Open Calls

In the 1960s, Ted Nelson imagined hypertext as a technical manifestation of literature’s underlying interconnectedness; Douglas Engelbart saw hypertext as an augmentation of human intellect and transformative collaboration tool. As an estimated 98% of the world’s textual production moves to being generated by AI systems, we once again face fundamental questions about what it means to be connected and to think with (and through) networks.

At Hypertext 2026 we aim to discuss, reflect on and investigate hypertext as method: of data collection, of reading and writing, knowledge distribution, social media communication and beyond

What trends can be observed? How can hypertext enhance our approach to interfaces?  What issues can be better investigated by thinking through hypertext? How can user experience be enhanced by this way of thinking? What alternative, creative, fun, novel or paradigm-shifting applications does hypertext enable and facilitate? Answering these questions requires both applied science and liberal arts, a broad, philosophical angle, and the development of next-generation hypertext systems – a trademark approach of the ACM Hypertext conferences for 36 years.

We welcome the following types of submissions:

• Main Conference Tracks (see below)  
• Late Breaking Results Track  
• Summer School
• Demos, Workshops & Exhibitions

Important Dates

• Workshops
  • Submission: 27/02/2026 AOE 13/03/2026 AOE
  • Notification: 20/03/2026 AOE
• Research tracks
  • Submission: 27/03/2026 AOE 30/04/2026 13:00 BST (12:00 UTC)
  • Notification: 22/05/2026 AOE
• Practitioner tracks, Late Breaking, Blue Sky & Provocations
  • Submission: 29/05/2026 AOE
  • Notification: 19/06/2026 AOE
• Student travel awards
  • Submission: 26/06/2026 AOE
  • Notification: 06/07/2026 AOE
• Camera ready
  • Submission: 03/08/2026 AOE
• Registration
  • Early bird rate: 24/07/2026 AOE
  • Regular rates until 08/09/2026 AOE

Please note that this edition does not offer a generalist social media track but welcomes contributions targeted on all track topics. We consider social media as a form of hypertext thus any reference to hypertext content and systems is implicitly extended to social media.

All accepted contributions in all tracks will be published by ACM and will be available in the Proceedings via the ACM Digital Library in the format in which they are submitted (e.g., long paper, short paper, extended abstract). To be included in the Proceedings, at least one author of each accepted paper must register for the conference, present the paper there and agree on ACM’s T&C. Selected contributions will be invited to submit an expanded version after the conference to follow on special issues.

On AI

All submissions must be prepared in line with the ACM policy on authorship and generative AI: https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/frequently-asked-questions

Student Authors

Student authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit a request for the SIGWEB travel grant. If accepted, the grant will cover travel costs, accommodation, subsistence and registration fees up to £500 (five hundred pounds). Students receiving support will be asked to dedicate a small amount of their time to the conference organisation.

Submit the proposal via Easychair (coming soon)

Subsidised Article Processing Charges

All contributions that are APC-eligible, i.e. that carry an Article
Processing Charge, and not (yet) covered by ACM Open (see below), will have
subsidised APCs — $250 for ACM and SIG members and $350 for non-members.

In addition, authors from developing countries may be eligible for
geographic waivers, financed by ACM. Furthermore, SIGWEB and other SIGs
decided to support financial hardship waivers. The official ACM criteria
for geographic and financial hardship waivers is explained here:
https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/policy-on-discretionary-open-access-apc-waivers

Important update on ACMs new open access publishing model for 2026 ACM Conferences

Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access. All ACM publications, including those from ACM-sponsored conferences, will be 100% Open Access. Authors will have two primary options for publishing Open Access articles with ACM: the ACM Open institutional model or by paying Article Processing Charges (APCs). With over 2,600 institutions already part of ACM Open, the majority of ACM-sponsored conference papers will not require APCs from authors or conferences (currently, around 76%).

Authors from institutions not participating in ACM Open will need to pay an APC to publish their papers, unless they qualify for a financial waiver. To find out whether an APC applies to your article, please consult the list of participating institutions in ACM Open and review the https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/policy-on-discretionary-open-access-apc-waivers.  Keep in mind that waivers are rare and are granted based on specific criteria set by ACM.

Understanding that this change could present financial challenges, ACM has approved a temporary subsidy for 2026 to ease the transition and allow more time for institutions to join ACM Open. The subsidy will offer:

• $250 APC for ACM/SIG members
• $350 for non-members

This represents a 65% discount, funded directly by ACM. Authors are encouraged to help advocate for their institutions to join ACM Open during this transition period.

This temporary subsidised pricing will apply to all conferences scheduled for 2026.

ACM T&C 

1. “By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM’s new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Alleged violations of this policy or any ACM Publications Policy will be investigated by ACM and may result in a full retraction of your paper, in addition to other potential penalties, as per ACM Publications Policy.”
2. “Please ensure that you and your co-authors obtain an ORCID ID, so you can complete the publishing process for your accepted paper.  ACM has been involved in ORCID from the start, and we have recently made a commitment to collect ORCID IDs from all of our published authors.  The collection process has started and will roll out as a requirement throughout 2022.  We are committed to improve author discoverability, ensure proper attribution and contribute to ongoing community efforts around name normalization; your ORCID ID will help in these efforts.”