The 35th USENIX Security Symposium will take place on August 12–14, 2026, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront in Baltimore, MD, USA. The USENIX Security Symposium brings together researchers, practitioners, system programmers, and others interested in the latest advances in the security and privacy of computer systems and networks.
Reviewer Expectations
We expect each reviewer to have a load similar to the one in 2025, which amounted to approximately 9 papers per cycle (approx. 2/3 of the reviews are in Round 1). If invited, you will be able to request a reduced load. While we cannot make any promises, we will aim to work with everyone's restrictions.
Major Changes from USENIX Security 2025
- Reviewers will not be anonymous to each other. As always, reviewing is double-blind (reviewers are anonymous to authors; authors are anonymous to reviewers).
- There will be no major revisions.
Tentative Timeline
Cycle 1
Submissions: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
R1 Bidding Period: Wednesday, August 27, 2025 - Friday, August 29, 2025
R1 Review Period: Monday, September 1 - Thursday, September 25
R1 Discussion Phase: Friday, September 26 - Monday October 6
R2 Review Period: Friday October 10 - Thursday, October 30
R2 Discussion Phase: Friday November 14 - Monday November 24
Shepherding Period: Friday December 5 - Thursday December 18
Shepherd Approval Deadline: Thursday December 18
Cycle 2
Submissions: Thursday, February 5
R1 Bidding Period: Friday, February 6 - Tuesday, February 10
R1 Review Period: Wednesday, February 11 - Thursday, March 5
R1 Discussion Phase: Friday, March 6 - Monday, March 16
R2 Review Period: Friday, March 20 - Thursday, April 9
R2 Discussion Phase: Friday, April 24 - Thursday, May 7
Shepherding Period: Friday May 15 - Thursday May 28
Shepherd Approval Deadline: Thursday May 28