Artifact Track

Introduction

The Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality (SBQS 2026) will, for the first time, feature an Artifact Evaluation Committee and the awarding of artifact badges for papers that make their research artifacts available. This initiative is aligned with the principles of Open Science and aims to enhance transparency, reproducibility, and the potential for reuse of scientific results in the Software Quality community.

Starting with this edition, papers whose artifacts are successfully evaluated will receive official badges, which will be displayed in the final published version of the paper.

The Artifact Track has three main objectives:

  • (1) To encourage Open Science practices within the community.
  • (2) To recognize authors who share their research materials.
  • (3) To facilitate the identification of papers that provide accessible and executable artifacts.

Papers awarded badges tend to offer greater transparency, enabling other researchers to replicate experiments, validate results, and advance research through the reuse of these materials. Furthermore, such papers often gain greater visibility and recognition within the scientific community.

Authors of papers accepted to SBQS 2026, regardless of track, are eligible to submit artifacts for evaluation.

Important Dates

The artifact submission and evaluation process will follow the schedule below:

  • Artifact Submission: October 14, 2026 (together with the camera-ready version)
  • Notification: October 30, 2026
  • SBQS 2026: November 10–13, 2026

Types of Artifacts

The term artifact encompasses different types of materials produced during research, ranging from simple documents to complete software systems.

Examples of eligible artifacts include:

  • Datasets used or generated in the study.
  • Tools, libraries, or frameworks.
  • Qualitative research materials (e.g., interview guides, questionnaires, transcripts), subject to ethical considerations.
  • Machine learning models applied to Software Quality research.
  • Replication packages that enable the reproduction of the study results.

Artifact Badges

Submissions may receive two independent badges: Available and Functional.

Available Badge

The Available badge will be granted when:

  • The artifact is aligned with the content of the paper.
  • The artifact is deposited in a public, persistent repository with a DOI.
  • The artifact includes adequate minimum documentation through a README file

Functional Badge

The Functional badge will be granted when:

  • The artifact is relevant to the study.
  • The artifact is properly documented, including step-by-step instructions for its use or execution.
  • The artifact is complete, including all data and components necessary for its use or execution.
  • The artifact can be successfully used or executed by third parties exclusively based on the materials and instructions provided by the authors.

Benefits

Authors whose artifacts are approved will receive:

  • Inclusion of the awarded badge(s) on the first page of the paper.
  • Highlighting of the paper in the conference program and official event website.
  • Opportunity to present the artifact in a dedicated artifact session.
  • Eligibility for the SBQS 2026 Best Artifact Award.

Artifact Submission

Artifact submission is restricted to authors of papers accepted to SBQS 2026.

Artifacts must be organized in a clear and self-contained manner, including all information necessary for their use.

Artifact Preparation

The repository must contain:

  • Artifact files.
  • Detailed documentation:
    • For the Available badge: a README file and a public repository with a DOI.
    • For the Functional badge: step-by-step instructions together with all data and components required for execution or use.

A license specifying the conditions of use (an open license is strongly encouraged).

README (Mandatory):

  • General description of the artifact.
  • Organization of the repository contents.
  • Link to the paper (author version).
  • Additional information, when applicable
    • For datasets: storage information and ethical considerations.
    • For software: system requirements, installation instructions, and execution instructions.

The documentation should enable a Software Quality researcher with no prior knowledge of the project to understand, install (when applicable), execute, and use the artifact.

Artifact Availability

For the Available Badg

  • The artifact must be hosted in a public repository with a DOI, such as Zenodo, Figshare, Open Science Framework (OSF).
  • Non-persistent repositories, such as Google Drive or GitHub alone, are not accepted as the final archival version.

For the Functional Badge

  • The artifact repository may remain private during the evaluation process, provided that it is accessible to the Artifact Evaluation Committee.

Submission Process

Artifact submissions must be made through the official conference submission system and must include:

  • Title and authors of the paper.
  • A structured summary of up to two pages containing:
    • Description of the artifact.
    • Relationship between the artifact and the paper.
    • Access link.
    • Requested badge(s) and justification for eligibility.
    • Resources required for execution or use.
  • The name and contact information of one author who can be reached in case clarification is needed regarding installation or execution.

Organization

Rafael Parizi (IFFar) - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sávio Freire (IFCE) - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SBQS 2026 Artifact Evaluation Committee

To be defined.