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Insights Into the Papers Track First Round Outcomes

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By Sven Mayer, Guo Freeman, and Cristina Zaga.

As the resubmission phase at CHI 2026 has wrapped up, we wrote this blog post to provide insights into the papers track first round outcomes, including: how many papers were submitted to CHI 2026 and how many papers were entered into the second round of reviewing in December 2025. This post primarily focuses on Round 1 outcomes, with Desk Reject (DR) and Assisted Desk Reject (ADR) decisions presented as rejections. We will provide further statistics about the DR/ADR decisions and Round 2 outcomes in separate blogs.

Increase in Submissions

Overall, we saw an increase in submissions to CHI 2026’s Papers track. This year, we received 6,730 complete submissions (6,725 without withdrawn papers as of today). This represents a significant increase compared to 2025 (5,014, increase of 34%), 2024 (4,046, increase of 66%), and 2023 (3,182, increase of 57%). 

Subcommittee Load

Submissions to the CHI Papers track are made to one of eighteen subcommittees. These subcommittees have a topic focus (e.g., Health, Design, User Experience, Games & Play). Figure 1 summarizes the number of submissions made to the subcommittees in 2026.

The bar chart shows the number of complete CHI paper submissions across subcommittees, with counts ranging from 135 to 537 papers. The highest-submission areas are Learning, Health, and Design, each with more than 485 submissions. The lowest-submission areas are Developing Novel Devices with 135 submissions and Visualization with 189 submissions. All other subcommittees fall between these values, highlighting substantial variation in submission volume across topics.”
Figure 1: Number of completed paper submissions per subcommittee (N=6725). 

Overall, the number of completed submissions to all subcommittees increased in 2026 compared to 2025. Figure 2 provides further insight into the growth of the subcommittees. Figure 2 indicates that all subcommittees show a significant increase in submissions, but for two (Developing Novel Devices, and Visualization). The number of submissions to both has been relatively stable over the last 3 years.

The grouped bar chart compares the number of complete CHI paper submissions per subcommittee across three years: 2024, 2025, and 2026. All subcommittees show increases over time. In most areas, submissions rise modestly from 2024 to 2025 and then increase more strongly from 2025 to 2026. Learning, Health, and Design exhibit the largest growth. Lower-volume subcommittees such as Developing Novel Devices and Visualization also increase, though they remain the smallest categories. Overall, the chart highlights a consistent upward trend in submissions across all subcommittees over the three-year period.
Figure 2: Number of completed paper submissions per subcommittee and year. 

Review Scales

Before we discuss the outcome, here is a reminder of the scales used during the CHI 2026 review process. Reviewers and ACs provide a recommendation (recommendation category out of 5 choices) and can further contextualize their recommendation based on originality, significance, and research quality (each a 5-point ordinal scale from Very Low, Low, Medium, High, and Very High). However, the decision to qualify for a Revise and Resubmit depends on whether one of the ACs (1AC or 2AC) recommends a Revise and Resubmit (RR) or higher ratings (A or ARR).

Short NameName On Review FormThreshold for Revise & Resubmit
AI recommend Accept with Mi in nor RevisionsYes
ARRI can go with either Accept with Minor Revisions orRevise and ResubmitYes
RRI recommend Revise and ResubmitYes
RRXI can go with either Reject or Revise and ResubmitNo
XI recommend RejectNo

Decision (After Round 1 Review)

Of all the completed submissions, including the Desk Rejects (DR), for 2026, 4,122 (61.3%) papers were Rejected (X1) after the first round of review, and 2,603 (38.7%) were invited to the Revise & Resubmit (RR) round. For comparison, in 2024, 40.4% of papers moved into RR, and in 2025, 39.3%. Figure 3 shows the differences between the subcommittees, and Table 1 presents all RR rates.  Overall, the RR rate ranges between 27.46% (Computational Interaction) and 50.98% (Critical Computing).

The stacked bar chart shows the percentage of CHI paper submissions per subcommittee that received either an Accept with Minor Revisions (X1) decision or a Revise and Resubmit (RR) decision. Across all subcommittees, X1 decisions make up the majority share, typically between about 55 percent and 70 percent. RR decisions account for the remaining 30 percent to 45 percent. Although the exact proportions vary slightly by subcommittee, the overall pattern is consistent: most papers receive an X1 decision, with RR decisions forming a smaller but substantial portion. No subcommittee shows an unusually high or low proportion relative to the overall trend.
Figure 3: Visualization of the percentage of Revise & Resubmit rate per subcommittee.  
SubcommitteeTotal Count# Rejected# Moving To RR% Moving To RR
Accessibility45826519241.9
Blending Interaction41524716840.5
Computational Interaction3362439227.4
Critical Computing40820020851.0
Design48530118437.9
Developing Novel Devices135845137.8
Games and Play2111456631.3
Health50734815831.2
Interacting with Devices40824316440.2
Interaction Beyond the Individual31316015348.9
Learning53737116630.9
Privacy and Security29716613144.1
Specific Applications Areas36921515441.7
Understanding People (Mixed)42026915136.0
Understanding People (Qual)43726217439.8
Understanding People (Quant)44224519744.6
User Experience and Usability36324711632.0
Visualization1891117841.3
Total67304122260338.7
Table 1: Revise & Resubmit rates per subcommittee.

Overview Review Scores

Figure 4 displays a histogram of submissions based on the overall score after the first round of reviews, along with the corresponding decision. As DR and ADR do not get a score, they are excluded from this chart.

This year, at last, one associate chair needs to give an RR and above for papers to go into the second round. 

The histogram shows the distribution of overall reviewer scores for CHI submissions, separated by decision outcome. Submissions that received an Accept with Minor Revisions (X1) decision cluster around lower overall scores, primarily between 1.0 and 2.3, with a steep decline beyond that range. Submissions that received a Revise and Resubmit (RR) decision cluster around higher overall scores, mainly between 2.5 and 3.8, with some extending up to 5.0. The chart highlights a clear separation between the two distributions, indicating that papers with higher overall scores are more likely to receive an RR decision, while papers with lower scores are more likely to receive X1.
Figure 4: The overall core and the decision as a stacked histogram.

Outcomes Based on Submission Length

As in previous years, this year’s Papers track will continue to feature different submission length categories. Submitted papers are divided into three categories: Short (under 5,000 words), Standard (between 5,000 and 12,000 words; averaging 7,000-8,000 words), and Excessive (over 12,000 words). Table 2 provides a summary of submissions by type, detailing the number of papers submitted and their outcomes. For simplicity, this table provides a summary of reviewed papers (excluding desk rejections) that received either a “Revise & Resubmit” or “Reject” decision.

Paper LengthTotal Count# Rejected# Moving To RR% Moving To RR
Short5554579817.66
Standard61173625248740.66
Excessive58401831.03
Total67304122260338.70
Table 2: The Revise & Resubmit grouped by the paper length category.