According to the conference:

"Guidelines for Research Papers – Papers should not exceed 5,000 words, approximately 8 pages in ACM conference format (available at the site), including figures and references."

Ok, so I have 8 pages (7.5 pages to be precise), but my word count is 7000+ : (
Would this be acceptable? : /

Take the guidelines seriously!
1. Try to reduce words with the use of table AND figure.
A picture is worth more than a thousand words...

2. Reduce some least important references.
Some citations on textbooks may not be really very important.

3. Your supervisor is missing in action?
Or you are excluding your supervisor...

Thank you!

1. They can reject my paper if I exceeded that word count would they? (but it doesn't look like I've exceeded but a simple click on Word's count will show this) : /

2. I'm trying but it is as if when I removed certain citations, some data are lost or continuation is lost : /

3. I think this is my part (not theirs?)

They may not reject your paper.
But your paper just appears to be wordy.

Based on the word count, you may not have summarized your findings in table.
A good paper should have some nice figures... :/
Similarly, your powerpoint presentation should not be all words...

Guidelines are there for a reason - and yes, they will reject your paper if it is too long, or tell you to cut it down. 7000+ words is MASSIVE for a paper. If you have 7.5 pages but over 7000 words, your paper is clearly not in the correct format. Ask our supervisor for some guidance on where they think you could afford to lose some words.

Yes, they can reject your paper for not adhering to guidelines. Consider the reviewers' perspective.

obviously the last sentence of my post should read 'ask *your* supervisor'!!!

Hi Dan,
I am intrigued to know how you managed to get 7,000 words into 8 pages!.. in fact I was so intrigued I tried it... I managed it by using size 10 font, Ariel narrow and single line spacing. Of course though, the guidance for your particular conference will have it's own rules.
.. Keep to the word counts and adhere to any other rules they stipulate - they are there for a reason - or it will be rejected outright. Academic writing is all about being able to communicate clearly and concisely... it sounds like one or more of your sections is far too lengthy. Good luck! :)

I have just submitted a conference paper which is about 8700 words in 18 pages.
(They suggest 3000 to 6000 words.)
Anyway, they have already accepted it as Oral Presentation. So i feel safe to do it...

But maybe Dan wants to take a risk. just to check if this conference is interested in money? ;)

I don't want to take the risk! eek >.<
Waiting for a paper (to be accepted or rejected) is a misery for me; I don't want to give them a reason to reject me : /




Ha! You're a true researcher! *high five* :D

The Abstract is font 9 Times New Roman. Most of the content is 10. Reference is 8; I think this is why.
Title is 24 though.

Yes. I'm reading, reading, reading (omg, am I reading (and printing!)) my paper again and again to check for any redundant words.

Life as a researcher...

Ok that's unreadable. Far far too small font sizes. You need to stick to their guidelines, and not try to work around them by changing font sizes so they are unreadable.



You don't need to find redundant words, you need to find redundant paragraphs and sections. You are vastly over long and need to cut much more brutally than you have done.

The advice from others to stick to guidelines is spot on. Editors can reject papers for trivial reasons. Authors refusing to stick to guidelines (and not just a little bit out in your case) is not a trivial reason, and positively inviting for them to reject your paper.

That is from the guideline.

Ok my apologies. I'd contend that it's still unreadable for users though: daft guidelines!

Anyway my other advice still stands. You need to hack out paragraphs and maybe even a section, not word by word.

After a few days of work, I managed to drop from 7000+ words to the current 5300 words; would 5300 be ok?

At the moment, I'm not sure if the sentences and paragraphs are flowing : /

I recently marked an essay competition with two other judges. We each had to give every essay a score out of ten according to a mark scheme, but deduct one mark if it was over the word count.That meant that if an essay was too long, the maximum it could score from the three judges was a total of 27 out of 30, no matter how brilliant it was.

The highest score I awarded was 9.5, but that person had gone over the word limit so it became 8.5. The winning entry had scored a 9 from me. And it was well below the word limit.

So, you can risk it if you like, but you might get penalised so that your submission is not accepted. Or they might just read the first 5000 words and stop there (electronic submissions may just cut it off). The electronic system might not even work if you're over the limit.

Ask someone for help with this as they may be a bit more detached about what can go.