Call for Papers

Important Dates:

All dates are 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth).

  • 4 December 2025: Submission CMT Site opens
  • 5 February 2026: Papers - Titles, abstracts and author lists due
  • 12 February 2026: Papers - Final submissions due
  • 9 April 2026: Acceptance decisions and reviews released
  • 30 April 2026: Camera ready and presenter registration deadline
  • 24-26 June 2026: NIME Conference

For questions about paper submissions, please contact the paper chairs at papers@nime2026.org. For general queries about NIME 2026, please contact the general chairs at general-chairs@nime2026.org.


Submissions

We welcome submissions of original research on scientific and artistic use of new interfaces for musical expression. A non-exhaustive list of NIME-related topics is found below. There are three different paper submission classes by word lengths (exclusive of references):

  • 6000 words (now “long”, formerly “long”)
  • 4000 words (now “medium”, formerly “short”)
  • 2000 words (now “short”, formerly “demo”)

Authors are encouraged to submit a paper with an appropriate length for the intended contribution. All length classes will undergo the same review process, with guidelines for reviewers expectations. We encourage authors to make use of the shorter classes. All length classes are eligible for oral or poster presentation if accepted. Papers are expected to have a contribution commensurate with their length. For the short paper category, we welcome submissions that propose an original and innovative technology, technical approaches, or prototype (with or without an accompanying evaluation) that provokes novel conversations and contribute meaningfully to the NIME field.

Original contributions are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • NIME 2026 theme: Communities. Topic 1: interviews with, reports on, or collaborations with artists/makers outside the NIME academic community
  • NIME 2026 theme: Communities. Topic 2: ethnographic or sociological study of new interface use outside the lab
  • Novel controllers, interfaces or instruments for musical expression
  • Augmented, embedded and hyper instruments
  • Technologies or systems for collaborative music-making
  • New performance paradigms for mobile music-making
  • Music-related human-computer interaction
  • Sensor and actuator technologies, including haptics and force feedback devices
  • Musical mapping strategies
  • Explorations of relationships between motion, gesture, and music
  • Evaluation and user studies of new interfaces for musical expression
  • Accessible interfaces for musical expression
  • Musical applications of robotics
  • Interactive sound art and installations
  • Performance rendering and generative algorithms
  • Machine learning in musical performance
  • Web-based music performance
  • Software frameworks, interface protocols, and data formats, for supporting musical interaction
  • Historical, theoretical, critical, or philosophical discussions about designing or performing with new interfaces
  • Discussions about the artistic, cultural, and social impact of NIME technology
  • Sonic interaction design
  • Pedagogical perspectives or reports on student projects in the framework of NIME-related courses
  • Practice-based research approaches/methodologies/criticism
  • Co-design or participatory design of new instruments and interfaces


Important notes for Papers:

  • Accepted papers will be published online on the conference website and eventually on NIME.org as part of the Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression.
  • All paper category submissions must be completely anonymised, including, but not limited to authors, references, and specific project names that can clearly identify the author(s).
  • A manuscript submitted for review cannot be already under review for publication elsewhere or be submitted for a second review elsewhere while under review for NIME.
  • At least one author of accepted submissions must purchase conference registration by the publication-ready deadline to be included in the conference.
  • Accepted submissions presented remotely in oral paper sessions will preferably be a live synchronous presentation.
  • Accepted submissions presented remotely for poster sessions will be by asynchronous pre-recorded video presentation.

Submission information is available here: https://nime2026.org/submissions/ 


Paper Review Process:

All paper submissions will be subjected to a rigorous double-blind peer review process by an international committee of experts. All submissions are evaluated in terms of originality, significance, research quality, and clarity. The process is as follows:

  • Each paper submission will be assigned to at least 3 reviewers for evaluation;
  • A meta-reviewer will moderate a discussion amongst reviewers, write a summary review, & recommend whether to accept the paper, and
  • The committee chairs will make the final decision on paper acceptance and will inform the author(s) of their decision along with the reviewers’ comments.

The review process is double-blind, meaning reviewers remain anonymous to the authors and vice-versa. It is expected that authors respect the NIME Ethical guidelines for NIME publications.