Ready to earn recognition for your software development knowledge and expertise? The InfoQ Team is happy to invite you to participate in our annual article writing competition. Authors of top-rated articles will win complimentary tickets to prominent software development conferences such as QCon and InfoQ Dev Summit.
What's in for you?
Prize Details
The authors of the articles that raise the most interest and/or appreciation from the community will be rewarded with a complimentary ticket to one of our events, as follows:
- 1st prize - an in-person ticket for a QCon of your choice: San Francisco 2025 or London 2026
- 2nd prize - an in-person ticket for an InfoQ Dev Summit 2025 of your choice
- 3rd prize - a Video-Only Pass after the conference, for a QCon of your choice: San Francisco 2025 or London 2026
If you are unable to attend in person, you can opt-in for the Video-Only access to most sessions and keynotes for 6 months.
In-person tickets for QCon or InfoQ Dev Summit events do not include any other costs that your attendance on-site might include, such as but not limited to: accommodation, travel, etc.
Further benefits
Being published on InfoQ is an excellent opportunity to grow your career and build connections with the software community. In addition, other developers can learn from you, and they in turn, can contribute back to the community in the future.
- Earn peer recognition
- Enhance your professional reputation
- Make a real difference in the software development community
Key dates
Only article proposals submitted within the established period will be considered:
- Submissions opening: March 01, 2025
- Submissions closing: March 30, 2025
- Winners to be announced: May 30, 2025
How to participate
- Read the author guidelines
- Submit your proposal through the 2025 contest form
- For early feedback or additional questions, send your title and abstract to editors@infoq.com
Article Requirements
We think that the story is best told by developer to developer, architect to architect, and team lead to team lead. That's why we focus on in-depth technical articles written by domain practitioners and experts. The main requirements to consider before sending a proposal:
- Length: 2,000-3,000 words
- Focus: Technical insights, architectural decisions, or emerging technology implementation
- Target Audience: Senior software engineers, architects, and team leads
Content Guidelines
To ensure the best chance of having your article accepted, it should be:
- Technically substantial with specific, actionable takeaways
- Focused on emerging trends in software development
- Based on real-world implementation experience
- Free from marketing content
- Complete guidelines on the public InfoQ page.
If you would like feedback regarding the suitability of an article proposal before writing the actual draft, please send us a title and abstract. However, the acceptance is always based on the complete article draft; first drafts are also considered. Contact us at editors@infoq.com for any questions or further information.
Selected topics
We welcome articles that fit into the innovator and early adopter stages of the following topics: AI, ML and Data Engineering, Software Architecture & Design, DevOps & Cloud.
Here is a more detailed list of the sub-topics for each topic:
AI, ML, & Data Engineering
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), AI powered hardware, Small Language Models (SLMs), AI in Robotics aka Embodied AI, LangOps or LLMOps, Knowledge Graphs, Explainable AI, Brain Computer Interfaces, Automated Machine Learning (AutoML), Edge Interference and model training, large-scale distributed deep-learning, Generative AI/ Large Language Models (LLMs), Synthetic Data Generation, Cloud Agnostic Computing for AI, Vector Databases, Data Contracts, Data Observability, Virtual Reality - e.g. VR/AR/MR/XR, MLOps, Cognitive Services, Graph Data Analytics, IoT Platforms.
Software Architecture & Design
Cell-Based Architecture, Privacy Engineering, Green Software, GraphQL federation, НТТР/3, dApps, Platform Architecture, Socio-technical Architecture Large language models, Edge Computing, Data-Driven Architecture, Dapr, WebAssembly, Micro frontends,AsyncAPI, OpenTelemetry.
Cloud & DevOps
Data Observability, Data Mesh, Cross-cloud uniform infra automation, Application definition and orchestration, Low-code platforms, SLOS, Platform Engineering teams, Industry aggregated incident analysis, Quantum cloud computing, WebAssembly (Wasm), eBPF, Policy as Code, Service mesh, Software secure supply chain, Cross-cloud/Cloud-native hybrid approaches, No copy data sharing, Sustainability accounting, AI/ML Ops, Active-active Global DB Ops, Fullstack tracing, Continuous Testing, ChatOps, DataOps, Developer Experience "DevEx", Documentation as code, Security in the age of AI, Container Security and Observability in Kubernetes Environments, DevSecOps Best Practices for Identity & Access Management, Best Practices for API Quality and Security.
Winner Selection Process
Winners will be determined by evaluating:
- Reader interest (page views within 14 days of publication)
- Social media impact (engagement on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook)
Here's how we'll select the winners: We'll identify the top three articles based on page views within 14 days of publication. From those three, the article with the most social media engagement across the listed platforms will be awarded 1st place, the second-most engaged will receive 2nd place, and the third, 3rd place.
Page views will be counted for 14 calendar days from the article's publication date to ensure fair competition.
Winners will be notified by email and publicly announced on our social media channels, on 30 May 2025.
Ready to join the contest? Send your proposal now: 2025 articles contest form.
About the Author
