ComputEL-9: Ninth Workshop on the Use of Computational Methods in the Study of Endangered Languages
Second CALL FOR PAPERS
Submission deadline: March 20, 2026 Submission link: https://softconf.com/acl2026/ComputEL2026
ComputEL-9 will be co-located with ACL 2026 in San Diego, California. It will be a one-day workshop, held in Friday July 4, 2026. This time, we are co-ordinating our activities with Americas-NLP, held on the previous day.
We encourage submissions that explore the interface and intersection of computational linguistics, documentary linguistics, and community-based efforts in language revitalization and reclamation. This includes submissions that:
(i) demonstrate new methods or technologies for tasks or applications focused on low-resource settings, and in particular, endangered languages,
(ii) examine the use of specific methods in the analysis of data from low-resource languages, or demonstrate new methods for analysis of such data, oriented toward the goals of language reclamation and revitalization,
(iii) propose new models for the collection, management, and mobilization of language data in community settings, with attention to e.g. issues of data sovereignty and community protocols,
(iv) explore concrete steps for a more fruitful interaction among computer scientists, documentary linguists, and language communities.
IMPORTANT DATES 20 March 2026 Deadline for submission of papers or extended abstracts 1 May 2026 Notification of Acceptance 4 July 2026 Workshop
PRESENTATIONS Presentation of accepted papers will be in both oral session and a poster session. The decision on whether a presentation for a paper will be oral and/or poster will be made by the Organizing Committee on the advice of the Program Committee, taking into account the subject matter and how the content might be best conveyed. Oral and poster presentations will not be distinguished in the Proceedings.
SUBMISSIONS We offer two submissions lengths: short (up to 4 pages) or long (up to 8 pages) paper. The length of submission does not influence the likelihood of acceptance. Both paper types must include a section on ethical consideration and a section on limitations; these sections are not considered part of the page limit. All submissions must be anonymous and will be peer-reviewed by the scientific Program Committee. Papers must follow the style and formatting guidelines provided in by ACL Style Files (download template files for LaTeX: https://github.com/acl-org/acl-style-files). Submissions that exceed the length requirements, or are missing a limitations section, will be desk rejected.
Papers can be submitted to one of the workshop’s tracks: (a) language community perspective and (b) academic perspective.
Submissions must be uploaded to SoftConf: https://softconf.com/acl2026/ComputEL2026 by March 20, 2026 11:59PM (UTC-12, “anywhere on earth”).
A. Short Papers: Short paper submissions must describe original and unpublished work. They are max. 4 pages excluding references. They must include a section on ethical consideration and limitations; these sections are not considered part of the page limit. Please note that a short paper is not a shortened long paper. Instead, short papers should have a small, focused contribution or describe work in progress (“working paper”). Short papers might not necessarily be intended for publication. Some common kinds of short papers are negative results, opinion pieces, interesting application nuggets, or descriptions of ongoing collaborative teamwork.
B. Long Paper: Long papers must describe substantial, original, completed and unpublished work. Wherever appropriate, concrete evaluation and analysis should be included. Long papers are max. 8 pages excluding references and appendices. They must include a section on ethical consideration and limitations; these sections are not considered part of the page limit.
PROCEEDINGS The Organizing Committee will select papers that have been accepted for presentation for online publication via the open-access ACL Anthology. Not all accepted papers for presentation are guaranteed inclusion in the Anthology. Final versions of long and short papers that are accepted for publication will be allotted one additional page (altogether 5 and 9 pages) excluding references. Papers accepted for inclusion in the Anthology should be revised and improved versions of the work that was submitted for, and which underwent, review. Any revisions should concern responses to reviewer comments or the addition of relevant details and clarifications, but not entirely new, unreviewed content.
FUNDING SUPPORT Limited funding will be available for some accepted authors. A link to apply for funding will be sent to submitters after the submission deadline. Decisions on funding will be sent with notification of acceptance. Priority will be given to individuals without institutional support, for instance members of endangered language communities, other unsponsored or under-sponsored presenters (e.g. student/faculty of Linguistics Departments), and student presenters.
ADDITIONAL AND CONTACT INFORMATION Please see the ComputEL-9 website for further information: https://computel-workshop.org/computel-9/ Organizing Committee Email: computel.workshop@gmail.com