ICDE Camera Ready

Use this after acceptance. Reopen the current edition's camera-ready instructions, the IEEE author kit, the registration page, and the decision email before advising authors; IEEE publication mechanics are exacting and edition-specific.

Camera-ready audit

• Produce the IEEE Xplore-compliant final PDF: run the source through IEEE PDF-eXpress (or the current edition's validator) so fonts are embedded and the file passes Xplore checks.
• Complete the IEEE eCopyright form; the copyright notice line must appear on the first page exactly as IEEE specifies.
• Apply the final page limit and IEEE double-column template without margin or font edits; confirm the limit for this edition rather than assuming last year's.
• Because ICDE is single-blind, there is no de-anonymization step — author names were already on the paper. Do confirm the author list, order, and affiliations are final and correct for the permanent Xplore record.
• Integrate the reviewer- and area-chair-required changes precisely, without strengthening the contribution into something the reviewers never evaluated.
• Release the final artifact: the public, licensed repository and data, with the version that produced the paper's numbers tagged.
• Confirm registration and in-person presentation obligations; at least one author normally must register and present.

IEEE publication checklist

Step	Owner action	Failure if skipped
PDF-eXpress validation	Run source through the validator; fix font/embedding errors	Xplore rejects the final PDF
IEEE eCopyright	Complete the form; place the copyright line on page one	Paper is not published despite acceptance
Author list and order	Confirm final names/affiliations for the permanent record	Uncorrectable error in the Xplore citation
Required-change integration	Apply each area-chair/reviewer edit precisely	Meta-review promise unmet; possible hold
Artifact tag	Publish the licensed repo at the paper's version	Availability claim no longer reproducible
Registration + presentation	Register at least one author; confirm in-person slot	Paper withdrawn from proceedings

IEEE format reflow

• Switching from the review PDF to the camera-ready template can shift spacing; re-check every page break, figure placement, and table width after the flip.
• Wide system diagrams, algorithm listings, and multi-series performance plots often need full-column-width or full-page spans; verify nothing is clipped at column boundaries.
• Keep figure, table, algorithm, and theorem numbering identical to the reviewed version so the area chair's required-change list still maps onto the final text.
• Adding author blocks and acknowledgements can push content over the limit; budget the space before the deadline rather than discovering overflow on submission night.

Worked example: integrating a required change

The area chair required that the mechanism's memory cost move from the supplement into the main paper. Camera-ready move: add the cost table (or one summary row) to the evaluation section, one sentence interpreting the trade, and a pointer to the fuller supplement analysis — without adding new claims the reviewers did not see.

The TKDE extended-version path

• Selected best ICDE papers are invited to submit an extended version to IEEE TKDE. If your paper is invited, treat the journal version as a distinct, longer artifact — not a copy — with the additional experiments and formal treatment the conference page budget excluded.
• The separate TKDE Poster track is the inverse lane (recently TKDE-accepted articles present at ICDE); do not confuse the two when planning.

Hedged logistics

• Registration pricing, copyright-form mechanics, the PDF-eXpress validator link, and exact camera-ready dates change every edition; confirm against the decision email and the current author instructions.

Output format

[Camera-ready status] Ready / Needs fixes / Blocked
[Final package] <PDF / source / IEEE eCopyright / PDF-eXpress pass / artifact tag>
[Policy checks] <page / author list / presentation / registration / artifact release>
[Required-change map] <reviewer/AC concern -> final edit>
[TKDE path] <invited? y/n -> extended-version plan>
[Remaining owner] <person -> task>