This special issue is related to the topics of the workshop WWV'09: Automated Specification and Verification of Web Systems, which took place in Hagenberg, Austria, on July 17, 2009. Both participants of the workshop and other authors are invited to submit contributions.
The increased complexity of Web sites and the explosive growth of Web-based applications has turned their design and construction into a challenging problem. Nowadays, many companies have diverted their Web sites into interactive, completely-automated, Web-based applications (such as Amazon, on-line banking, or travel agencies) with a high complexity that requires appropriate specification and verification techniques and tools. Systematic, formal approaches to the analysis and verification can address the problems of this particular domain with automated and reliable tools that also incorporate semantic aspects.
We solicit original papers on symbolic methods and techniques applied to Web sites, Web services or Web-based applications, such as:
Rule-based approaches to Web systems analysis, certification, specification, verification, and optimization
Algebraic methods for verification and certification of Web systems
Formal models for describing and reasoning about Web systems
Model-checking, synthesis and debugging of Web systems
Abstract interpretation and program transformation applied to the semantic Web
Intelligent tutoring and advisory systems for Web specifications authoring
Web quality and Web metrics
Web usability and accessibility
Testing and evaluation of Web systems and applications
...
Submissions describing applications of algebraic methods and techniques are especially encouraged.
Submission
We expect original articles (typically 15-30 pages; submission of larger papers will be evaluated depending on editorial constraints) that present high-quality contributions that have not been previously published and that must not be simultaneously submitted for publication elsewhere.
Submissions must comply with JSC's author guidelines. They must be written in English and should be prepared in
LaTeX using the "Elsevier Article Class (elsart.cls)" with "JSC add-on style (yjsco.sty)" and "Harvard style
references (elsart-harv.bst)". The package "JSC LaTex" (that contains all the necessary style files and a template)
can be obtained from here.
The introduction of the paper MUST explicitly address the following questions in succinct and informal manner:
What is the problem?
Why is the problem important?
What has been done so far on the problem?
What is the main contribution of the paper on the problem?
Is the contribution original? Explain why.
Is the contribution non-trivial? Explain why.
All the main definitions, theorems and algorithms must be
illustrated by simple but meaningful examples.
Without these, the paper will not be considered.
We also encourage tutorials/surveys. They will be reviewed for
Quality of Presentation
Fair/complete crediting of the people who worked on the subject.
It must contain:
List of the main problems/questions
Motivation/importance
Description of main ideas/algorithms/improvements so far
List of important open problems
Complete bibliography
The target audience should be "non-expert" on the subject
(starting PhD students or experts on other subjects).
The problems, ideas, algorithms, etc should be illustrated by
well-chosen examples.
If you plan to submit a tutorial or a survey, make sure that the title
contains a phrase, such as "tutorial on ......." or "survey of .....", etc.