RAIRO: Formal Methods for Modeling and Verification of Distributed and Trustworthy Computing Systems
This is a call for original manuscripts to be published in a special issue of RAIRO – Theoretical Informatics and Applications on Formal Methods for Modeling and Verification of Distributed and Trustworthy Computing Systems.
in Special issues by Stephan Merz on July 29, 2026

Digital services are increasingly embedded in critical areas of modern society, while many applications and technical solutions are moving toward distributed architectures. Component interactions, communication delays, asynchronous execution, process failures, and relaxed consistency models may introduce subtle errors and security vulnerabilities that are difficult to detect through conventional testing alone. Formal methods provide rigorous foundations for specifying, modeling, analyzing, and verifying such systems.

This special issue is closely aligned with the scope of RAIRO-Theoretical Informatics and Applications, particularly in theoretical computer science, concurrent and distributed computations, program verification, logic,algorithms,  and cryptography. It invites original research articles on the theory, methods, tools, and applications of formal methods for modeling and verifying distributed and trustworthy computing systems.

Topics of interest

  • Formal modeling and specification of distributed and trustworthy systems
  • Model checking for concurrent and distributed computations
  • Theorem proving, temporal logic, and logic-based verification
  • Design, analysis, and verification of distributed algorithms
  • Scalable verification methods, abstraction, and compositional reasoning
  • Verification of safety, liveness, consistency, reliability, and fault  tolerance
  • Formal security verification of software, protocols, and system architectures
  • Privacy, vulnerability, and attack-surface analysis of trustworthy systems
  • Formal methods for cloud/edge/IoT environments, blockchain systems, and  cyber-physical systems
  • Runtime verification, symbolic execution, and tool-supported formal analysis
  • Formal verification of AI systems
  • Use of AI techniques in support of formal methods

 

Guest editors

Hubert Garavel, Inria Center at University of Grenoble Alpes, France

Jingsha He, Beijing University of Technology, China

Stephan Merz, Inria Center at University of Lorraine

Selection criteria

  • Relevance to the scope of the special issue
  • Originality and novelty
  • Soundness of the formal model or verification method
  • Technical rigor and significance
  • Clarity of presentation
  • Compliance with ethical publishing standards

Submission information

  • Full-length papers are invited for peer review.
  • Article types may include original research articles, review articles, and short communications (including mini-reviews and viewpoints).
  • Manuscripts must be original, unpublished, and not for consideration elsewhere. Manuscripts based on previously accepted conference papers must contain substantial new material, and the increment with respect to the conference papers must be described in the manuscript.
  • Submit online through the journal's submission and peer-review system at  https://ita.nestor-edp.org
    Select the special issue title "Formal Methods for Modeling and Verification of Distributed and Trustworthy Computing Systems".
  • Instructions for authors are available at  https://www.rairo-ita.org/author-information/instructions-for-authors 
  • For questions, contact the guest editors at rairo-fm@inria.fr 

Use of Generative AI Tools

The use of AI tools for conducting research must be disclosed in the manuscript, with their specific uses described in detail. Such uses include the design of the research project, creation of theories and algorithms, designing experiments, generation and collection of data, coding, testing, proof and verification, assisting with writing, or any aspects that are directly relevant to the conclusion of the research. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript.

Timeline (All dates AoE)

  • Submission deadline: February 28, 2027
  • Authors of papers that do not meet the criteria listed above will be notified of desk rejection within 48 hours of submission.
  • Papers considered for publication will typically undergo one or two rounds of peer review.
  • First round review decisions: within two or three months after submission.
  • Notification of final decisions: four months after first round reviews.
  • Publication date: rolling online publication