This LNCS volume contains the papers accepted for presentation at the 18th
Working Conference on Requirements Engineering: Foundation for Software Quality
(REFSQ 2012), held in Essen, Germany, during March 19–22, 2012.
Requirements engineering (RE) has long been recognized as a major factor for
achieving high-quality software-intensive, computer-based systems and services.
REFSQ seeks reports of novel ideas and techniques that enhance RE processes
and artifacts as well as reflections on current research and industrial practice
about and in RE. In proudly presenting this program of 2012, we are confident
that the REFSQ motto “I heard it first at REFSQ!” will be agreed upon by the
conference participants.
REFSQ, in this 18th incarnation, provided a well-established, leading international
forum with its special working conference format that promotes intensive
interaction and hands-on research work involving both academics and practitioners.
In particular, the appreciated REFSQ format involves, unlike many conferences
and workshops, a discussion time following a paper’s presentation that is (at least) as long as the presentation.
A total of 103 submissions were received, of which 84 papers entered the
review process (after rejecting those papers that were late, oversized, or clearly
out of scope). Each paper received reviews by three different members of the
Program Committee. Whenever the reviews for a paper showed any divergence,
the reviewers were asked to conduct a discussion electronically with the aim of
reaching a consensus. Eleven members of our Program Committee met in person
in Essen on December 2 to discuss the reviews of all papers and to agree on the
papers to be presented at the conference and included in the proceedings. Out
of the 84 peer-reviewed submissions, a total of 27 papers were accepted (14 long
papers, including 10 Full Research papers and 4 Experience Report papers; as
well as 13 short papers, including 9 Research Preview papers, 1 Vision paper,
and 3 Problem Statement papers). This yields an 18% acceptance rate for long
papers, and a 32% overall acceptance rate.
