How long for ICML/NeurIPS/ICLR papers? Reddit reveals 6–18 month timelines
A viral Reddit thread uncovers realistic timeframes for top ML conference papers.
Deep Dive
A Reddit user in r/MachineLearning asked how long it typically takes to develop a paper from idea to submission and then to acceptance at top ML conferences like ICML, NeurIPS, and ICLR.
Key Points
- Idea to first submission: typically 3–6 months, with incremental work sometimes as short as 2 months.
- Full pipeline from idea to final acceptance: 6–18 months, often including one or more rejection cycles.
- Main factors affecting timeline: novelty, compute needs, team size, and reliance on deep experimental validation.
Why It Matters
Realistic timelines help ML researchers and teams plan projects, allocate resources, and manage expectations for top-tier publication.