Call for Papers

We welcome submissions of original research on a variety of topics on conceptual modeling. These include well-established areas of research and practice, such as modeling languages and techniques, model theories, methods and tools for developing, transforming, implementing and communicating conceptual models. Submissions that lead to new foundations, links, applications, or enlarge current boundaries of conceptual modeling are especially welcome.

In celebrating the conference’s 45th anniversary this year, we especially invite contributions on the theme of CONCEPTUAL MODELING AND SUSTAINABILITY . Conceptual modeling plays a critical role in sustainability by offering structured ways to represent and connect complex environmental, social, and economic systems. In a year marked by accelerating climate impacts, policy transitions, and technological change, models help researchers and practitioners align assumptions, compare scenarios, and translate knowledge across disciplines. Continuing a long tradition, ER 2026 will host workshops to be held in conjunction with the main conference. These workshops serve as an intensive collaborative forum for exchanging innovative ideas about conceptual modeling, and for discovering new frontiers for its use. We specifically invite proposals for interactive workshops on new, emerging, or established topics in conceptual modeling, or its application in specific domains. We encourage workshop organizers to include activities that provide their participants with a true workshop experience. Topics of interest include foundations of conceptual models, theories of concepts, ontology-driven conceptual modeling and analysis, methods and tools for developing, communicating, consolidating, and evolving conceptual models, and techniques for transforming conceptual models into effective implementations.

Important Dates

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

• Paper abstract submissions (mandatory): May 5, 2026
• Paper submission: May 12, 2026
• Author notification: July 14, 2026
• Camera-ready papers and author registration: July 28, 2026

Topics of Interest

Specific examples of many other relevant topics include (but are not limited to):

Foundations of conceptual modeling:

• Human-centred and inclusive modeling
• Model explainability and transparency
• Automated and AI-assisted conceptual modeling
• Complexity management of large conceptual models
• Concept formalization, including data manipulation languages and techniques, formal concept analysis, and integrity constraints
• Domain-specific modeling
• Discovery of models, (anti-)patterns, and structures
• Evolution, exchange, integration, and transformation of models
• Justification and evaluation of models
• Interactive, dynamic, and adaptive modeling systems
• Logic-based knowledge representation and reasoning
• Multi-level and multi-perspective modeling
• Ontological and cognitive foundations
• Knowledge graphs and reasoning
• Quality paradigms and metrics
• Semantics in conceptual modeling
• Theories and methodologies for conceptual modeling
• Verification and validation of conceptual models

Conceptual modeling for:

• Data access, acquisition, integration, maintenance, preparation, transformation, and visualization
• Data management, including database design, performance optimization, privacy and security, provenance, transactions, queries
• Data value, variety, velocity, veracity, volume, and other dimensions
• Data-centric AI development
• Distributed, decentralized, ledger-based, parallel, and P2P databases
• Graph and network databases
• Object-oriented and object-relational databases
• SQL, NewSQL, and NoSQL databases
• Spatial and temporal databases
• Event-based and stream architectures
• Multimedia and text databases
• Approximate, probabilistic, and uncertain databases
• Web, Semantic Web, knowledge graphs, and cloud databases
• Synthetic data and simulation modeling
• Other data spaces

Conceptual modeling in:

• AI, data mining, data science, machine learning, explainable AI, LLMs, statistics
• Business, climate, compliance, economics, education, energy, entertainment, government, health care, law, sustainability, supply chains, etc.
• Collaboration, crowdsourcing, games, and social networks
• Business intelligence and analytics, Data warehousing
• Engineering, such as agile development, requirements engineering, reverse engineering, and model-driven engineering
• Enterprises, including the modeling of business rules, capabilities, goals, services, processes, values, software, and systems
• Ethics, fairness, responsibility, or trust
• Digital twins, fog and edge computing, Industry 4.0, Internet of Things
• Information classification, filtering, retrieval, summarization, and visualization
• Scientific data management, including FAIR scientific data practices

Conceptual modeling showcased by:

• Computational tools that advance the state-of-the-art
• Ethnographic, qualitative, empirical case studies, and experience reports of applications
• Comparative and benchmarking studies

Submission Guidelines for Papers and Review Process

We invite two types of papers: full papers and short papers:

• Full Papers (16 pages, including references) present fully developed research on a specific scholarly topic, although they are shorter than journal submissions.
• Short papers (10 pages, including references) present novel and promising work that is still in progress. Thus, short papers provide initial evidence that supports the arguments made, but final methodological steps related to the paper may not have been carried out at the point of paper submission. Accordingly, in addition to other typical criteria that research papers are assessed on (e.g., importance of research objectives, relevance and completeness of theory, appropriateness of methodology, etc.), short papers will also be assessed on the potential of their contributions, the feasibility of the proposed methodology, and the likelihood of completing the proposed work plan by ER 2026.

Both types of papers will be published in the LNCS series; authors will be asked to choose the type of paper at the time of submission.

To submit your paper, please use the following link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=er2026. Since the proceedings will be published by Springer in the LNCS series, authors must submit manuscripts using the LNCS style (see style files and details). Springer has provided a LaTeX template in Overleaf for your convenience.

ER 2026 follows a double-blind review process. Authors are therefore asked to remove all identifying information (self-references, acknowledgments, involved research projects, etc.) from the manuscript and use repository anonymization services like https://anonymous.4open.science to anonymize potential source code repositories and online supplementary material.

Manuscripts not properly anonymized or not aligned with the LNCS style or exceeding the page limit will be desk-rejected. Likewise, submissions that do not primarily focus on aspects of conceptual modeling shall be rejected without undergoing formal review. Papers submitted must not be under evaluation for or have already been published in, or accepted for publication, in a journal or another conference. Each paper admitted to the review process will be reviewed by at least three committee members in a double-blind process, with a meta-review provided by a program board member.

Post-Conference Special Journal Issue

The authors of selected papers will be invited to prepare a substantially revised and extended version of a Special Issue in Elsevier's Data & Knowledge Engineering (JCR 2024 Impact Factor 2.6).

Program Co-Chairs

• Anna Bernasconi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Marta Indulska, University of Queensland, Australia
• Sudha Ram, University of Arizona, USA