Submit an Abstract

The SDSS 2021 Program Committee accepted submissions for both refereed and lightning presentations. All refereed and lightning submissions focused on any one of the following six tracks:

  • Computational Statistics
  • Data Visualization
  • Education
  • Machine Learning
  • Practice and Applications
  • Software & Data Science Technologies

Only online submissions will be accepted for consideration.

Refereed Submissions – Submissions Due December 7, 2020    CLOSED

Submission opens: October 1, 2020
Submission closes: December 7, 2020
Decisions due: February 1, 2021

Refereed* abstract submissions will be accepted for consideration from October 1 – December 7, 2020 (11:59 p.m. ET). Submissions may be modified until the November 23 deadline. Decisions will be provided in mid-January.

All abstract submissions during this period will be refereed. The top-ranked submissions will be accepted for presentation at the conference. Past participants encouraged this change so SDSS would be more aligned with the culture existing at many prestigious computer science and machine learning conferences.

Each refereed abstract submission will consist of a 2,000-character abstract overview and two-page PDF document giving an extended abstract.

Please use one of the templates available here for formatting your extended contributed paper abstract submission for SDSS 2021. There are (3) options available:

Any references and figures should be included within the two pages. As explained above, these submissions may be modified from October 1 – December 7, 2020.

For details, view SDSS 2021 Program Chair Wendy Martinez’s Amstat News article about the new refereed contributed paper process.


*Refereed presentations will be up to 30 minutes in length.

Lightning Submissions – Submissions Due March 10, 2021    CLOSED

Submission opens: February 1, 2021
Submission closes: March 10, 2021
Decisions due: March 29, 2021

Lightning** abstracts will be accepted for consideration from February 1, 2021, to March 10, 2021 (11:59 p.m. ET).

Lightning Sessions are a “hybrid” of oral and e-poster sessions. Accepted lightning presentations will give a brief (3–4 minute) oral talk that acts as an “elevator pitch” for your e-poster presentation. The electronic poster (e-poster) at a later time also serves as an excellent teaching tool, allowing for direct and immediate feedback; broad exposure; and the ability to display extensive graphics, tables, and animations. An e-poster is like a traditional poster presentation but presented on a large computer screen. The ASA uses 42” LCD displays in the landscape position.


**Lightning talks will be 3–4 minutes in length, followed by an e-poster presentation of up to 60 minutes in length.

New for 2021!  Late-Breaking Sessions – Submissions Due April 15, 2021    CLOSED

Submissions Due: April 15, 2021
Decisions Due: April 30, 2021

A late-breaking session covers one or more technical, scientific, or policy-related topics that have arisen during the year prior to SDSS 2021.

Submit your proposal via email to meetings@amstat.org by April 15, 2021.

Proposals should contain the following:

  1. Session title, summary/description of content, explanation of the timeliness, and format
  2. Participant names (chair, speakers, organizer) and affiliations
  3. Title for each presentation
  4. Links to technical reports, white papers, or news reports (if available)

Be sure all participants have agreed to participate before submitting the proposal.

Key Dates

  • October 1, 2020
    Refereed Online Abstract Submission Opens
  • December 7, 2020
    Refereed Online Abstract Submission Closes
  • February 1, 2021
    Early Registration Opens
  • February 1, 2021
    Lightning Online Abstract Submission Opens
  • March 10, 2021
    Lightning Online Abstract Submission Closes
  • April 7, 2021
    Early Registration Deadline
  • April 7, 2021
    Speaker Registration Deadline
  • April 8, 2021
    Regular Registration (increased fees apply)
  • June 2, 2021 – June 5, 2021
    SDSS 2021