1. Submission instructions

Please submit all MECC 2026 manuscripts, abstracts, session proposals, and nominations through the IFAC PaperCept website. Please visit IFAC PaperCept, navigate to MECC 2026, and then click on “Submit a contribution to MECC 2026”.

2. Formatting instructions

Please make sure that all your submissions to MECC 2026, including both initial and final submissions, are written in English and comply with the IFAC submission formatting requirements. Per IFAC publication requirement, the page size of all submissions needs to be A4 (not US letter size). For more information, including Word and LaTeX templates, please visit the MECC 2026 submission instructions page on PaperCept by clicking the link “Submit a contribution to MECC 2026”. Word and LaTeX paper templates are available here.

All publication material submitted for presentation at MECC 2026 must be original and hence cannot be already published, nor can it be under review elsewhere. The authors take responsibility for the material that has been submitted. MECC 2026 will abide by the highest standard of ethical behavior in the review process as explained on the Elsevier webpage, and the authors will abide by the IFAC publication ethics guidelines.

3. Copyright conditions

Accepted papers that have been presented at MECC 2026 will be published in the proceedings of the event using the open-access IFAC-PapersOnLine series hosted on ScienceDirect. To this end, the author(s) must grant exclusive publishing rights to IFAC under a Creative Commons license when they submit the final version of the paper. The copyright belongs to the authors, who have the right to share the paper in the same terms allowed by the end user license, and retain all patent, trademark and other intellectual property rights (including research data).

4. Submission and registration policies:

• Paper length limits:
  • Manuscripts must be submitted to MECC 2026 through PaperCept in the IFAC format. Papers intended for MECC-only publication are limited to 6 pages. Papers intended for joint MECC-LDSC consideration are also limited to 6 pages in length. Papers intended for joint MECC-JDSMC and MECC-JAVS consideration are limited to 10 pages in length.
• Registration for MECC 2026 is needed prior to uploading final submissions:
  • At least one of the authors listed on the paper must pay the full registration fee in order to be able to upload the final submission. Any full registration payment can be used for uploading submissions, regardless of whether it is for on-site or online attendance, and regardless of whether it is at the member or non-member rate.
  • Student registrations cannot be used for final uploads.

5. MECC 2026 encourages all attendees to become IFAC Affiliates

IFAC Affiliate registration forms are available at: IFAC Affiliate registration forms.

6. AACC LLM-AI Policy for Authors

The use of LLM tools should be governed by three important principles: ownership, transparency, and disclosure. Authors may use LLM in conducting the research (e.g., for literature review) but should take full responsibility for any output and its use, particularly because LLM tools are known to generate false statements. In addition, authors should make sure that the reproducibility of the research is maintained (e.g. when LLM is used to generate synthetic data). LLM tools should not be listed as authors or co-authors since authorship implies ownership and responsibility for the work. Any manuscript that uses LLM to conduct the research or for composing and editing text shall be transparent on how such tools have been used. It is at the discretion of Editorial Boards to determine if the use of LLM is appropriate and if the authors have made a significant enough contribution to warrant publication. Transparency implies that the manuscript should include a detailed description of how LLM has been used and for exactly which tasks and specific parts of the text. Similarly, if images, artwork, or synthetic data by LLM tools have been used, the manuscript should provide details on the exact use and process. Finally, authors should disclose the use of LLM tools by citing these tools in the reference section. Similarly, when generating posters and conference presentations, the use of LLM tools should be disclosed and proper references given.

1. Contributed Papers

Submission Deadline: April 06, 2026

A contributed paper is intended to be a self-contained, full description of completed work (i.e., not an extended abstract). All contributed papers will be peer reviewed. Contributed papers that are accepted for inclusion in the conference proceedings will be assigned to different conference sessions based on their topics and disseminated to the broader community through the open-access forum IFAC PapersOnline.

2. MECC-LDSC, MECC-JDSMC, and MECC-JAVS Joint Submission Papers

Submission Deadline: March 14, 2026

Papers submitted under the joint submission option will be reviewed for potential presentation at MECC 2026 and for potential journal publication. Three journals are participating in this joint submission process: the ASME Letters in Dynamic Systems and Control (ALDSC), the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control (JDSMC), and the ASME Journal of Autonomous Vehicles and Systems (JAVS).  Authors must choose one of these three journals when submitting papers to the joint review process, and the initial paper drafts must be submitted through the MECC 2026 submission page on PaperCept.

Joint Submission Codes: For MECC 2026, please use the following session codes during the joint submissions.

1. MECC-ALDSC:     t8mhu
2. MECC-JDSMC:    4543e
3. MECC-JAVS:        gb5vy

Once a joint submission paper is reviewed, the authors will receive a decision notification jointly sent out by the MECC 2026 Program Chair and the corresponding journal Editor-in-Chief. Three types of decisions will be made regarding potential publication in the journal, as detailed below:

1. Potentially Acceptable for Publication (with minor revision): The journal editor will invite the authors to submit the revised manuscript, in the journal’s submission format, directly to the corresponding journal. These papers will be presented at the conference, but will not appear in its proceedings. Instead, the authors will be expected to upload a 1-page abstract (including all texts, figures, and references) of their paper through the MECC 2026 PaperCept page, for inclusion in the conference program. These papers will not be published if the authors fail to register and/or present them at the conference.
2. Major Revision (only for MECC-JDSMC and MECC-JAVS): Authors of papers in this category have the following three options:
   • Authors decide NOT to proceed with submission to the corresponding journal, but instead, convert the original manuscript into a 6-page conference manuscript, and submit the 6-page final manuscript to the MECC 2026 PaperCept page by the final (manuscript/abstract) submission deadline. This paper will be treated in the same way as a contributed paper.
   • Authors decide to proceed with submission to the corresponding journal for additional rounds of review at the journal submission site, with the understanding that there is no guarantee of final acceptance by the journal. For this case, the authors are required to i) submit a 1-page paper abstract (including all texts, figures, and references) by the final (manuscript/abstract) submission deadline to the MECC 2026 PaperCept page, ii) present the work at the conference, and iii) pay the relevant conference registration fee. The journal has the right to terminate the review of these papers if authors fail to register and/or present them at the conference.
   • Authors decide to withdraw the papers from both the conference and the journal. Authors are encouraged to communicate their decision with the Conference Program Chair and the journal Editor-in-Chief.  If no communication is done, neither 6-page conference manuscript nor 1-page paper abstract is received by the final (manuscript/abstract) submission deadline at the MECC 2026 PaperCept page, the paper is deemed withdrawn.
3. Rejection by Journal: Papers in this category are rejected by the journal but potentially acceptable by the conference. If the paper is accepted by the conference to be included in the conference proceedings, the authors are required to prepare the 6-page final manuscript and submit it to the conference submission website by the final (manuscript/abstract) submission deadline. The paper will be treated in the same way as a contributed paper.

The paper decision notification for acceptance or rejection by the conference will be sent out by the MECC 2026 Program Chair, within a week of the journal decision notification.

3. Invited Sessions/Papers

Invited session proposals

Submission Deadline: April 05, 2026

An invited session proposal is a brief document that presents a unified theme bringing together up to 6 invited papers into a cohesive session. The proposal should list the proposed invited papers (titles and abstracts at a minimum), and explain how they come together to form a cohesive topic of interest to the community. All invited session proposals will be reviewed. Upon submission of an invited session proposal, a session code will be generated by PaperCept. Authors must use this session code to link their invited papers to the corresponding invited session proposal. If an invited session proposal is accepted, then all of the corresponding invited papers that receive an acceptance decision will be assigned to the accepted invited session. If fewer than 6 papers submitted under the invited session code are accepted, additional papers may be assigned to the invited session if they are relevant to the session’s topic. If an invited session proposal is rejected, then any accepted invited papers linked to the invited session proposal will be assigned to other sessions.

Invited session proposals may include both invited MECC proceedings papers and joint submission papers. Only invited proceedings papers need to be submitted through the invited paper link on PaperCept. Joint submission papers can be submitted through the joint submission links on PaperCept (and thus without the session code), instead of the invited session link, even if they are intended for inclusion in an invited session. If a joint submission paper is accepted for journal publication and is part of an accepted invited session proposal, the conference organizers will work with the authors to ensure that the paper is presented as part of the corresponding invited session.

Invited paper

Submission Deadline: April 06, 2026

Invited papers are linked to an invited session proposal upon their submission. Similar to contributed papers, an invited paper is intended to be a self-contained, full description of completed work. Both contributed and invited papers will go through the same peer review process. If an invited paper is accepted for inclusion in the conference proceedings and the associated invited session proposal is also accepted, the paper will automatically be assigned to the corresponding invited session.

4. Special Sessions

Special session proposals

A special session is a regular-length session within the main MECC 2026 program. Examples of special sessions include industry-focused sessions, sessions organized by funding agencies, events serving students and young members, etc. A special session proposal should list the proposed special session presentations (titles and presenters at a minimum), explain how they come together to form a cohesive special session, and describe how the session will help the larger MECC 2026 community. Please contact Dr. Jun Zhang (jun@unr.edu), the MECC 2026 Invited and Special Sessions Chair, for additional information and instructions prior to proposing a special session.

Special session presentation abstracts

Special sessions at MECC 2026 will not have peer-reviewed paper proceedings. However, it is possible for special sessions to include presentations/talks. Every talk at a MECC 2026 special session will be advertised on the MECC website. To this end, for every talk at a MECC 2026 special session, the conference organizers expect the speaker(s) to upload a document listing: their names/affiliations, the title of their talk, and a an abstract (no more than 250 words) of this talk. Every special session proposal, when uploaded to PaperCept, will generate a special session code. The speakers at the special session are asked to upload abstracts of their talks to PaperCept, and link these abstracts to the corresponding special session code.

5. Poster Abstracts

Poster-only submissions will be accepted for late-breaking results for a separate poster presentation track. Eligible contents include recent results in modeling, estimation, and controls that the authors want to disseminate to a broader audience at MECC 2026. The posters will be reviewed by the program committee, and no paper is required. Poster presenters must register for the full meeting. Authors must submit an abstract of the poster clearly explaining the merit of the topic and the result, following the IFAC paper template. Authors must bring their posters to the conference for presentation. Poster stands and poster boards will be made available at the conference. Please create submissions through the IFAC PaperCept website (please visit ifac.papercept.net and submit a contribution to MECC 2026). To submit a poster to MECC 2026, please submit an abstract for the poster through the abstract submission link on PaperCept. The conference organizers will then reach out to you regarding the potential presentation of a poster related to this abstract.

6. Journal Paper Presentation of New Results in Modeling, Estimation, and Controls

MECC 2026 invites presentation of new results from recent papers in an AACC and/or IFAC related journal. Papers that have been (1) published or accepted in the 12 months prior to MECC 2026 in an IFAC Journal (https://www.ifac-control.org/publications/journals) or a journal from any of the nine professional member societies of AACC (https://a2c2.org/about/mission-description), and (2) not previously presented at a conference, are eligible for presentation at MECC 2026. Abstracts not exceeding one page should be submitted for review before the submission deadline. The abstracts submitted to MECC 2026 must cite the published/accepted journal paper and describe the merit of the paper and results. Please submit the abstract in the form of a PDF file that satisfies the compliance requirements listed in the Author Guide. Authors may refer to the Sample IFAC Paper to prepare their abstracts in the appropriate form. Authors must register for the conference for presentation. To present the results of an IFAC/A2C2 journal paper at MECC 2026, please submit an abstract for your intended presentation through the abstract submission link on PaperCept. The conference organizers will then reach out to you regarding the potential presentation of this work at MECC 2026.

7. Workshops and Tutorials

Coming soon.

8. Award Nominations

Coming soon.

For MoViC 2026, please use the following session codes during the joint submissions.

1. MoViC-ALDSC:     981e4
2. MoViC-JDSMC:     t399a
3. MoViC-JAVS:         tj4e2

For details, please visit the MoViC 2026 website.