Links within this page: Track Benefits | Key Dates | Submission and Programme Build Process | Live/Virtual Platform Talks | Abstract Sharing Tool | Notification Templates | Tutorial video
COSI Track Benefits
- COSIs receive four (4) complimentary registrations. Please note that the code does not allow a non-member to receive the complimentary ISCB membership and will not work if the free membership is chosen.
- Speaker Funding - $1000 per COSI per day to support the TRAVEL of invited speakers. Speakers who will not be presenting in person may not take advantage of funding. COSIs may choose to use their escrow funding to give stipends, honoraria, purchase additional registrations, etc.
- Attendee Commissions - At the end of the conference, ISCB will calculate the COSI commissions. Commissions are based on the number of registrants identifying your group as one of their COSIs of interest. A registrant may select up to four COSIs when purchasing a conference registration. A set commission rate is applied to each paid registrant and shared based on percentage to the COSI(s) of interest.
- Unrestricted use of your COSI's escrow funds to support COSI track speakers or additional events.
- Any sponsorship raised by a COSI goes to that COSI's escrow. Note: COSIs are responsible for fulfilling any benefit promised to a COSI-only sponsor. Sponsors wishing to participate in the exhibit hall, for example, would need to pay the conference exhibitor fees.
Open Science Track (formally Invited Sessions or Special Sessions) Benefits
- Open science tracks receive two (2) complimentary registrations. Please note that the code does not allow a non-member to receive the complimentary ISCB membership and will not work if the free membership is chosen.
Key Dates
Submission and Programme Build Process
The rest of this page regularly refers to different roles. These roles have been bolded to emphasize which roles are associated with different tasks. This document outlines the roles and their responsibilities as well.
EasyChair Track Build and Submission Requirements
- Each track manages the decision and notification process for abstracts submitted to that track.
- Each track identifies 2 or 3 abstract chairs from within their community to manage the review process for their track. If separate abstract chairs are not identified, the track organizers will serve in this role. These individuals will be added to EasyChair as track chairs.
- Abstract chairs are responsible for identifying a programme committee to review the abstracts for talk and poster presentations within their track. Abstract chairs will add the programme committee members to their track within EasyChair.
- Authors may submit abstracts for consideration as:
- Poster only
- Talk or Poster (abstracts in this category should be considered for a poster if they are not accepted for a talk).
- Ideally, each abstract should get a minimum of two (2) reviews and preferably three (3).
- Abstract chairs are encouraged to quickly review the abstracts that are submitted to their track. If a submitted abstract is not relevant to your track, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as quickly as possible, and the submission will be transferred to a more appropriate track. Please identify the track you suggest is most appropriate to receive the transfer.
- Abstract chairs must report their tentative talk/poster acceptance decisions to ISCB via the abstract sharing tool, so that submissions that are not accepted for a talk by the primary track can be made available for consideration by other tracks.
- Abstract chairs are responsible for notifying the authors of all abstracts submitted to their track of acceptance or rejection (via EasyChair)
- Abstract chairs are required to use the Acceptance and Rejection Template Letters provided by ISCB.
- Notifications to authors should state whether the abstract was accepted for a longer talk (of a specified time), a shorter talk, a poster, or rejected.
- Easychair provides how-to videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@easychair966
- Easychair provides how-to articles here: https://easychair.org/help/
- Each presenter will need to register for the conference and sign a Confirmation of Participation (CoP), sent from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- To complete the form, it is also required that the presenter be registered for the conference. This is confirmed by providing the conference registration confirmation number. It is available in the confirmation email sent upon successful completion of registration. This number is unique to the registrant and cannot be used for more than one presentation on the same work. The presenter is asked to provide permission under CC-By4.0 for ISCB to store and share their recording, in that order. These permissions are required as ISCB is GDPR compliant, and we cannot keep or share the recording without explicit permission from the presenter. The permission to share the recording can be updated at any time by the presenter through the ISCBtv page ( https://www.iscb.org/iscbtv). Recordings we are not granted permission to keep cannot be recovered, and so those permissions cannot be updated once submitted. Denying permission to keep a recording will force a denial to share said recording.
- The CoP MUST be completed for submitted abstracts no later than 21 days before the start of the conference; no extensions will be granted. Any submitted presentation that has not submitted a CoP will be assumed as being declined, and the presentation will be removed from the schedule or poster pool.
- All presentations, virtual or in-person, invited or submitted, must submit a CoP.
- Talk durations can vary, but talks must be scheduled in blocks that end on the top of the hour or every twenty minutes (:00, :20, :40), with time for questions included. You may have shorter talks IF they end on these limits.
- Abstract chairs are responsible for reviewing Late Poster submissions to their track.
- Track organizers may wish to recognize a top talk and/or poster. If doing so, the track is responsible for awarding their own prizes. The information of the prize winner: name, affiliation, and title must be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. no later than an hour before the closing awards ceremonies so the award can be recognized.
Track Schedule and Presentations
- Tracks must provide their detailed schedule (including titles, authors, and start/end times) using the schedule builder provided by ISCB. If you have not received the credentials to log in to the Schedule Builder for your track, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
- Track schedules are available on the conference website under Programme & Schedule -> Scientific Programme -> <Track name>
- These schedules will also be available through the online ISCB Nucleus platform
Invited Talks
- With limited exceptions, all invited talks are expected to be in-person.
- Track organizers must provide ISCB a list of confirmed invited speakers (name, affiliation, email) when completing the schedule builder. All presenters must be registered for in-person attendance.
Posters
- All abstracts accepted for poster presentation will receive instructions on how to enter their poster to the ISCB Nucleus platform.
- ISCB will use the abstract, title, and author list, as entered in EasyChair.
-
We require that in-person presenters upload, at a minimum, a PDF or an MP4, but prefer they upload both so that our virtual attendees get the most from their work. This also serves to extend the life of their work so that all attendees are able to watch it on demand after the conference. Virtual presenters are required to upload both.
Presentations
- All talks should be presented in person, with limited exceptions for health reasons (see Live/Virtual Platform Talks).
- All virtual talks must be pre-recorded by the presenting author and submitted via the ISCB Nucleus platform
Communication with Presenters
ISCB and Performedia will handle the communications with all presenters on how to upload talks and use the ISCB Nucleus platform.
- ISCB will handle the communication for the Confirmation of Participation.
- All presenters must be registered for the conference. Complimentary passes can be allocated however track organizers wish. Additional passes can be covered from track escrow, if applicable.
- ISCB also has a fellowship program that grants a limited number of complimentary ISMB registrations (in-person or virtual). Fellowships are prioritized based on career level and income status of the applicant's country of residence.
Logistics and Track Execution
- Track organizers are responsible for monitoring their tracks on their scheduled day(s).
- Session moderators are required to monitor Q&A from both the in-person and virtual audiences and to ensure the track remains on schedule
- Virtual questions should get priority over in-person questions as virtual attendees are unable to talk to the presenters during breaks or after talks.
- We suggest assigning 2-3 individuals to share the work of monitoring sessions.
- ISCB will assign a volunteer technical moderator to each of your sessions to assist with AV and ISCB Nucleus platform needs
Live/Virtual Platform Talks
For a variety of reasons, ISCB strongly prefers that scientific research accepted for oral presentation be presented in person at the conference venue. We understand that some presenters will have valid reasons to avoid in-person attendance. ISCB will grant remote presentation options for reasons associated with maternity/paternity leave, care for a family member, personal/medical disability, sickness, financial hardship, or potential visa problems. If research is accepted for oral presentation and the presenter is unable to present in person, ISCB requires notification ASAP. If unable to participate in person, the presenter will need to request a waiver by writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Any pre-approved virtual presenters will be required to provide a pre-recorded talk in advance of the conference as a precaution due to possible technical issues.
In-person presenters MUST use the provided podium computer (PC) to present slides. Video of the presenter is captured with an in-room webcam. Audio and slides are captured through the in-house AV system. A volunteer technical moderator (VTM) is responsible for ensuring the image, slides, and sound are transmitted/available through the ISCB Nucleus platform to virtual participants.
A session moderator will be responsible for introducing speakers, keeping talks on time, and moderating questions from the live and virtual audiences.
Acceptance and Rejection Template Letters
All abstract chairs will be required to use the provided templates to notify the submissions within your track of their status (Accepted Talk, Accepted Poster, Reject). All red text should be edited for your track specifics. Templates are available at the bottom of this page.
Abstract Sharing Tool
For the past several years, we have used an abstract sharing spreadsheet to ensure quality submissions might have the opportunity for presentation in an alternate track if not selected for a talk within the originating track. This year, a site has been created to replace the spreadsheet and will update tracks via email as abstracts are passed or requested between tracks. As track chairs can only see abstracts in your area, the tool is a way of sharing basic information on all submissions outside of EasyChair.
As you continue your review process, we ask that you update the sharing tool to let others know the status of your submissions. For example, a quality submission that might only be accepted by your track as a Poster could be offered a talk with another track.
Each abstract can be given the following decisions:
- Accept Talk - Track will accept this for a Talk
- Accept Poster - Track will accept this as a Poster
- Reject - Abstract not acceptable for presentation (IE, scientifically unsound)
- Available to another track - Submission is better suited for another track
The tool is available through the Schedule Builder link that will be emailed out to you once it's open.
**Remember, you must still enter your final decisions in EasyChair, and if no other track requests a submission, be moved from your area, you still need to complete the review**
Notification Templates
Use the templates below when sending notifications to submitters.
Talk and Poster/ Poster Only Reject Template
Tutorial Video
Note: The multi-word name issue has (finally) been resolved, and the instructions on the schedule builder have been updated.
Links within this page: Key Dates | Organization | Compensation | Submitting a Proposal | Review of Proposals | Tutorial Materials | Recording and Copyright | Contact
The purpose of the Tutorials program is to build knowledge and provide hands-on training in "cutting-edge" topics relevant to the bioinformatics field and the COSI communities. Tutorials offer participants an opportunity to get an introduction to important established topics in bioinformatics, to learn about new areas of bioinformatics research, or to develop advanced skills in areas about which they are already knowledgeable.
Tutorials may include any form of presentation, such as brief talks or panel discussions, but should include hands-on exercises. Tutorials serve an educational function and are expected to provide a balanced perspective on a field of research. They should not focus on the presenters' own research or software, unless balanced with other tools in the same realm. However, tutorials on broadly used bioinformatics tools will be considered. Please note that if you wish to focus your talk on a demo of a specific software package, your proposal should be submitted to the Technology Track.
Potential topic areas (a list of Tutorials presented in 2025 is available here) may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Data analysis topics:
- Single-cell
- Multiomics integration
- Spatial transciptomics
- Metagenomics
- Proteomics
- Alphafold and/or Structural biology
- any other life sciences data
- Data visualization for bioinformatics
- AI and Machine Learning for bioinformatics
- Translational informatics: Opportunities for bioinformatics in the clinical realm
- How to make your software sustainable and reusable for open access or commercial usage
- Biological sciences for bioinformaticians (eg aimed at Comp-science graduates with less/no prior biology knowledge)
- Workflow tools (eg Snakemake, NextFlow)
- Bioinformatics on cloud platforms
- Best practices (eg learning github, using pytorch, Python coding standard PEP8 etc)
Key Dates
This call is an open invitation to scientists and professionals working in the fields of bioinformatics and computational biology to submit high-quality proposals for Tutorials at ISMB 2026.
Organization
Tutorials can be planned to be either in-person at the ACC Liverpool or fully online, but should not be hybrid. (eg. tutorial presenters and participants should either be fully online or in-person). There is a set limit on the number of in-person tutorials but fewer limits on the number of selected virtual tutorials.
Tutorials presented in-person will be held on July 12, 2026. Tutorials presented online will be held on a weekday prior to the conference start. If submitting an online tutorial proposal, you will be asked to confirm your preferred time zone for presentation.
Tutorials timing for full-day or half-day sessions:
In-person: July 12, 2026 (Eastern Daylight Time - EDT)
Full Day Schedule: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm, (10:45-11:00 am Coffee; Lunch Break 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm; Coffee Break at 4:00 - 4:15 pm)
Half Day Schedule: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm (Break at 10:45-11:00 am) or 2:00-6:00 pm (Break at 4:00 - 4:15 pm)
Virtual: July 6-7, 2026 (Eastern Daylight Time - EDT)
Full Day Schedule: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm (10:30-10:45am, 12-1pm, and 2:30-2:45pm)
Half Day Schedule: 9:00 am - 1:00 pm (Breaks at 10:30-10:45am and 11:45am-12:00pm) or 2:00-6:00 pm (Break at 3:30-3:45pm and 4:45 - 5:00 pm)
Compensation
The conference organizers are able to offer a complimentary conference registration for up to 3 tutorial presenters. Tutorial organizers may choose to share the value of the complimentary registration if the tutorial has additional presenters.
Submitting a Proposal
Tutorial proposals should contain the following information in a maximum of 4 pages:
- Title of Tutorial
- Abstract for Tutorial
- Learning Objectives for Tutorial
- Short promotional blurb for promotion if selected
- Maximum number of attendees participating
- Draft Schedule of the tutorial, including coffee breaks (half-day or full-day schedule) - Include draft talk titles or draft content to be covered in each section
- Identify and highlight blocks of hands-on content in your submission
- Draft List of Tutorial Speakers with titles and affiliations
- Intended audience and level - Describe the audience for which the Tutorial is aimed, and at which level it would be taught (e.g., beginner, past experience, advanced knowledge).
The final proposal must be uploaded as a PDF file only.
During the submission process to provide a brief description of the tutorial that will be used on the website to promote it to delegates, and to confirm that if selected, you will submit draft and final tutorial materials for committee review by the listed deadlines
Review of Proposals
All tutorial submissions will be evaluated by a committee, which will consider the following criteria:
- Relevance, interest, and value of the topic to ISMB attendees and COSI communities
- The tutorial should achieve a good balance between the theoretical component and hands-on exercises
- Completeness, clarity, and quality of the proposal and materials, including the schedule of the tutorial
- Educational value and effectiveness of the proposed presentation approach
- Overlap with tutorials held in 2025
- Educational value and effectiveness of the proposed presentation approach, and FAIRness of the data, tools, and content
Tutorial Materials
The tutorial speakers agree to provide participants with teaching materials that include:
- Copies of the final slides in PowerPoint or PDF format for posting online.
- Copies of relevant articles/book chapters published by the presenters are provided as Supplementary
- Information. Presenters will have to obtain copyright permission from their publishers, as required.
- Links to repositories containing training materials.
- Make your training materials FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) as much as possible.
Recording and Copyright
Virtual tutorial programs will be recorded to serve as online learning tools following the conference. In-person tutorials are not recorded.
The presenters will be asked to grant copyright of tutorial recordings and materials to the ISCB under CC-BY4.0. In order to be GDPR compliant, permission is required from every presenter.
Contact
Correspondence from prospective instructors should be sent to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Links within this page: Proceedings Overview | Proceedings Publication Fee | Areas | Proceedings Key Dates | Review Process | Transfers to Bioinformatics Advances | Submission Guidelines | Conference Proceedings | Hybrid Format | Contact
Proceedings Chairs:
Karsten Borgwardt, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany
Jian Ma, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Proceedings Overview
ISMB 2026 invites submissions of full papers (not abstracts) consisting of new, unpublished work, reporting theoretical, computational, and statistical advances in computational biology and its intersections with other fields.
Submissions are encouraged to report on advances in algorithm development and optimization, data structures, data visualization, artificial intelligence/machine learning, text mining, statistical inference, database and ontology development, image analysis, citizen and open science, etc., to analyze all types of biological data.
While we encourage submissions in new and emerging areas, we expect that the majority of submissions addressing topical biological domains will fall into one of the areas below. Please note that during the EasyChair submission process, you will: 1) select your "Area" (list below) and 2) select one or more of the Communities of Special Interest (COSIs) best suited for the presentation of your research from within the area. (learn more about COSIs here).
For a variety of reasons, ISCB strongly prefers that scientific research accepted for oral presentation be presented in person at the conference venue. We understand that some presenters will have valid reasons to avoid in-person attendance. ISCB will grant remote presentation options for reasons associated with maternity/paternity leave, care for a family member, personal/medical disability, sickness, financial hardship, or potential visa problems. If your research is accepted for oral presentation and you are unable to present in person, ISCB requires notification at the time of acceptance and no later than May 12, 2026. You will be asked during your confirmation of participation to confirm your in-person participation. If unable to participate, you will need to request a waiver by writing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Any pre-approved virtual presenters will be required to provide a pre-recorded talk for the virtual platform library in advance of the conference as a precaution due to possible technical issues.
ISMB 2026 follows the ISCB policy for acceptable use of large language models (https://www.iscb.org/iscb-pol
Proceedings Publication Fee
Authors of accepted Proceedings papers are responsible for the publication fee of $700 USD. This is a substantial reduction from the publication fees customary for OUP journals. ISCB is committed to supporting all of its members, especially those from underdeveloped nations and/or those without funding. If your manuscript is accepted and you are unable to pay for the publication fees in part or in full, you may submit a fee waiver request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please provide your name, full institute address, and a short (up to 50 words) justification of why you are unable to cover the publication fee with the subject line of ISMB 2026 Publications Fee Waiver Request.
Publication fee payments are due by May 7, 2026. The online proceedings payment system will open April 3, 2026.
Proceedings publications are part of an online-only special issue of Bioinformatics and are open access (CC-BY), fully citable, and indexed by Medline and ISI. See the conference proceedings for ISMB/ECCB 2025 for an example of online-only publication by Oxford University Press.
Areas:
| Bioinformatics Education and Citizen Science (COSIs within this area include: Education) Chair(s): Russell Schwartz, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Jérôme Waldispühl, McGill University, Canada |
Systematic examination and analysis of learning models, outcomes, and educational programs. Serious gaming and game-ification. |
| Bioinformatics of Microbes and Microbiomes (COSIs within this area include: BioVis, CAMDA, HiTSeq, MICROBIOME, MLCSB, NetBio, Text Mining) Chair(s): Nicola Mulder, University of Cape Town, South Africa Mihai Pop, University of Maryland, USA |
Computational methods and algorithms for studying microbial organisms, viruses, and their communities from omics and marker data. |
| Biomedical Informatics (COSIs within this area include: Bio-Ontologies, BioVis, CAMDA, Function, HiTSeq, iRNA, MLCSB, NetBio, Text Mining, TransMed, VarI) Chair(s): Niko Beerenwinkel, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Giulio Caravagna, University of Trieste, Italy Jenna Wiens, University of Michigan, USA |
Computational approaches to clinical and medical problems, including disease predisposition, diagnostic, progression, and treatment. Pharmacogenomics. |
| Equity and Diversity in Computational Biology Research (Of interest to all COSIs) Chair(s): Larry Hunter, University of Chicago, USA Alejandra Medina Rivera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico |
Research that examines issues of equity, representation, diversity, or other elements related to datasets, methods, or the field at large; health policy; fairness in ML; biases in GWAS studies; bias in literature; biology/genomics of traditionally understudied groups. |
| Evolutionary, Comparative and Population Genomics (COSIs within this area include: BioVis, Evolution and Comparative Genomics, Function, HiTSeq, iRNA, MICROBIOME, MLCSB, VarI) Chair(s): Flora Jay, Université Paris-Saclay, France Erin Molloy, University of Maryland, USA |
Phylogeny estimation, and modelling variation and change under the influence of evolutionary processes. Selection and adaptation. Multi-species analyses. |
| Genome Sequence Analysis (COSIs within this area include: BioVis, Evolution and Comparative Genomics, Function, HiTSeq, iRNA, MICROBIOME, MLCSB, NetBio, RegSys, TransMed, VarI) Chair(s): Laurent Jacob, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, France Tobias Marschall, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany |
Assembly and mapping algorithms. Gene prediction and annotation. Detection, qualification, and annotation of genomic variants and their structural and functional effects. |
| Macromolecular Sequence, Structure, and Function (COSIs within this area include: 3DSIG, Bio-Ontologies, BioVis, CompMS, Evolution and Comparative Genomics, Function, iRNA, MLCSB, RegSys, VarI) Chair(s): Jianlin Cheng, University of Missouri, USA Mark Wass, University of Kent, UK |
Analysis and annotation of DNA, RNA, and proteins to predict, characterize, and understand their structure, function, and evolution. Includes protein design and imaging techniques for macromolecules. |
| Privacy and Security for Computational Biology (COSIs within this area include: HiTSeq, MLCSB, TransMed) Chair(s): Michael Baudis, University of Zurich, Switzerland Kana Shimizu, Waseda University, Japan |
Methods related to the protection of individualized molecular and medical information; privacy models; federated learning; GWAS on summary statistics; federated EHR data analysis; new approaches to federated data storage, access, and analysis. |
| Regulatory and Functional Genomics (COSIs within this area include: Bio-Ontologies, BioVis, Evolution and Comparative Genomics, Function, HiTSeq, iRNA, MICROBIOME, MLCSB, NetBio, RegSys) Chair(s): Kimberly Glass, Harvard Medical School, USA Saurabh Sinha, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA |
Transcriptomics, single-cell RNA techniques, non-coding RNA, epigenetics, chromatin structure. |
| Systems Biology and Networks (COSIs within this area include: Bio-Ontologies, BioVis, CompMS, Function, MICROBIOME, MLCSB, NetBio, RegSys, Text Mining, TransMed) Chair(s): Anaïs Baudot, Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, INSERM, France Natasa Przulj, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Spain |
Emergent properties and complex multi-component interactions within biological systems, considering genomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and other -omic data; gene regulation and circuit design. |
| General Computational Biology* Chair(s): Gary Bader, University of Toronto, Canada Alberto Paccanaro, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil & Royal Holloway, University of London, UK |
Novel techniques in emerging areas of computational biology not covered by the other areas listed above, including intersections with other fields. |
| *You are encouraged to submit to one of the other thematic areas. If you feel your contribution is at the intersection of many fields, please pick one. If you still want to submit to this area, you will be asked to explain why. Please note that the submissions in this area and others are likely to be moved, subject to chairs’ considerations. | |
Proceedings Key Dates
Review Process
Submissions will be subject to two rounds of reviews, allowing the authors to reply to the reviewer comments. In the first round, the submissions will be classified into three categories: (a) accept/minor changes, (b) major changes, and (c) not accepted. Papers in the first category will be considered “conditionally" accepted without a second round of full review; Area Chairs will review the final version and, in some cases, ask the reviewers if concerns, if any, have been addressed. Authors of submissions in the second category will be given the opportunity to submit revised drafts based on the reviewer comments, with letters of response to the reviewers outlining the main changes and/or giving counterarguments to the reviewer points.
We expect the majority of papers to fall in categories (a) and (c), with category (b) reserved for papers that the reviewers identified as strong but with substantial issues that need to be addressed. Among the resubmitted papers, the second round of review will select the most suitable papers for presentation. All reviews of submitted papers are considered confidential, and details are not disclosed outside of the review process. These will be published in the Bioinformatics journal and presented at the conference. All accepted papers are expected to have source code available and linked in the manuscript to ensure reproducibility of results.
Transfers to Bioinformatics Advances
Getting your paper accepted to the ISMB Proceedings is very competitive. For papers that are ranked highly but are not accepted, we will be making offers to transfer some manuscripts to the ISCB journal Bioinformatics Advances. Manuscripts and the associated ISMB reviews would only be transferred to the journal upon author agreement. By transferring the reviews, rapid decisions can be made by the journal. Papers accepted to Bioinformatics Advances would NOT be a part of the ISMB 2026 Proceedings and would NOT be offered a talk. Please also note that Bioinformatics Advances is fully open access and that the normal Open Access Charges for the journal would apply.
Authors may opt out of this transfer process at submission time.
Submission Guidelines
All submissions MUST select a presenting author. The presenting author MUST be marked as a corresponding author. Papers can be submitted in either a template-free format or by following the template for author submission to the OUP journal Bioinformatics. You are encouraged to submit in the OUP format. If the OUP template is used, the paper length must not exceed nine pages. If the template-free format is used, the length of the paper must not exceed 12 pages (single space, 12 point font). In either format, the page count should include any required author information (submissions are not double-blind), abstract, figures, tables, and bibliography. Note that alt text is required for any image used in the paper. Papers must be submitted as a PDF. If your submission is conditionally accepted, it then MUST be resubmitted as a Word or LaTeX file to adhere to the OUP proxy requirements. In either case, the paper must contain an abstract whose length does not exceed 250 words.
Authors of submissions will need to select 1st choice and 2nd choice areas most suitable for their paper (this is relevant for which Area Chairs/reviewers will review the paper). During submission, authors will be able to identify up to three COSIs most relevant to the topic of their submission (this is relevant for which COSI, i.e. conference track, the talk will be presented at if the paper is accepted). During the review process three reviews will be sought. Papers may be moved between areas as appropriate - this is often necessary for load balance and fit between areas during the review process.
If absolutely necessary, submissions can be accompanied by supplementary material, similar to submissions to scientific journals. The supplementary material should be collected in a separate file that is appropriately marked and uploaded as an attachment on the paper submission page in EasyChair. However, we advise against adding supplementary material in general. Supplementary material will be published on the proceedings site alongside the online version of the conference paper. We do not support supplementary material presented at any other than the publisher's site. Additionally, OUP does not edit or typeset supplementary data - it is uploaded online exactly as it is received, so authors must ensure its accuracy before submitting.
Papers should be submitted in their final form since the evaluation procedure does not allow for additional rounds of refinement/modification in response to referee criticisms. Poor quality submissions or insufficiently prepared papers are very often rejected. Paper presenters must register and pay to attend and present at the conference.
ISMB does not accept previously published works through peer-reviewed publications. Please note that conference presentations, posting on recognized preprint servers (such as Arxiv, Biorxiv, and PeerJ preprints), or posting on a personal or employer's website do not constitute prior publication. In case of doubt, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
After acceptance, papers will have to be formatted according to the layout style required by the OUP Bioinformatics journal and will be limited to 9 pages. Formatting requirements can be found at:
https://academic.oup.com/pages/authoring/journals/preparing_your_manuscript?login=true
Templates are available on OUP’s site for direct download:
http://static.primary.prod.gcms.the-infra.com/static/site/journals/document/oup-authoring-template.zip?node=7987de40f2eea956bc39
Note: the zip file may not download on some browsers/extensions. If you encounter this issue, please attempt on an unrelated browser (ie, not Chrome and Edge, as both are built off the Chromium kernel).
Papers not conforming to guidelines will not be reviewed
Papers submitted for review should represent original, previously unpublished work. At the time the paper is submitted to ISMB 2026, and for the entire review period, the paper should not be under review by any other conference or scientific journal.
Papers will be accepted electronically via the submission system, as a PDF, until January 20, 2026, 11:59 PM in the time zone of your choice. *No extension will be granted* If your submission is conditionally accepted, it then MUST be resubmitted as a Word or LaTeX file to adhere to the OUP proxy requirements.
Conference Proceedings
Publication of the proceedings as an online part of the journal Bioinformatics will result in fully citable articles, indexed by Medline and ISI. See the conference proceedings for ISMB/ECCB 2025 for an example of online-only publication by Oxford University Press.
Accepted papers will be published as conference proceedings in an open-access, online-only section of a regular issue of the Bioinformatics journal with an electronic version distributed to conference delegates. The proceedings will be available online approximately one month prior to the conference opening.
ISMB 2026 provides authors of accepted papers with an oral presentation to provide an oral summary of their work. All presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes, including 3-4 minutes for discussion. Paper presenters must register and pay to attend and present at the conference.
Hybrid format
All presenters who have been granted a waiver to present virtually will be required to provide a pre-recorded talk for the virtual platform library in advance of the conference. The pre-recorded talk will be kept on hand in case of any issues that may interfere with the presenter's ability to present virtually. If this video is not submitted and an issue arises, any delays will be deducted from the allotted presentation time.
Contact
Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for questions concerning the scientific content of submissions.
Links within this page: Venue
Venue
Washington Hilton
1919 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20009
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/dcawhhh-washington-hilton/
Coming soon,