discussion for results contextualization (B4)
• [ ] Conclusion contains all three elements: findings summary + implications + limitations/future work (B5)
• [ ] Introduction contribution claims are answered in Conclusion (C3)
• [ ] Claim wording matches evidence strength — no causal language on correlational results, no "first / novel / universal" without support, no vague magnitude word without a number (see OVER_CLAIM_GUARD.md)

Theory & Conceptual Framework

• [ ] Core theoretical concepts defined clearly and unambiguously (A5)
• [ ] Theoretical framework engages with existing theories, not just cites them (A6)
• [ ] Paper's theoretical contribution is identifiable and stated explicitly (A7)
• [ ] Research gap is genuine and supported by literature evidence, not fabricated by selective citation

Qualitative Methodology (apply when paper uses qualitative or mixed methods)

• [ ] Sampling strategy described with theoretical/methodological rationale (B6)
• [ ] Data saturation discussed or sample size justified (B7)
• [ ] Coding/analysis process described with sufficient detail: stages, coders, examples (B8)
• [ ] Trustworthiness strategies reported (triangulation, member checking, audit trail, etc.) (B9)
• [ ] Researcher reflexivity addressed for studies involving human participants or sensitive topics (B10)

Experiment Analysis

• [ ] Experiment section uses cohesive paragraph narratives, not itemized lists
• [ ] Appropriate, up-to-date SOTA baseline methods are included and justified
• [ ] Ablation studies effectively validate the contribution of core components
• [ ] Statistical significance/confidence intervals are reported where applicable

Submission Compliance

• [ ] Anonymous submission (no author names in blind review)
• [ ] Supplementary material within size limits
• [ ] Code submission prepared (if applicable)
• [ ] Ethics review flagged if applicable

NeurIPS Specific

• [ ] Paper checklist completed (Appendix)
• [ ] Broader Impact Statement included
• [ ] Lay summary prepared (for accepted papers)
• [ ] Main paper <= 9 pages (+ unlimited references/appendix)
• [ ] Uses official NeurIPS style file
• [ ] Reproducibility details: random seeds, compute, datasets
• [ ] Error bars included with methodology specified
• [ ] Statistical significance tests where appropriate
• [ ] Dataset licensing and consent documented
• [ ] Potential negative societal impacts discussed
• [ ] Comparison with appropriate baselines
• [ ] Ablation studies for key design choices

ICLR Specific

• [ ] Uses official ICLR style file
• [ ] Double-blind review compliance
• [ ] Main paper <= 10 pages (+ unlimited appendix)
• [ ] Reproducibility statement included
• [ ] Code submission URL provided (if applicable)

ICML Specific

• [ ] Uses official ICML style file
• [ ] Main paper <= 8 pages (+ unlimited appendix)
• [ ] Impact statement included
• [ ] Supplementary <= 50MB

IEEE Specific

• [ ] IEEE style file used (conference or journal)
• [ ] Abstract <= 250 words
• [ ] Keywords provided (3-5 terms)
• [ ] References follow IEEE format
• [ ] Figure captions below figures, table captions above tables
• [ ] All figures are high resolution (>= 300 DPI)
• [ ] No floating algorithm / algorithm2e environment in IEEE pseudocode
• [ ] Pseudocode blocks use a caption and label
• [ ] Pseudocode blocks are referenced in text before appearing
• [ ] Pseudocode line numbers are enabled when helpful for review (recommended, not mandatory)
• [ ] Pseudocode comments are short; paragraph-level explanation stays in the main text

ACM Specific

• [ ] ACM Computing Classification System (CCS) concepts included
• [ ] ACM Reference Format citation in footer
• [ ] Uses acmart document class
• [ ] Rights management information included

Chinese Thesis Specific (中文学位论文)

• [ ] Bibliography follows GB/T 7714-2015 standard
• [ ] Chinese abstract and English abstract both present
• [ ] Abstract bilingual consistency verified
• [ ] Full-width punctuation used in Chinese text
• [ ] Half-width punctuation used in English text and formulas
• [ ] University template compliance verified
• [ ] Declaration of originality included
• [ ] Acknowledgments section present
• [ ] Keywords in both Chinese and English
• [ ] No author/year enumeration pattern in literature review (A1-ZH: "张三（2019）提出..." consecutive pattern)