CALL FOR PAPERS

    12th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems
                                   (AAMAS 2013)

                                 Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
                                  May 6-10, 2013

                           http://aamas2013.cs.umn.edu/

** ABOUT AAMAS **

AAMAS is the leading scientific conference for research in autonomous agents and multiagent systems. The AAMAS conference series was initiated in 2002 by merging three highly respected meetings: the
International Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (ICMAS); the International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages (ATAL); and the International Conference on Autonomous Agents
(AA). The aim of the joint conference is to provide a single, high-profile, internationally respected archival forum for scientific research in the theory and practice of autonomous agents and
multiagent systems.

AAMAS 2013 is the twelfth conference in the AAMAS series, following enormously successful previous conferences, and will be held at the Crowne Plaza, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, May 6-10, 2013.

See http://www.ifaamas.org for more information on the AAMAS conference series.


** WHAT’S NEW? **

We realise that many of you will not read the CFP in detail. Please at least read the following points, which highlight significant recent changes.

1. The special track Challenges and Visions is new and includes perspectives papers.
2. Please make sure you are aware of the policy regarding prior publication and simultaneous submission, see http://aamas2013.cs.umn.edu/node/31.
3. Reviewing: after the AAMAS 2012 community discussion about double blind reviewing a committee looked into the matter and adviced the IFAAMAS board that then decided not to change the policy about
blind reviewing.

** TOPICS OF INTEREST **

Please visit the online CfP at http://aamas2013.cs.umn.edu/node/4.

** KEY DATES **

Electronic Abstract Submission:     October 8, 2012 (11:59 PM HST)
Full Paper Submission:              October 12, 2012 (11:59 PM HST)
Rebuttal Phase:                     November 27 - November 29, 2012 (11:59 PM HST)
Author Notification:                December 20, 2012 (11:59 PM HST)
Conference:                         May 6–10, 2013

** SUBMISSION **

AAMAS 2013 seeks high-quality submissions of full papers, limited to 8 pages in length. Submissions will be rigorously peer reviewed and evaluated on the basis of originality, soundness,
significance, presentation, understanding of the state of the art, and overall quality of their technical contribution. Reviews will be double blind; authors must avoid including anything that can
be used to identify them. Please note that submitting an abstract is required to submit a full paper. However, the abstracts will not be reviewed and full (8 page) papers must be submitted for the
review process to start. All work must be original (must not have appeared in a conference proceedings, book, or journal). In addition to submissions in the main track, AAMAS 2013 will be soliciting
papers in four special tracks. The review process for the special tracks will be similar to the main track, but with program committee members specially selected for that track. All accepted papers
for the special tracks will be included in the proceedings.

* Submission Instructions *

To register and submit your paper (in PDF format), please go to the submission
website: http://aamas2013.confmaster.net/ and follow the instructions.

Please keep in mind that you must submit an abstract by October 8, 2012 to be able to upload your paper (abstract submission is required to submit a paper, but abstracts will NOT be reviewed). The
abstract and paper submissions close at 11:59 PM Hawaii Standard Time (HST = GMT - 10:00) on Oct 8 and Oct 12 respectively.

If any substantial part of your work appeared previously, please provide the citation and a one sentence description of the differences in the box provided. It is OK to submit work that has
previously appeared in a workshop (without an associated archival publication). For such papers simply fill in the paper and workshop info. For papers that build on earlier work that appeared in an
archival publication, please provide the citation and a one sentence description of the key advances/differences. This information will be kept from the reviewers to ensure a double-blind review and
will only be used by the program chairs.

* Formatting Instructions *

The page limit for AAMAS 2013 submissions is 8 pages.  The format follows the ACM proceedings guidelines and consists of balanced double columns, 9 pt text, 1" (2.54cm) margins top and bottom, and
0.75" (1.9cm) margins left and right. Each column is 3.33" (8.45cm) wide with a separation of 0.33" (0.83cm). A LaTeX style file and a Microsoft Word template will be available soon on the
conference web site (http://aamas2013.cs.umn.edu/). Please do not modify the style files, or any layout parameters.

To ensure the effectiveness of the double-blind review process, make sure to put paper numbers (provided upon paper registration) instead of author names.  In addition, please ensure that any
references to your own previous work is made in a way that does not disclose author identity (for example, instead of "in previous work, we have shown X [ref]" use "X was shown in [ref]"). In some
cases where the work is clearly a continuation of your earlier work, you may consider removing citations to your own work until the final version (for example, "we have shown X [ref]" where [ref]=
"Anonymous, 200X"). Please also check that the PDF file submitted does not contain embedded identifying information.

* Mandatory Sections *

The mandatory sections of the ACM styles are also mandatory for AAMAS 2013 submissions. Not only will these sections help select the reviewers, but according to ACM: "these index terms effect the
ease and accuracy of retrieval within the Digital Library which ultimately benefits authors by allowing for greater distribution of their work". Thus, although it may not be trivial to find the
appropriate classification information, you should make an effort filling these sections:

1. Categories and Subject Descriptors:
   Details of the ACM Computing Classification Scheme are available at http://www.acm.org/about/class/1998/.

2. General Terms:
   This section is limited to the following 16 terms:
   Algorithms, Management, Measurement, Documentation, Performance, Design, Economics, Reliability, Experimentation, Security, Human Factors, Standardization, Languages, Theory, Legal Aspects,
Verification.

3. Keywords:
   This section is your choice of terms you would like to be indexed by.  Please refer to the Call for Paper page for a list of topics.


** SPECIAL TRACKS **

In addition to submissions in the main track, AAMAS-2013 will be soliciting papers in four special tracks.  The review process for the special tracks will be similar to the main track, but with
program committee members specially selected for that track.

* Special Track on Robotics (Chairs: Daniele Nardi and Monica Nicolescu) *
Papers that advance theory and applications of single and multiple robots are welcome, specifically those focusing on real robots that interact with their environment. Papers should clearly explain
how the work addresses challenges in robotics, opportunities for novel applications, and fundamental research issues in autonomous robotic systems. The goal is to demonstrate the synergy achieved
from integration of research in agents and robotics.

* Special Track on Virtual Agents (Chairs: Stefan Kopp and Catherine Pelachaud) *
Virtual agents are embodied agents in interactive virtual or physical environments that emulate human-like behavior. We encourage papers on the design, implementation, and evaluation of virtual
agents as well as challenging applications featuring them. The goal is to provide an opportunity for interaction and cross-fertilization between the AAMAS community and researchers working on
virtual agents and to strengthen links between the two communities.

* Special Track on Innovative Applications (Chairs: Bo An and John Thangarajah) *
Due to the growing maturity of the field there are now agent-based applications in widespread use across many domains, responsible for the generation of significant revenues, or the saving of major
costs, or for supporting important public policy and business strategy decision-making. This special track provides the ideal forum to present, discuss and demonstrate your compelling applications,
agent system deployment experiences, and new business ideas. The goal is to promote the fostering of mutually-beneficial relationships between those doing foundational scientific research and those
making autonomous agents and multi-agent systems a commercial or public policy reality.

* NEW Special Track on Challenges and Visions (Chair: Jeff Rosenschein) *
In cooperation with the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), AAMAS 2013 invites submissions to a special Challenges and Visions track. The emphasis of this track is on visionary ideas, long term
challenges, and new research opportunities that are outside the current mainstream of the field. This track is designed to overcome the constraints of the traditional review process, and will serve
as an incubator for innovative approaches, risky and provocative ideas, and to propose challenges and opportunities for the field in the near future. To encourage researchers to present truly
visionary concepts, the CCC is offering prizes for up to 3 top papers in this special track: first prize $1000, second prize $750, and third prize $500, to be awarded as travel grants.