Association for Computational Linguistics 2026 Workshop
July 4, 2026, San Diego CA
First Call for Submissions
Submission Portal: https://softconf.com/acl2026/batch2026/
Submission Deadline: March 26, 2026
From chatbots for text and image creation, to coding tools and the design of assistive “agents,” technologists leverage LLMs for systems that they strive to “align” with human values and needs. At the same time, research on the social impacts and possibilities of new AI implementations are increasingly central to scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Yet, opportunities to connect these efforts are surprisingly rare—curtailing the chance for researchers across disciplines to share up-to-date knowledge and collaborate on new ideas. This workshop offers an opportunity for technologists, humanists, and social scientists to bridge differences and establish common ground, discuss work in progress, and map out an interdisciplinary agenda for future research. The workshop will feature invited talks, contributed research talks and posters, a panel drawn from submitted position papers, and discussion time to collaborate on new research visions and plan a white paper to motivate future research.
We welcome submission of full papers of up to 8 pages of text in ACL format (plus bibliography), as well as short papers of up to 4 pages of text in ACL format (plus bibliography). Submissions for consideration for the workshop proceedings must be unpublished and anonymized, but we also welcome submissions summarizing relevant completed work, work in progress, and research statements whose authors wish to attend, present, and participate in the workshop without an archival publication.
Topics of interest include:
- interdisciplinary paradigms, benchmarks, and policies for assessing AI technologies and user experiences
- new benchmarks, datasets and other techniques for system evaluation including potential alternatives to anthropomorphic and “alignment” framings
- methods for studying real-world use beyond benchmark performance
- institutional perspectives on AI deployment and governance
- effective frameworks and techniques for participatory, community-centered and collaborative approaches to AI design, development and deployment (experimental designs, reflections, reports)
- computational techniques for improving real-world impacts of AI systems.
- position papers and critical statements motivating new research directions (e.g., RLHF, AI ethics/safety, design goals, de-anthropomorphized interactivity)
Invited Speakers:
- Michele Elam (Stanford University)
- David Leslie (Alan Turing Institute)
Important Dates:
- Submission deadline: March 26, 2026
- Notification of acceptance: April 28, 2026
- Camera-ready paper due: May 12, 2026
Organizing Committee:
- Malihe Alikhani (Northeastern University and Brookings)
- Camille Gagnier (Binghamton University and Critical AI)
- Lauren M. E. Goodlad (Rutgers University)
- Dan Roth (University of Pennsylvania and Oracle)
- Mark Sammons (Insight Global)
- Matthew Stone (Rutgers University)
Submission Instructions:
Contributions will be accepted via the softconf system at https://softconf.com/acl2026/batch2026/ All submissions must adhere to the two-column ACL format (Overleaf template (https://www.overleaf.com/read/crtcwgxzjskr) and downloadable templates (https://github.com/acl-org/acl-style-files) available). Submit electronically in PDF format.
Indicate with your submission whether it is a full paper or short paper, and whether it is intended for publication in the workshop proceedings. Long papers are allowed 8 pages, excluding references and appendices (reviewers are not obligated to consult appendices). Short papers are allowed 4 pages, excluding references and appendices.
Submissions for publication will undergo double-blind review, following ACL policies (https://www.aclweb.org/adminwiki/index.php?title=ACL_Author_Guidelines). BATCH 2026 cannot publish work that is currently under review elsewhere, or has been published elsewhere, including other conferences or journals with overlapping review periods.
We also offer the opportunity to share recent or ongoing work without a publication in the BATCH proceedings and without precluding future publication. Such submissions may summarize relevant completed work, work in progress, and research directions and need not be anonymized.