[TYPES/announce] CfP: Special issue I&C on SOS

[Rob van Glabbeek]

                           Call for Papers:

                            Special Issue
                                  of
                      Information & Computation
                                  on
                   Structural Operational Semantics

Aim: Structural operational semantics (SOS) provides a framework
for giving operational semantics to programming and specification
languages. A growing number of programming languages from
commercial and academic spheres have been given usable semantic
descriptions by means of structural operational semantics. Because
of its intuitive appeal and flexibility, structural operational
semantics has found considerable application in the study of the
semantics of concurrent processes. Moreover, it is becoming a
viable alternative to denotational semantics in the static analysis
of programs, and in proving compiler correctness.

Recently, structural operational semantics has been successfully
applied as a formal tool to establish results that hold for classes
of process description languages. This has allowed for the
generalisation of well-known results in the field of process
algebra, and for the development of a meta-theory for process
calculi based on the realization that many of the results in this
field only depend upon general semantic properties of language
constructs.

This special issue aims at documenting state-of-the-art research, new
developments and directions for future investigation in the field of
structural operational semantics. Specific topics of interest include
(but are not limited to):

  * programming languages
  * process algebras
  * higher-order formalisms
  * rule formats for operational specifications
  * meaning of operational specifications
  * comparisons between denotational, axiomatic and operational semantics
  * compositionality of modal logics with respect to
    operational specifications
  * congruence with respect to behavioural equivalences
  * conservative extensions
  * derivation of proof rules from operational specifications
  * software tools that automate, or are based on, SOS.

Papers reporting on applications of SOS to software engineering and
other areas of computer science are welcome.

This special issue is an outgrowth of the series of SOS workshops,
which started in 2004, and serves in part as a opportunity to publish
the full versions of the best papers presented at SOS 2006. However,
papers that were not presented at SOS 2006 are equally welcome, and
all submissions will be refereed and subjected to the same quality
criteria, meeting the standards of Information and Computation.

Papers submitted to the special issue must contain original material
that has not previously been published, and parallel submission for
publication elsewhere is not allowed. However, an extended abstract or
short version of the paper may be submitted for presentation at the
SOS 2007 workshop, which will take place before the publication of the
special issue.

PAPER SUBMISSION:

We solicit unpublished papers reporting on original research on the
general theme of SOS.  Papers should take the form of a dvi, postscript or
pdf file. We recommend following Elsevier's instructions at
     http://authors.elsevier.com/JournalDetail.html?PubID=622844
and using LaTeX2e with documentclass elsart.

IMPORTANT DATES:

  * Submission of tentative title and abstract: 15 December 2006
  * Submission of full paper: 15 February 2006

CONTACT and submission address:

    sos2006 at cs.stanford.edu

EDITORS of this special issue:


     Rob van Glabbeek
     National ICT Australia
     Locked Bag 6016
     University of New South Wales
     Sydney, NSW 1466
     Australia

     Peter D. Mosses
     Department of Computer Science
     Swansea University
     Singleton Park
     Swansea SA2 8PP
     United Kingdom