Call for Papers
EXPLAINS
is sponsored by
INSTICC
– Institute for Systems and Technologies of Information, Control and Communication
SCOPE
In the future people will collaborate more and more with machines to solve complex problems using AI techniques. Such a collaboration requires adequate communication, trust, clarity and understanding. eXplainable AI (XAI) aims at addressing such challenges by combining the best of symbolic AI and Machine Learning including neural models, evolutionary computing and fuzzy systems. Such topic has been studied for years by all different communities of AI, with different definitions, evaluation metrics, motivations and results. In addition to technology, this involves social and legal issues as well as a wide range of real-world applications and domains. Both interpretability by design methods and post-hoc methods for explaining complex models have been proposed and investigated. Research has also redirected its emphasis on the structure of explanations and human-centered Artificial Intelligence, recognizing that the ultimate users of interactive technologies are humans. This conference aims at attracting different research perspectives to promote debate. It intends to be a major multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary forum, bringing together academics and scholars of different disciplines, interested in the study, analysis, design, modelling and implementation of interpretable and explainable AI systems. Contributions are welcome both in addressing theoretical issues and in a broad range of application fields.
CONFERENCE AREAS
Each of these topic areas is expanded below but the sub-topics list is not exhaustive. Papers may address one or more of the listed sub-topics, although authors should not feel limited by them. Unlisted but related sub-topics are also acceptable, provided they fit in one of the following main topic areas:
1. TECHNOLOGY
2. SOCIAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
3. APPLICATIONS
AREA 1: TECHNOLOGY
- XAI using Machine Learning
- Deep Learning and XAI
- Fuzzy Systems and Logic for XAI
- Knowledge Graphs in XAI
- Explainable Graph Neural Networks
- Explainable Neuro-Symbolic Reasoning
- Evaluation of Explainability
- Argumentative-Based Approaches for XAI
- Bayesian Modelling for Interpretability
- Human-Computer Interfaces Supporting XAI
- Natural Language Processing and XAI
- Ontologies Supporting XAI
- Metrics for Explanations
- XAI Benchmarking
- Evolutionary XAI Approaches
- XAI for Evolutionary Computing
- Post-Hoc Methods for Explainability
- Model-Specific vs Model-Agnostic Methods for Explainability
- Mechanistic Interpretability
AREA 2: SOCIAL AND LEGAL ISSUES
- Ethical Concerns of XAI
- Accountability and Responsibility
- Explainable Bias and Fairness of XAI Systems
- Model Accuracy and Interpretability
- Explainability Pitfalls and Problems in XAI
- Prevention/Detection of Deceptive AI Explanations
- Trust Management and Reputation
- Adversarial Attacks Explanations
AREA 3: APPLICATIONS
- Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences
- Human/AI Cooperation
- Decision-Support Systems
- Recommender Systems
- Computer Vision Applications
- Robotics and Control Systems
- Explaining Object and Obstacle Detection
- Explainable Methods for Finance
- Explainability in Transportation Systems
- Internet of Things
- Security and Privacy
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
EXPLAINS 2026 will have several invited keynote speakers, who are internationally recognized experts in their areas. Their names are not yet confirmed.
PAPER SUBMISSION
Authors can submit their work in the form of a complete paper or an abstract, but please note that accepted abstracts are presented but not published in the proceedings of the conference. Complete papers can be submitted as a Regular Paper, representing completed and validated research, or as a Position Paper, portraying a short report of work in progress or an arguable opinion about an issue discussing ideas, facts, situations, methods, procedures or results of scientific research focused on one of the conference topic areas.
Authors should submit a paper in English, carefully checked for correct grammar and spelling, addressing one or several of the conference areas or topics. Each paper should clearly indicate the nature of its technical/scientific contribution, and the problems, domains or environments to which it is applicable. To facilitate the double-blind paper evaluation method, authors are kindly requested to produce and provide the paper WITHOUT any reference to any of the authors, including the authors’ personal details, the acknowledgments section of the paper and any other reference that may disclose the authors’ identity.
When submitting a complete paper please note that only original papers should be submitted. Authors are advised to read INSTICC's ethical norms regarding plagiarism and self-plagiarism thoroughly before submitting and must make sure that their submissions do not substantially overlap work which has been published elsewhere or simultaneously submitted to a journal or another conference with proceedings. Papers that contain any form of plagiarism will be rejected without reviews. Authors should also avoid using an excessive number of self-citations and an excessive number of co-authors.
All papers must be submitted through the online submission platform PRIMORIS and should follow the instructions and templates that can be found under Guidelines and Templates. After the paper submission has been successfully completed, authors will receive an automatic confirmation e-mail.
PUBLICATIONS
All accepted complete papers will be published by Springer in the conference proceedings, under an ISBN reference.
The proceedings will be abstracted/indexed in DBLP, Google Scholar, EI-Compendex, INSPEC, Japanese Science and Technology Agency (JST), Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals and Series, Mathematical Reviews, SCImago, Scopus and zbMATH. CCIS volumes are also submitted for the inclusion in ISI Proceedings.
IMPORTANT DATES
Conference Date: 28 - 30 October, 2026
Paper Submission:
May 19, 2026
Authors Notification:
July 17, 2026
Camera Ready and Registration:
July 31, 2026
Paper Submission:
June 26, 2026
Authors Notification:
July 31, 2026
Camera Ready and Registration:
September 8, 2026
Workshops
Workshop Proposal:
May 27, 2026
Special Sessions
Special Session Proposal:
May 27, 2026
Tutorials
Tutorial Proposal:
September 14, 2026
Demos
Demo Proposal:
September 14, 2026
Panels
Panel Proposal:
September 14, 2026
CONFERENCE CHAIR
Available soon.
PROGRAM CHAIR
Available soon.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Available soon.