How ICORE downgraded theoretical computer science
Does the ICORE ranking hate theoretical computer science? There’s been some discussion about traditional A-conferences on formal methods such as ITP, CONCUR, FM, FoSSaCS being downgraded to B in the current ICORE ranking.
Attached graph plots the changes of all theory-of-computation venues that have ever been B or above after 2020: For 2023, a third of B has been sent to C; and now, 2026, half of A to B. On the other hand, there’s almost no upwards mobility of ranks in the field. If you want to look deeper into the ranking changes, I’ve pushed the scraping and visualization script to https://github.com/benkeks/icore-ranks.
Funding and career paths at many universities depend on this ranking. So while it’s questionable whether CORE’s idea of “impact” actually is meaningful, another thing is certain: This year’s slashing of A-venues *will* impact the field.
Unless, of course, we agree to more often ignore the CORE ranking regime …