Research Track

The Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering (SBES), promoted annually by the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC), is the premier software engineering event in Latin America. SBES is held in conjunction with the Brazilian Congress on Software: Theory and Practice (CBSoft).

Call for Papers

The SBES Research Track is the primary track of the symposium, featuring solid contributions rigorously evaluated by the Program Committee, which considers criteria including originality, relevance, rigor, verifiability and transparency, and the quality of the work's presentation.

Important Dates

Topics of Interest

Submissions related to (but not limited to) the following topics will be accepted:

• API Development and Evolution
• Artificial Intelligence for Software Engineering
• Clone Detection and Refactoring
• Configuration Management
• Continuous Software Engineering
• Distributed and Collaborative Software Engineering
• Economic, Human, and Social Aspects of Software Engineering
• Ethics in Software Engineering
• Experimental Software Engineering
• Mobile Application Development
• Model-Driven Software Engineering
• Open Science in Software Engineering Research
• Requirements Engineering
• Search-Based Software Engineering
• Service Orientation and Microservices
• Software Architecture
• Software Ecosystems
• Software Engineering and Data Science
• Software Engineering for Artificial Intelligence
• Software Engineering for Cloud Computing
• Software Maintenance, Reengineering, and Evolution
• Software Processes (including Agile)
• Software Project Management
• Software Quality (including Privacy and Security in Software Systems)
• Software Repository Mining
• Software Reuse
• Software Sustainability
• Software Testing
• Software Validation and Verification
• Software Visualization
• Startups and Software Economics
• Systems of Systems
• Technical Debt Management
• Variability and Software Product Lines

Open Science Policies

SBES 2025 encourages authors to adopt Open Science principles and practices, seeking to promote transparency, replicability, and reproducibility in research. We encourage all contributing authors to disclose data/artifacts (anonymized and curated) to increase reproducibility and replicability. We recognize that reproducibility or replicability is not a goal in qualitative research and that, as in industrial studies, qualitative studies often face challenges when sharing research data.

In this context, following international events in the area, when submitting to the research track, authors must create an unnumbered section entitled "Artifacts Availability" after the "Conclusion" section and:

• Make your artifact available to the Program Committee (via upload of supplementary material or a link to an anonymous repository) and provide instructions on how to access this data in that section of the paper; or
• Include in the paper an explicit statement about why this is not possible or desirable; or
• Indicate why you do not intend to make the data or study materials publicly available after the paper acceptance, if applicable. The standard understanding is that data and/or other artifacts will be publicly available after an article is accepted.

The document "SBES 2026 – Open Science Policies" provides principles and practices to support authors in the SBES Research Track. During article preparation, questions may be forwarded to the SBES 2026 Open Science chairs, without compromising article anonymity.

On the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) or AI-assisted technologies in Research Papers

By submitting papers to SBES 2026, authors acknowledge compliance with the generative AI usage policy, based on existing policies proposed by IEEE, ACM, and Springer.

It is prohibited to:

• List generative AI tools and technologies (such as ChatGPT) as authors of papers.
• Use articles or sections entirely produced by generative AI tools.

It is allowed to -- with explicit mention in the acknowledgments:

• Use generative AI tools to create parts of the content, with a disclosure in the acknowledgments indicating what was generated and which tool was used. Authors must check the tool’s terms of use. Example: "ChatGPT was used to generate the first paragraph of Section 3 and Table 3.2."

It is allowed to -- without mention in the paper:

• Use AI or AI-assisted technologies to improve image quality (contrast and clarity); and
• Use generative AI tools to edit and improve the quality of existing text (similarly to grammar assistants such as Grammarly to improve spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement).

Paper Preparation and Submission

Authors must submit original work that has not been published elsewhere nor is under review. Papers for the SBES 2026 Research Track may be written in Portuguese or English, with English papers offering greater international visibility.

Papers must be submitted in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) and must strictly follow the conference template^[1]. It is important to note that, although this template is an adaptation of the format adopted by ACM for conferences, the original template (ACM_SigConf) must not be used. This same adapted template will be used across all symposia and workshops that are part of CBSoft 2026.

To ensure double anonymization during the initial submission and review process, authors must include the anonymous option in the document preamble:

\documentclass[sigconf,anonymous]{acmart}

For all SBES 2026 tracks, the following command containing the event information must also be used:

\acmConference[SBES 2026]{40th Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering}{September 8--11, 2026}{São Paulo, SP, Brazil}

Authors are advised to carefully follow the checklist provided at the end of the file samples/cbsoft-acm-like.tex to ensure that their papers comply with the template and the given instructions.

Papers must have a maximum of 10 pages, including all figures, tables, and acknowledgments, and 2 additional pages for bibliographic references. Papers must be registered and submitted through the JEMS3 system.

• Abstract submission: Authors must provide the paper title, authors, abstract, associated topic(s), and the language.
• Full paper submission: Authors must upload a PDF file containing the paper.

Publication of accepted papers requires at least one author to register for CBSoft 2026 (according to the event’s registration rules), and present the paper in person during SBES 2026. Papers not presented will not appear in the proceedings.

Publication Ethics and Code of Conduct

All submitted works must comply with the Code of Conduct for Authors in Publications of the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC).

Anonimization

The SBES 2026 Research Track adopts a double-anonymous review process. All submitted papers should conceal the identity of the authors. Both author names and affiliations must be omitted. In addition, the following rules should be addressed:

• Citations to own related work must be written in the third person. For example, one must write "the previous work of Silva et al." as opposed to "our previous work." Terms that can identify the authors, such as "we", "our", "ours", "GitHub", and "funding", must be avoided and should be removed before submission.
• Papers should not mention any artifact in repositories or websites that can identify the authorship. If any artifact needs to be made available, it should be anonymized in the repository/website. For using GitHub, we recommend the "anonymous" service (https://anonymous.4open.science/);
• If the submitted paper is a follow-up of a previous work, the reference may be anonymized in the submitted paper. For example, "the previous work of Silva et al." can be adapted to "based on the previous work [Ref]" and the reference at the end of the paper can be presented as "[Ref] Anonymous authors. Omitted due to double-blind review.";
• Reviewers will not be encouraged to search for references in other online sources that identify the authors. Searches in digital libraries or existing artifacts do not break the double-anonymous policy.

After paper acceptance, all the paper information (without anonymization) must be included in the camera-ready version. Any questions regarding paper preparation in accordance with the double-blind rules can be directed to the Program Committee Chairs.

Any questions about paper preparation following the double-anonymous rules can be sent to the Program Committee Chairs.

Desk Rejection

Submissions that fall outside the scope of the SBES 2026 Research Track or do not comply with the required format and anonymization rules will be rejected without review.

If a previous publication of the paper or simultaneous submission for a refereed venue (event or journal) is identified, the paper will be rejected at any time, and authors may be prevented from submitting papers in future SBES editions. Additionally, the organizers of the other venue will be informed about the fact.

If evidence is found that generative AI tools were used in the submission in ways that do not comply with the guidelines for the use of generative AI in this call, the paper will be rejected without review, and the authors may be prevented from submitting papers in future SBES editions.

Paper Review

Papers meeting all the submission requirements will be reviewed by at least three Program Committee members, according to the following criteria:

• Originality: Novelty and innovation of the paper in relation to the state of the art, including proposed approaches, solutions, problem formulations, methodologies, theories, or evaluations.
• Relevance: Importance of the paper’s contributions to the Software Engineering field.
• Rigor: Soundness, clarity, and depth of a technical or theoretical contribution, as well as the level of detail and completeness of the method and evaluation.
• Verifiability and Transparency: The extent to which the paper provides sufficient information to assess and reproduce the methods, data, analyses, and results presented, including the adequacy and completeness of research artifacts, when provided.
• Presentation: Quality of the paper’s writing, including clear descriptions, grammatical correctness, absence of ambiguities, legibility of figures and tables, and compliance with formatting instructions.

Authors' Response (Rebuttal)

During the review process, authors may respond to reviewers before the final acceptance/rejection decision. The rebuttal should be a simple text of up to 7,000 characters (including spaces). Doubts may be sent via email to the Program Committee chairs.

Early Decisions

To reduce unnecessary effort in writing/reading rebuttals, SBES 2026 will send early decisions.

If reviewers and PC chairs determine that a paper can be accepted without additional clarification, the authors will receive an early acceptance notification at the beginning of the rebuttal period.

On the other hand, if reviewers and PC chairs consider the paper seriously deficient, leading them to conclude that the authors’ response is unlikely to change the evaluation, or if the article requires a complete rewrite, the authors will receive an early rejection at the beginning of the rebuttal period.

All other papers will proceed to the rebuttal phase.

Distinguished Paper Award

SBES 2026 will award the best papers of the Research Track. Winners will be announced at the opening of CBSoft, and authors will be invited to submit an extended version in English to the Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development (JSERD).

Outstanding Reviewer Award

The SBES Research Track recognizes the generosity of the Program Committee members who dedicate their time and effort to reviewing the submitted papers. A Distinguished Reviewer certificate will be awarded to reviewers who stand out from their peers in terms of timeliness, adherence to the evaluation criteria in their reviews, technical quality of the reviews, and active participation in discussions involving the Program Committee.

Journal-First Submissions

Authors of papers accepted in journals and related to SBES topics of interest are invited to present their work at SBES 2026. This provides authors with the opportunity to discuss their work with the community and also enriches the technical and scientific program of SBES 2026. Papers published in the following journals may be submitted: IEEE Software (IEEE SW), Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development (JSERD), Information and Software Technology (IST), Journal of Systems and Software (JSS), Empirical Software Engineering (EMSE), Software Quality Journal (SQJ), and Journal of Software: Evolution and Process (JSEP).

The following evaluation criteria will be adopted for the selection of papers submitted as Journal-First:

• The paper describes original results that are not extensions of previous conference papers;
• The paper was accepted for publication on or after January 1, 2025;
• The paper was not accepted for presentation at another conference in the Journal-First category;
• The paper is a research paper or a literature review (systematic literature review or systematic mapping study) that addresses topics of interest listed for the SBES 2026 Research Track and was peer-reviewed.

The submission of journal-first papers should be done by July 13, 2026, through the following link: https://forms.gle/GjV38XoPXpnncJGG7.

Organization

Program Committee Coordinators – Research Track

Ivan Machado (UFBA)

Monalessa Barcellos (UFES)

Program Committee

Alessandro Garcia - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

Aline Brito - Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP)

Aline Miotto Amaral - Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM)

Allysson Allex Araújo - Universidade Federal do Cariri (UFCA)

Ana Carolina Oran - Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM)

Ana Patricia Fontes Magalhaes Mascarenhas - Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB)

Anderson José Silva de Oliveira - SERPRO

Anderson Uchôa - Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Andre Takeshi Endo - Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR)

Awdren de Lima Fontão - Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS)

Baldoino Fonseca - Universidade Federal de Alagoas (UFAL)

Breno Miranda - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

Breno Bernard Nicolau de França - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

Bruno B. P. Cafeo - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

Bruno Gadelha - Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM)

Carla Bezerra - Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Cláudio Sant'Anna - Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)

Crescencio Lima - Instituto Federal da Bahia (IFBA)

Davi Viana - Universidade Federal do Maranhão (UFMA)

Denivan Campos - University of Molise

Edna Dias Canedo - Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

Eduardo Aranha - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)

Eduardo Figueiredo - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

Elisa Y. Nakagawa - Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Emanuel Coutinho - Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Érica F. Souza - Universidade Federal Tecnológica do Paraná (UTFPR)

Everton Cavalcante - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)

Everton L. G. Alves - Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG)

Everton Tavares Guimaraes - The Pennsylvania State University, EUA

Fabiane Barreto Vavassori Benitti - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)

Fabiano Cutigi Ferrari - Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR)

Fabio da Silva Ferreira - Instituto Federal do Sudeste de Minas Gerais (IFSUDESTEMG)

Felipe Curty do Rego Pinto - Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF)

Fernanda Madeiral - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

Fernando Antonio Mota Trinta - Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Francisco Henrique Cerdeira Ferreira - Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF)

Genaina Rodrigues - Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

Gerson Sunyé - Université de Nantes, França

Glauco Carneiro - Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS)

Gleison Santos - Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)

Guilherme Avelino - Universidade Federal do Piauí (UFPI)

Heitor Augustus Xavier Costa - Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA)

Heleno de Souza Campos Junior - Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF)

Hudson Silva Borges - Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS)

Igor Steinmacher - Northern Arizona University, EUA

Igor Wiese - Universidade Federal Tecnológica do Paraná (UTFPR)

Jarbele Coutinho - Universidade Federal do Semi Árido (UFERSA)

Jerffeson Souza - Universidade Estadual do Ceará (UECE)

Jéssyka Vilela - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

João Eduardo Montandon - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

José Alexandre D'Abruzzo Pereira - University of Coimbra, Portugal

José Aldo Silva da Costa - Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG)

Juliana Alves Pereira - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

Julio Leite - Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)

Karina Kohl - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)

Kecia Ferreira - Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais (CEFET-MG)

Kiev Gama - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

Larissa Rocha Soares Bastos - Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS)

Leonardo Fernandes M. de Oliveira - Instituto Federal de Alagoas (IFAL)

Leonardo Gresta Paulino Murta - Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF)

Leopoldo Motta Teixeira - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

Leuson Da Silva - Polytechnique Montreal, Canadá

Lina Garcés - Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Lincoln S. Rocha - Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Luana Martins - University of Salerno, Itália

Lucas Vegi - Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV)

Luciana Zaina - Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR)

Manoel Mendonca - Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)

Marcelo de Almeida Maia - Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU)

Márcia S. Lima - Universidade do Estado do Amazonas (UEA)

Márcio O. Barros - Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)

Marcio Ribeiro - Universidade Federal de Alagoas (UFAL)

Marcos Kalinowski - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)

Maria Claudia Figueiredo Pereira Emer - Universidade Federal Tecnológica do Paraná (UTFPR)

Matheus Paixão - Universidade Estadual do Ceará (UECE)

Melina Mongiovi - Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG)

Mirko Perkusich - Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG)

Nabor Mendonca - Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR)

Paola Accioly - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

Patricia Gomes Fernandes Matsubara - Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS)

Patricia Machado - Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG)

Paulo Maia - Universidade Estadual do Ceará (UECE)

Paulo Malcher - Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA)

Rafael Maiani de Mello - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

Rafael Parizi - Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Farroupilha (IFFar)

Rafael Prikladnicki - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS)

Raphael Oliveira - Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS)

Renato de Freitas Bulcão Neto - Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG)

Ricardo Vilela - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

Rita Suzana Pitangueira Maciel - Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)

Rodrigo Andrade - Universidade Federal do Agreste de Pernambuco (UFAPE)

Rodrigo Bonifacio - Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

Rodrigo Pereira dos Santos - Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)

Rodrigo Rocha Gomes e Souza - Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)

Rogério Garcia - Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (Unesp)

Rohit Gheyi - Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG)

Rossana Maria de Castro Andrade - Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Sávio Freire - Instituto Federal do Ceará (IFC)

Sergio Soares - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

Sheila Reinehr - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUC-PR)

Silvia Regina Vergilio - Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR)

Simone da Silva Amorim - Instituto Federal da Bahia (IFBA)

Simone do Rocio Senger Souza - Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Tayana Conte - Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM)

Thaís Burity - Universidade Federal do Agreste de Pernambuco (UFAPE)

Thatiane de Oliveira Rosa - Instituto Federal do Tocantins (UFT)

Tiago Lima Massoni - Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG)

Troy Costa Kohwalter - Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF)

Uirá Kulesza - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)

Valter Vieira Camargo - Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR)

Vander R. Alves - Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

Vânia de Oliveira Neves - Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF)

Vinicius Cardoso Garcia - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE)

Vinicius Durelli - Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR)

Vítor E. Silva Souza - Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES)

Walter Nakamura - Universidade Federal Tecnológica do Paraná (UTFPR)

Windson Viana - Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)

Research Track