Submission Tracks

OCEANS 2026 Monterey includes three contribution types, each with different final-submission requirements. Please follow the instructions for your accepted track below.

Regular Paper Contributions

For your paper to be included in the OCEANS 2026 Monterey technical program and presented at the conference, all of the following requirements must be met:

• The technical paper must be 4 to 6 pages, including figures, plus references. References are not included in the minimum or maximum page limits. Do not include blank pages to pad the length.
• The paper must be formatted to U.S. letter size: 8.5 × 11 inches.
• You must use the official IEEE conference templates for Microsoft Word or LaTeX. This is required to meet IEEE’s PDF formatting requirements, including margins and layout, for submission to IEEE Xplore®.
• If your Microsoft Word template displays an alert stating that it was created in a newer version of Word, follow the prompts to install the Word converter. Otherwise, you may be unable to save your manuscript.
• Remove the copyright string from the template footer before submitting. The Technical Committee will insert the correct footer prior to publication.
• Before uploading your paper, you must complete the online copyright transfer with IEEE and register for the conference.
• The Technical Committee determines whether your paper is assigned to an oral or poster session based on program balance and format suitability—not paper quality.
• Review the oral or poster presentation instructions on this page, as applicable to your assignment.

General Poster Track

• No full conference paper is required for the General Poster Track.
• General Poster Track submissions are not eligible for publication in IEEE Xplore®.
• You are still required to register through the conference website so your Submission ID is correctly applied to your registration record.
• Review the poster presentation instructions provided below.
• Posters are displayed for one day, with an assigned presentation window during a poster session.
• You may update your short abstract, as it will appear in the program, and your author list at any time before August 24, 2026. See “Updating Your Author List” below for details. No changes can be made after that date.

Student Poster Competition

• SPC authors must submit a full conference paper of 4 to 6 pages plus references, following the same formatting, copyright and paper-submission requirements as Regular Paper contributions.
• SPC posters are presented during both poster sessions.
• Students are judged on technical merit, originality, clarity and impact. Awards are presented during the conference.
• Financial-support details for presenting students will be communicated separately following final selection.
• Review the poster presentation instructions provided below.

Poster Presentation Specifications

These specifications apply to all tracks that produce a poster: Regular Papers assigned to a poster session, the General Poster Track and the Student Poster Competition.

• A PowerPoint template will be provided. You may use other software as long as your poster includes the same basic information requested in the template for your track.
• Regular Paper and General Poster Track posters must be removed at the end of their assigned session day. Posters left up afterward will be removed and discarded.
• SPC posters remain displayed for both poster sessions and should be removed at the end of the final session.
• Presenters are encouraged to remain available near their posters beyond the dedicated presentation window so attendees who cannot attend the scheduled time still have an opportunity to connect.

Oral Presentation Specifications

Session chairs will enforce the allotted timing to keep sessions on schedule. Presenters should check in with the session chair upon arrival.

The slide-upload process will be announced before the conference.

Copyright

Registration

• When registering, select Author as your registration type—not Attendee.
• Enter your Submission ID, which is your submission number from PaperCept, in the field provided. This links your registration to your paper or poster.
• Registering as a general Attendee, or failing to enter your Submission ID, means your paper will not receive the proper registration credit.
• Registering a paper or poster also registers you as a full conference delegate.
• One registration fee can be applied to up to two papers or posters on which the registrant is a listed co-author.
• A third submission can be covered by paying an additional fee. Enter the additional Submission ID or abstract number in the field provided during registration.
• The registering author must be a listed co-author on every paper or poster covered by that registration.

View OCEANS 2026 Monterey registration information

Updating Your Author List

To modify the author list, author order or corresponding author for your submission:

1. Log in to PaperCept.
2. Select Submit the Final Version.
3. Select Update the Final Version Information.
4. Modify the authors, author order or corresponding author as needed.

If you have trouble accessing these options, contact the Technical Program Chair.

Upload Your Paper(s)

1. Register for the conference through the registration site. Any listed co-author can complete this step.
2. MCI will email the registrant a voucher code. Save the code, as it will be required during paper submission.
3. The designated corresponding author logs in to PaperCept and completes the final-submission information.
4. Complete the online copyright transfer. Once both the final-submission information and copyright transfer are complete, the paper-upload link and voucher-code field will appear.
5. Upload the paper as a PDF, Microsoft Word file or fully self-contained LaTeX package. For LaTeX submissions, the main file must be named root.tex.
6. If the file meets IEEE compliance requirements, PaperCept will accept the upload and send an acknowledgment to all listed authors.

You may re-upload your final submission at any time before the deadline. However, the copyright form cannot be modified after it has been submitted.

Publication

• Regular Papers and Student Poster Competition papers presented at the conference may be published in IEEE Xplore®, subject to IEEE’s scope and quality requirements, approximately two months after the conference concludes.
• General Poster Track submissions are not eligible for IEEE Xplore®.
• Conference proceedings distributed at the conference are not the official publication and should not be cited in other literature.
• All technical papers and posters must be presented on-site in Monterey by a listed co-author. No virtual or remote presentation option will be offered.

JOE Transferred Publications

Authors of papers already published in the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering may present that work at OCEANS 2026 Monterey without resubmitting it as a new conference paper.

• Your paper is already in the PaperCept system, so no new manuscript or abstract upload is required.
• As with the General Poster Track, you may update your information, including the abstract, through PaperCept at any time before August 24, 2026.
• These presentations are not included in the OCEANS 2026 Monterey proceedings or IEEE Xplore®, because the work has already been published.
• The presentation will be oral. Presenters should include the original JOE citation in their presentation.