ACL 2026 - Premier Conference on Computational Linguistics

The Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) stands as the premier conference in the fields of computational linguistics and natural language processing. As the flagship event of the ACL organization, this conference has been at the forefront of language technology innovation for decades, making it an essential destination for researchers, practitioners, and industry professionals in NLP and AI.

ACL 2026 - San Diego, California

The 64th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL 2026) will be held in San Diego, California, USA (July 2-7, 2026), featuring a special theme track on "Explainability of NLP Models" and continuing the innovative ACL Rolling Review (ARR) submission system.

Important Dates for ACL 2026

• ARR Submission Cycles: October 2025 and January 2026
• ARR January Cycle Submission: January 5, 2026
• ARR Reviews Available: March 9, 2026
• Commitment Deadline: March 14, 2026
• Notification of Acceptance: April 4, 2026
• Withdrawal Deadline: April 19, 2026
• Camera-Ready Papers Due: April 19, 2026
• Tutorials: July 2, 2026
• Main Conference: July 3-5, 2026
• Workshops: July 6-7, 2026

Note: All deadlines are at 11:59 PM UTC-12:00 ("anywhere on Earth").

This innovative timeline reflects ACL's adoption of the ACL Rolling Review (ARR) system, which allows researchers more flexibility in submission and revision cycles.

ACL Conference Acceptance Rates

The highly competitive nature of ACL is reflected in its acceptance rates over recent years:

These acceptance rates demonstrate the conference's commitment to maintaining the highest research quality standards. Papers not selected for the main conference are automatically considered for the prestigious Findings of ACL, which recognizes solid work with sufficient substance, quality, and novelty.

What is the ACL Conference?

The Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) is the premier international scientific and professional society for people working on computational problems involving human language. The annual ACL conference serves as the flagship event for presenting cutting-edge research in:

• Natural Language Processing (NLP) - The core technologies enabling machines to understand and generate human language
• Computational Linguistics - The scientific study of language from a computational perspective
• Language Technologies - Practical applications from machine translation to conversational AI

With a Google Scholar h5-index of 236 (the highest in computational linguistics), ACL consistently ranks as one of the most influential venues in the entire field of artificial intelligence.

ACL 2026 Special Theme: Explainability of NLP Models

Following the success of previous ACL theme tracks (2020-2024), ACL 2026 introduces an exciting new theme focused on Explainability of NLP Models. This theme reflects the critical importance of understanding how language models make decisions, especially as large language models (LLMs) become increasingly powerful and widespread.

Why Explainability Matters

Explainability refers to methods and techniques aimed at making the internal decision-making processes of complex NLP models transparent and understandable to humans. This is foundational to:

• Building trust in AI systems
• Ensuring fairness and detecting bias
• Facilitating responsible deployment in high-stakes domains
• Enabling debugging and model improvement
• Providing accountability in critical applications like healthcare, finance, and law

Theme Track Focus Areas

The theme track invites empirical and theoretical work, surveys, and position papers on topics including:

• Architecture-specific explanations: How do explainability methods adapt for different model architectures (transformers, RNNs, etc.)?
• Evaluation of explanations: What metrics can measure faithfulness (accuracy of reasoning) and plausibility (human-perceived reasonableness)?
• Bias detection and mitigation: Can explanations help identify and reduce biased predictions?
• Data refinement: Using explanations to find spurious correlations or annotation errors in training data
• Mechanistic interpretability: Identifying specific directions, patterns, or "knobs" that control model behaviors
• Inherently interpretable models: Designing models that are naturally more transparent

The theme track submissions can be either long (8 pages) or short (4 pages) papers, with a special session and Thematic Paper Award planned for the conference.

ACL's Position in NLP Conference Rankings

When discussing NLP conference rankings, ACL holds the undisputed top position as the most prestigious venue in the field:

Academic Impact and Prestige

• Highest h5-index in computational linguistics (236 on Google Scholar)
• Rigorous peer review through the ACL Rolling Review system
• Global recognition as the premier venue for NLP research
• Career-defining opportunity for researchers to present their work

The ACL Rolling Review (ARR) System

ACL pioneered a revolutionary submission model through the ACL Rolling Review (ARR) system, which has fundamentally changed NLP publication:

1. Continuous submission cycles: Authors submit papers to ARR monthly rather than to specific conferences
2. Decoupled review and publication: Papers receive thorough reviews from ARR, then can be "committed" to conferences like ACL, EMNLP, or NAACL
3. Iterative improvement: Authors can revise and resubmit based on feedback without penalty
4. Strategic flexibility: A single set of reviews can be used to target multiple conferences

This system reduces review burden, allows for better paper improvement, and provides authors with more strategic options for publication.

Key Research Topics at ACL 2026

The conference covers a comprehensive range of topics across all aspects of computational linguistics and NLP:

Foundation Models and LLMs

• Safety and Alignment in Large Language Models
• AI/LLM Agents and Human-AI Interaction
• Retrieval-Augmented Language Models
• Mathematical, Symbolic, and Logical Reasoning in NLP
• LLM Efficiency and Generalizability

Core NLP Technologies

• Natural Language Generation and Summarization
• Machine Translation and Multilinguality
• Question Answering and Information Retrieval
• Dialogue and Interactive Systems
• Speech Processing and Spoken Language Understanding

Advanced Research Areas

• Interpretability and Analysis of Models for NLP
• Semantics: Lexical, Sentence-level, and Textual Inference
• Discourse, Pragmatics, and Reasoning
• Sentiment Analysis and Argument Mining
• Hierarchical Structure Prediction, Syntax, and Parsing

Cross-Disciplinary Applications

• Computational Social Science and Cultural Analytics
• NLP for Social Good
• Clinical and Biomedical Applications
• Financial Applications and Time Series
• Code Models and Programming Languages

Linguistic Foundations

• Linguistic Theories and Cognitive Modeling
• Phonology, Morphology, and Word Segmentation
• Low-resource Methods for NLP
• Multimodality and Language Grounding

Responsible AI

• Ethics, Bias, and Fairness
• Resources and Evaluation Methodologies
• Neurosymbolic Approaches to NLP

Two-Stage Review Process: ARR and Commitment

ACL 2026 uses the ACL Rolling Review (ARR) as its reviewing system, with a two-step process:

Step 1: Submit to ARR

• Authors submit papers to ARR (October 2025 or January 2026 cycles)
• Papers receive reviews and meta-reviews from ARR reviewers and area chairs
• The review process remains double-blind for integrity

Step 2: Commit to ACL 2026

• After receiving reviews, authors commit their papers to ACL 2026
• Senior Area Chairs and Program Chairs make acceptance decisions based on ARR reviews
• Authors can also choose to revise and resubmit to ARR for another round

Mandatory Reviewing Workload

As part of the ARR-wide policy, authors must specify which co-authors are committing to cover reviewing responsibilities in the reviewing cycle. This strengthens the community's commitment to the peer review process.

What Makes ACL Stand Out

1. Comprehensive Program Structure

• Main Technical Program: Features the highest-quality peer-reviewed research papers with oral and poster presentations
• Findings of ACL: Recognizes solid work worthy of publication beyond the main conference
• Tutorials: Full-day and half-day educational sessions on specialized topics
• Workshops: 40+ specialized mini-conferences on emerging research areas
• Student Research Workshop: Dedicated track for graduate and undergraduate research
• Industry Track: Real-world applications and deployed NLP systems

2. Awards and Recognition

ACL presents prestigious awards including:

• Best Paper Awards: Recognizing exceptional research contributions
• Outstanding Paper Awards: Honoring high-impact work across different categories
• Best Demo Award: For innovative system demonstrations
• Thematic Paper Award (ACL 2026): Special recognition for explainability research

3. Global Impact and Community

The conference serves as the central gathering for the NLP community with:

• International participation from 60+ countries
• Industry collaborations with leading tech companies
• Academic partnerships across top universities worldwide
• Policy influence on AI governance and language technology standards

Why Attend ACL 2026?

For Researchers

• Present breakthrough research to the world's top NLP community
• Access cutting-edge work months before public release
• Form strategic collaborations with leading researchers
• Professional development through tutorials and workshops
• Early visibility of trends shaping the future of NLP

For Industry Professionals

• Technology scouting for next-generation language technologies
• Talent acquisition from the global NLP talent pool
• Research partnerships with academic institutions
• Competitive intelligence on emerging NLP capabilities

For Students and Early Career Researchers

• World-class mentorship from field leaders
• Career advancement through networking and presentations
• Research validation in a rigorous but supportive environment
• International connections for future collaborations

Paper Submission Details

Paper Types and Lengths

• Long Papers: 8 pages (plus unlimited references)
• Short Papers: 4 pages (plus unlimited references)
• Final versions: +1 page to address reviewer comments

Key Requirements

• Two-way anonymized review: Strict double-blind process
• Ethics policy: Responsible NLP research checklist required
• Limitations section: Mandatory discussion of work limitations
• Multiple submission policy: Follow ACL and ARR guidelines
• Optional supplementary materials: Additional resources allowed

Presentation at the Conference

All accepted papers must be presented at the conference (in-person or virtual) to appear in proceedings. Papers will be published in the ACL Anthology, the field's primary digital archive.

The ACL Anthology: A Lasting Legacy

All papers accepted at ACL conferences are published in the ACL Anthology, a comprehensive digital archive that serves as the field's primary repository of scientific literature. This ensures your research:

• Remains permanently accessible to the global community
• Receives proper citation and attribution
• Contributes to the historical record of NLP advancement
• Benefits from long-term preservation and discoverability

Planning Your ACL 2026 Experience

Conference Structure

• July 2: Tutorial Day - Intensive learning sessions
• July 3-5: Main Conference - Keynotes, oral presentations, posters
• July 6-7: Workshops - Specialized tracks and emerging topics

Tips for First-Time Attendees

1. Strategic planning: Review the program early and prioritize sessions aligned with your research interests
2. Networking preparation: Prepare your research "elevator pitch" for impromptu discussions
3. Workshop participation: Consider submitting to workshops for focused feedback
4. Social events: Attend receptions and social gatherings where meaningful connections form
5. ARR familiarization: Understand the ARR system for future submissions
6. Theme track exploration: Engage with explainability research even if it's not your primary area

San Diego Venue Benefits

• World-class facilities for hosting large-scale academic conferences
• Beautiful location conducive to productive discussions and networking
• Excellent accessibility with international airport and transportation
• Vibrant tech ecosystem with opportunities for industry engagement

The Future of NLP and ACL

As natural language processing continues to evolve rapidly, ACL remains at the forefront of:

• Large language model research and responsible AI development
• Multimodal language technologies combining text, speech, and vision
• Low-resource and multilingual NLP for global language diversity
• Interpretable and trustworthy AI systems
• Real-world applications addressing societal challenges

The conference's commitment to explainability in ACL 2026 reflects the field's maturation and responsibility to develop transparent, accountable language technologies.

Conclusion

The ACL Conference represents the pinnacle of computational linguistics and NLP research. Whether you're developing the next generation of language models, working on linguistic theory, or building practical NLP applications, ACL 2026 offers unparalleled opportunities for learning, collaboration, and contributing to the advancement of language technology.

With its special focus on explainability, innovative ARR submission system, and comprehensive program, ACL 2026 promises to be a landmark event in the evolution of natural language processing. The conference's location in San Diego, combined with its world-class technical program, makes it an essential destination for anyone serious about the future of language AI.

For researchers and practitioners looking to shape the future of how machines understand and generate human language, ACL 2026 is not just a conference—it's where the future of language technology is being written.

Sources

• ACL 2026 Official Website
• Association for Computational Linguistics
• ACL Rolling Review Information
• ACL Conference Acceptance Rates
• Google Scholar Metrics - Computational Linguistics