FAST '27 Instructions for Presenters

The instructions below are for authors of papers accepted for publication at the 25th USENIX Conference on File and Storage Technologies (FAST '27). More information about preparing a talk or paper presentation for the conference will be made available at a later date. If you wish to submit a paper to, or deliver a talk at, another upcoming USENIX event, please review the open Calls for Papers and Calls for Participation for our upcoming USENIX conferences.

Visa

If you need an invitation letter to apply for a visa to attend the conference, please contact the Conference Department as soon as possible. Visa applications are reportedly taking more than three months to process. Please identify yourself as a presenter or an author, and include your mailing address in your email request.

Instructions for Authors of Refereed Papers

  1. Coordinate with your paper shepherd. All papers have an assigned shepherd who will review your paper before the final submission. Please coordinate with your shepherd so they have time for the review, and so you have time to respond to their requests. Your designated shepherd is listed in the submissions system. If you are unsure who your shepherd is, please contact [email protected].
  2. Final Papers deadline. A printable PDF of your final paper is due on or before the final paper deadlines listed below. If you have questions, please contact the Production Department.
    • Spring cycle: Upload your final paper to the submission system by Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
    • Fall cycle: Upload your final paper to the submission system by Tuesday, January 26, 2027.
  3. Maximum page length. Final papers should be no longer than 12 pages for long papers and no longer than 6 pages for short papers, excluding references.
  4. Paper format. Papers should be typeset in two-column format using 10-point type on 12-point (single-spaced) leading, in a text block 7" wide x 9" deep, with .33" inter-column space, formatted for 8.5" x 11" paper.
  5. Embed all fonts in your final paper PDF.
  6. Apply Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to your final PDF so it is searchable.
  7. Page numbers must be suppressed on your final paper PDF.
  8. Looking for templates? Templates and sample first pages (two-column format) for Microsoft Word and LaTeX are available on the USENIX templates page. Please ensure that your final paper is saved as a US letter-sized (8.5" x 11") PDF.
  9. Certify your final paper's title, author, and abstract in HotCRP. The final PDF's title and author information, including author order and affiliation, and the abstract, must exactly match the information entered into the HotCRP submission system. Please update the information in HotCRP as necessary, then check the certification checkbox. Please note: if you make any changes after you check the certification checkbox, you will need to check the box again.
  10. Sign the consent to publish form. Each author must sign a consent to publish form, which allows USENIX to publish the paper as well as any slides, audio, and/or video of your presentation. USENIX makes these freely available as part of our commitment to open access. Please review and e-sign the form. If you are the lead author, please be sure all of your co-authors sign a form as well.
  11. Use of images, audio, and video in your materials. It is very important that you secure permission to use copyright-protected materials in your slide deck, paper, presentation video, or any other materials used at our event or submitted for publication. Even when using an item with a Creative Commons license, you must read and comply with the terms of the license.

    USENIX receives copyright infringement notices from time to time, resulting from authors or speakers using copyright-protected materials without proper licensing or attribution. When this happens, we have to unpublish the work in question until/unless the issue is resolved. Licensing fees may be incurred, even when the work is unpublished, and USENIX will bill the author or speaker for any costs incurred. When possible, USENIX will refer the complainant directly to the author or speaker, who will be solely responsible for resolving the complaint.
  12. Embargo requests. All accepted papers will be listed on the website and made available online to registered attendees before the conference at a date that depends on their review cycle. If your accepted paper should not be published prior to the event, please notify the Production Department by the final paper deadline for your review cycle. All embargoed papers will be released on the first day of the conference.

Preparing Your Paper Presentation

  1. Designate Your Paper Presenter. The authors of each paper must designate one co-author to present the paper at the conference via the Presenter Information form that will be provided by the program co-chairs closer to the conference. The deadline to complete this form is Monday, February 8, 2027.

    If the paper presenter changes before the event, you are responsible for notifying the Conference Department so they can confirm that the new presenter is registered for the event. This information is required to ensure that all FAST '27 paper presenters are accounted for on the day of their presentation.
  2. Registration. As noted in the Call for Papers, at least one of the authors must register to attend the conference at full price (i.e., not the student rate) and to present the paper; USENIX members at the Sustainer level and higher may apply their membership discounts to their registrations. If an author plans to present more than one paper, one full-price registration will still be required for each paper. Registration information will be available on the FAST '27 website in December. Authors will also receive information about registration via email from the Conference Department. If the conference registration fee poses a hardship for the presenter of an accepted paper, please contact [email protected].
  3. A/V and technical setup at the conference. USENIX provides a projection screen and projector, plus the following:
    • A lavalier microphone for the presenter.
    • A confidence monitor.
    • Cables and extension cords: HDMI is provided for connecting your laptop to the projection system. Please check your device ahead of time and bring any special adapters you might need, including for Mini DisplayPort or USB-C.

    Note that laptops and clickers are not provided. In addition, presentation slides should be saved locally on the presenter's laptop rather than in the cloud.

  4. Presentation slides. Slides should be set up for a 16:9 aspect ratio. In order to make the content of your presentation available on the USENIX website immediately after the conference, please email a PDF of your slides to [email protected] as soon as possible after your presentation.

Instructions for Invited Speakers

  1. Registration. The Conference Department will contact you with instructions for registering for the conference online. All speakers must be registered to attend the conference.
  2. Sign the consent to publish form. All speakers must sign a consent to publish form, which allows USENIX to publish any slides, audio, and/or video of your presentation. USENIX makes these freely available as part of our commitment to open access. Please review and e-sign the form.
  3. A/V and technical setup at the conference. USENIX provides a projection screen and projector, plus the following:
    • A lavalier microphone for the presenter.
    • A confidence monitor.
    • Cables and extension cords: HDMI is provided for connecting your laptop to the projection system. Please check your device ahead of time and bring any special adapters you might need, including for Mini DisplayPort or USB-C.

    Note that laptops and clickers are not provided. In addition, presentation slides should be saved locally on the presenter's laptop rather than in the cloud.

  4. Presentation slides. Slides should be set up for a 16:9 aspect ratio. In order to make the content of your presentation available on the USENIX website immediately after the conference, please email a PDF of your slides to [email protected] as soon as possible after your presentation.

Contact

If you have questions, please contact the FAST '27 Program Co-Chairs, George Amvrosiadis and Peter Macko, or the USENIX Production Department.