usenixsec-topic-selection
Use when deciding whether a project belongs at the USENIX Security Symposium or a sibling venue — routing among USENIX Security, IEEE S&P, ACM CCS, NDSS, and specialty venues (PETS, SOUPS, RAID, WOOT), and confirming the work has the artifact/measurement/systems evidence USENIX Security rewards.
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill usenixsec-topic-selection --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# USENIX Security Topic Selection The most expensive USENIX Security mistake is made before writing: submitting a paper whose center of gravity is somewhere else. USENIX Security is now USENIX's flagship summer event (USENIX ATC ended after 2025, leaving Security as the association's premier venue), and it draws a specific kind of security paper. This skill decides fit and routes the misfits before a cycle is spent. ## What USENIX Security is especially strong for The venue rewards security research whose evidence can be **audited and reused** — a bias reflected in its mandatory Open Science policy and two-phase artifact evaluation. It is the natural home for: - Systems and software security with a working artifact (defenses, hardening, program analysis, fuzzing, TEE/OS/firmware work). - Empirical security **measurement** at scale (internet-wide scanning, ecosystem studies, abuse and fraud measurement). - Vulnerability discovery and analysis with responsible disclosure. - Usable security and privacy with a systems or measurement backbone. - Applied cryptography and privacy tech evaluated as built systems. The through-line: a security contribution other researchers can pick up, run,
- What USENIX Security is especially strong for
- The Big-Four routing table (from the USENIX Security seat)
- The "is it security research here?" test
- Scoping: one paper or two?
- Readiness gate before committing
- Reverify each cycle
- Output format
What does the usenixsec-topic-selection skill do?
Use when deciding whether a project belongs at the USENIX Security Symposium or a sibling venue — routing among USENIX Security, IEEE S&P, ACM CCS, NDSS, and specialty venues (PETS, SOUPS, RAID, WOOT), and confirming the work has the artifact/measurement/systems evidence USENIX Security rewards.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills --skill usenixsec-topic-selection --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Awesome-Journal-Skills, a repository with 909 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.