We invite submissions (full papers and extended abstracts) for the fourth European Workshop on Algorithmic Fairness (EWAF'25)!

EWAF aims to foster dialogue between researchers working on algorithmic fairness in the context of Europe’s legal and societal framework, especially in light of the European Union’s attempts to promote ethical AI and the turn to AI for the common good. 

EWAF welcomes submissions from multiple disciplines, including but not limited to computer science, law, philosophy, and social science, as well as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work.

Areas of interest

We welcome submissions from the following areas:

• Computer Science: fairness metrics, methods for qualitative evaluations, bias mitigation techniques, auditing frameworks, fairness-aware data collection

• Philosophy: values embedded in distributive and procedural fairness, foundations of ethical AI, critical studies on AI

• Social Sciences AI impact assessments, historical perspectives on discrimination, impact of algorithms on marginalized groups, perceptions of (un)fairness, AI and labor, digital governance, management and fairness, AI for public value creation

• Policy and Law: non-discrimination law, data protection law and data governance, impact assessments, accountability measures, sensitive application areas of AI (e.g., the judiciary, government, law enforcement, public services), global regulatory developments)

We also explicitly welcome submissions of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work, sourcing from multiple disciplinary areas and/or highlighting joint insight-building with relevant non-academic stakeholders.

A non-exhaustive list of themes includes:

• Industry experiences in developing and implementing fairness interventions, developing standards and practical approaches to introducing fairness in digital innovation governance.

• Empirical and theoretical perspectives from social sciences on fairness and discrimination in Europe (e.g., analysis of labor markets, the concepts of class, race, disability, and discrimination against minorities in different social contexts, intersectional inequality).

• Case studies based on concrete European instances of algorithmic design and regulation that machine learning scholars or practitioners have encountered in their work (e.g., datasets or audits of automated decision-making systems that are used in Europe).

• An analysis of the implications of the European legislative framework for the debate on fairness in machine learning and AI more broadly (e.g., specificities connected to anti-discrimination and data collection legislation and the emerging regulatory frameworks for platforms and AI).

• Principled arguments for certain fairness concepts and measures in specific contexts.

• Implementing fairness in deployed systems, selecting fairness definitions and designing auditing processes.

• Explorations of the relationship and trade-offs between fairness and transparency in practice.

• Fairness and transparency of black-box models.

• Generative AI and fairness, esp. relating to the job market and the data supply chain.

We also welcome submissions without a focus on European specificity or tackling other themes related to algorithmic fairness. 

Evaluation criteria

Papers will be judged based on scholarly criteria in their subject area, including

• Relevance to the workshop (see areas of interest above).

• Quality and clarity: correctness, comprehensiveness, depth of exposition, evaluation of both strengths and limitations, etc.

• Originality: the work presents new analyses, tasks, methods, etc., new perspectives on existing work, or combines existing work in a novel way.

• Potential for impact: potential to influence academic discipline, public discourse, policy, or real-world systems.

We will have reviewers from different disciplines that bring the expertise to evaluate work from all the areas we solicit from.

Submission format

Authors can choose between submitting a full paper or an extended abstract. At least one author of each accepted submission is expected to be present at EWAF’25 to present their work. Additionally, we expect authors to be available to review other submissions in their area (light load).

Full paper (long)

This option is suitable for contributions covering novel work. You will receive formal peer reviews for your paper and, if accepted, a chance to present your work at the workshop as well as a (citable) full paper in the conference proceedings.

• Length: A full paper of up to 15 pages (plus unlimited pages for references). Papers that do not follow the length requirement may be rejected without review.

• Dual submission policy: It is not permitted to submit work that is already under review, has been accepted for publication, or has already been published at another venue as a full paper.

• Anonymization: Full papers are reviewed mutually anonymously (i.e. reviewers do not know the names of the authors and authors do not know the names of reviewers). Authors must omit names, affiliations, and other potentially identifying information from the submission. Citations to prior work from the authors should be made in the third person. Non-anonymized papers may be rejected without review.

Extended abstract (short)

This type of submission is flexible and suitable for a range of submissions, including but not limited to ongoing/early-stage work, work under review elsewhere, already published work, case studies from industry, and open challenges in research or practice. You will receive succint peer reviews for your paper, and, if accepted, a chance to present your work at the workshop.

• Length: An extended abstract of up to 4 pages (plus unlimited pages for references).

• Dual submission policy: It is permissible to submit work that is under review, has been accepted for publication at another venue, or has been published at another venue (provided this is in line with the submission policy of the other venue).

• Anonymization: short paper submissions are reviewed unilaterally anonymously (i.e. authors do not know the names of reviewers). You are allowed to insert name(s) and affiliation(s) of the authors and, if applicable, reference the full paper.

Archival and non-archival

Authors of can choose between archival and non-archival submissions:

• Archival accepted papers (both full papers and extended abstracts) shall be submitted for publication in the workshop proceedings.

• Non-archival papers will not be published in the proceedings.

Formatting instructions

To be announced!

Presentation of Accepted Work

Regular presentation

The authors of each accepted paper can choose to present their work in a lightning rond and/or poster session. Regular presentations are aimed at getting a sense of the work happening within our community and encouraging participants to make new connections.

• Lightning round: short presentations (5 minutes) in which one of the authors summarizes the work.

• Poster session: posters summarizing the work are displayed in the poster presentation area throughout the workshop. Each poster is presented by one of the authors during one of the poster sessions.

In-depth presentation

A set of papers will be selected for an in-depth presentation (20 minutes + room for questions). Both short and long submissions will be considered for the in-depth track based on fulfilling the overall goals of the conference. The quality of the paper is certainly a factor, but selection for the in-depth track results from a plurality of considerations, including achieving a balance between the representation of diverse views and disciplinary perspectives and fostering interdisciplinary dialogue.

Contact

For questions, please contact program-chairs@ewaf.org.