The RE 2026 Research Track welcomes original papers focusing on traditional RE topics, such as requirements elicitation, analysis, prioritization, documentation, validation, evolution, maintenance, and management. It also highly encourages papers covering novel areas at the boundary of RE and other disciplines, including but not limited to software engineering/computer science at large, mechanical/electronic/civil and other engineering, business, social science, psychology, anthropology, and the humanities.

In addition, this year, we particularly encourage submissions addressing the theme “Sustainability and workforce transformation in the era of generative AI: How to prepare for a future in collaboration with advanced AI tools and assistants”. This theme focuses on innovating requirements engineering by embracing AI, DevOps, sustainability, security, personalization, and agile practices. As we navigate an increasingly diverse world, we also encourage reflections on how requirements engineering can recognize and respond to the varying needs of a global and heterogeneous user base. It aims to equip professionals with the tools and methodologies needed to address the evolving challenges and opportunities in software development, ensuring robust, user-centric, and adaptable systems.

Categories of Research Papers

The RE 2026 Research Track invites original submissions of research papers in two categories: Solution-focused papers and Evaluation-focused papers.

Solution-focused Papers present novel or significantly improved solutions for requirements-related problems. This includes new approaches or theories, novel tools, modelling languages, infrastructures, or other technologies. All requirements-related activities, such as elicitation, prioritization, or analysis, are in scope. These papers are mainly evaluated based on the significance of the problem addressed, the novelty of the solution in comparison with existing work, clarity of presentation, technical soundness, and evidence of its benefits. A solution-focused paper does not require a thorough validation; however, a preliminary evaluation is expected to demonstrate the effectiveness, ease of use, or other relevant quality attributes of the proposed solution.

Evaluation-focused Papers empirically assess phenomena, theories, or real-world artifacts (e.g., methods, techniques, or tools) relevant to requirements engineering. These papers apply empirical software engineering approaches, such as experiments, experimental simulations, case studies, surveys, systematic literature reviews, and others, to report on qualitative and/or quantitative data, findings, and results. The discussion of lessons learned can complement the empirical results. The evaluation criteria for these papers focus on the soundness of the research questions, the appropriateness and correctness of the study design and data analysis, and considerations of threats to validity. Replication studies are welcome.