How to handle a missing author on an ECCV paper submission after the deadline?

Question

We recently submitted a paper to ECCV (European Conference on Computer Vision), but realized after the submission deadline that one of our significant contributors was omitted from the author list. ECCV's policy states no changes to authorship are allowed after submission. However, this person made substantial contributions to the work, including coding (with Git history as proof) and ongoing project communications, with every kind of proof that you can think of.

Given the importance of ECCV in our field and the extensive work required for acceptance, are there any circumstances under which conference organizers might consider adding a missing author? What are the potential consequences of requesting such a change? How should we proceed in this situation to ensure proper credit while adhering to conference policies?

Answer 1

You ask if there are circumstances in which conference organizers might be willing to add an author.

That's too general a question. You want to know if the organizers of this particular conference will let you do this.

Ask them.

Clearly state that the omission was an accident - essentially, a typographic error - that you are not retroactively awarding authorship for a questionable contribution.

Answer 2

You can ask the conference or program chair, but your only ethical option might be to withdraw. The policy is up to them. The ethics is up to you.

Explain clearly the importance of adding an author and that it is in no way gift authorship.