PEER REVIEW

Journal Peer Review

Important information for the various roles in the peer review process. The IEEE Computer Society manages the process through ScholarOne Manuscripts, the online submission system.

Submit a manuscript

Author Information

Editor Information

Reviewer Information

Editor in Chief Information

Guest Editor Information

Author Information

Preparing Your Submission

Manuscript Files

We accept Microsoft Word, plain text, and LaTeX files. Although article templates are not required for submission, we encourage you to use them as a tool for your article preparation. Find the appropriate template using the IEEE Template Selector. Note that templates do not reflect the final format for publication. The published paper will appear as formatted by publication staff.

If you will be submitting LaTeX files, use the IEEE LaTeX Analyzer before submitting to make sure your LaTeX files meet requirements and to avoid delays in the submission process.

Any file that you upload to ScholarOne Manuscripts will convert into a PDF. Our system has size limitations on individual files. Please do not attempt to upload a file larger than 50 MB.

Submit full papers, not outlines or abstracts. If you want feedback on an abstract, email it to the journal administrator.

Submissions must include the following elements: title page, abstract, index terms, illustrations, bibliography, and author bios and photos.

Page Length and Reference Limits

Please see each journal’s Author Information page (links below) for page length and reference limits. All page limits include references and author biographies. Pages in excess of these limits after final layout of the accepted manuscript is complete are subject to Mandatory Overlength Page Charges (MOPC), as described in the policy in the “Peer Review” section below.

Note: All supplemental material must be submitted as separate files and must not be included within the same PDF file as the main paper submission. Read the “Supplemental Material” section below for details.

Please note that double-column papers will translate more readily into the final publication format. A double-column page is defined as a 7.875″ x 10.75″ page with 9.5-point type and 11.5-point vertical spacing. These length limits account for reasonably sized figures and references.

* Special-issue papers must adhere to the same page limit as regular and short papers. Please contact the publication’s journal administrator for more information regarding special-issue papers.

Writing Style

Please consult the IEEE Editorial Style Manual.

English Language Editing Services

English language editing services can help refine the language of your article and reduce the risk of rejection without review. IEEE authors are eligible for discounts at several language editing services; visit the IEEE Author Center to learn more. Please note these services are fee-based and do not guarantee acceptance.

Editing of Accepted Articles

Once we accept your article, staff will prepare your article for publication. As part of the publication’s editing services, article titles may be reworded for clarity or to align with title word limits. In these cases, authors are queried for approval of the revised title.

Abstracts

An abstract must clearly state the nature and significance of the paper and is required at the head of the manuscript. Abstracts must not include mathematical expressions or bibliographic references.

Word limits for abstracts are as follows:

Regular/special-issue paper – 100 to 200 words
Short paper – 50 words

References

References should appear in a separate bibliography at the end of the paper, with items referred to by numerals in square brackets.

Please number your references in the order in which they appear.

Cite only published or scheduled-for-publication material that the public can easily access. Avoid listing multiple references for standards or methodologies that are well-known to the community and the magazine’s readership. Citations must include full publication information—for articles, this means listing all authors, the article name, the publication’s full name, the volume, issue number, month, year of publication, and the pages cited. Please see the IEEE Reference Guide for further guidance.

Use the IEEE Reference Preparation Assistant to make sure your references comply with requirements.

Figures and Tables

Figures and tables must be sized as they are to appear when published. Figures should be placed exactly where they are to appear within the text. We ask that you embed the figures in order to provide a smoother review process for the editors and reviewers. Incorrectly sized figures will be returned to the author for reformatting.

Please consult the Transactions Art Guide (PDF) for details on how to best prepare and submit the figures for your paper.

Color Figures

All journals can accept color images for use in the online version of the paper. You may indicate the presence of color images and explain your reasoning for including color images within your manuscript during the submission process. Images will be published in color only when color is necessary; final approval to publish in color must be given by the editor in chief.

Image Permissions

It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that he/she has permission to publish images in print and online in our digital library. If the author did not create the image, he/she must acquire permission from the owner of the image. If the image has been published elsewhere, authors must secure permission from the publisher and pay any required fees. We cannot publish an image without the consent of the image’s owner. You will need to provide proof of permission that you’re authorized to use that image (via email is acceptable), preferably prior to submission, but definitely prior to publication. Contact the journal administrator if you have questions.

Keywords/Index Terms

Keywords should be taken from the taxonomy (PDF) provided in ScholarOne Manuscripts. Using the keywords from the keyword list is essential to the review process because ScholarOne Manuscripts links them to names of potential reviewers who are associated with that area of expertise, thereby expediting the review process. We encourage all users to include keywords as part of their account information. If you currently do not have keywords included as part of your account information, you may add them by clicking your name on the top right corner of the main menu, then clicking User ID & Password. Scroll down the page until you reach the “Keywords” box. You may then select the keywords that apply to you from the list provided. When completed, click Finish.

Supplemental Materials

IEEE Computer Society journals accept and encourage submissions of supplemental materials for review.

All supplemental material must be submitted as separate files and must not be included within the same PDF file as the main paper submission.

Types of supplemental material can include: proofs, code, experimental data, short movies, appendices, animations, and audio files relevant to the research community. It is highly encouraged that authors take advantage of this opportunity to discuss and promote their paper as well as promote the research that drives the industry’s community.

These materials will be available for free download in IEEE Xplore and the Computer Society Digital Library. A pointer to the supplemental material will be included in the article.

Files submitted to ScholarOne Manuscripts cannot exceed a combined file size of 50 MB. Files larger than this limit will be returned for modification to a smaller size. All downloadable media and files that require plug-ins, viewers, or other special software not typically included in a default browser configuration should include a link to the appropriate helper application. If you are submitting a video or audio file, please include a text file with a description of your supplemental material.

In September 2010, the Transactions Operations Committee decided to consider all appendices as supplemental material. If a paper’s appendix is not initially designated as supplemental material, you will be asked to remove the appendix from the main paper file and resubmit the files via email to the journal administrator. The journal administrator will then upload the separate files to ScholarOne Manuscripts.

All supplemental materials must follow US copyright guidelines and may not include material previously copyrighted by another author, organization, or company. If portions of your manuscript or supplemental files contain material that is the legal property of another party, you must retain preauthorized written permission for reuse. Without proper clearance, your files will not be reviewed or published. If you do have clearance, please forward the documentation via email to the journal administrator.

Share Your Code and Data

Increase the impact of your work by sharing your code and data for others to view, build upon, and reuse. Benefits to sharing your data and code include:

Improving the discoverability of your data by hosting it in an easily accessible repository.
Making your data citable with a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for your dataset.
Increasing the pace of scientific advancement by enabling other researchers to build upon your work.
Following best practices of reproducible research by archiving your article’s underlying data.
Ensuring long-term preservation and accessibility of your data through the repository’s archival curation.

Code Ocean

IEEE works with Code Ocean, a cloud-based computational reproducibility platform, to make code discoverable. It allows authors to further enhance the visibility and impact of their research by enabling them to share their code on Code Ocean so that readers can browse, view, run, and experiment with the code.

IEEE DataPort

IEEE DataPort, an online repository of datasets and data analysis tools, makes your datasets discoverable. IEEE DataPort is fully integrated with IEEE Xplore, which will include a link to the dataset.

The repository accepts all types of datasets up to 2TB and provides a DOI for easy citation. IEEE DataPort is currently available for free with coupon code Dataport1.

Authors that require Open Access status for their dataset can upload their Open Access dataset for free. Use promotional code OPENACCESS1.

Several Computer Society journals are pleased to participate in a free trial offering IEEE DataPort, which supports authors in hosting and referring to their datasets during the article submission process. Participating titles are:

IEEE Computer Architecture Letters
IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society
IEEE Transactions on Big Data
IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing
IEEE Transactions on Computers
IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing
IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems
IEEE Transactions on Services Computing
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Computing
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics

Comments Paper/Correspondence Item

A comments paper is a paper commenting on an error one has found in, or a disagreement one has with, a previously published paper.

When submitting a comments paper, you must include the title and/or log number of the previously published paper. The journal coordinator will retrieve as much information as possible about the paper being commented on and will forward the appropriate materials to the editor in chief (EIC). If the editor who was assigned to the previously published paper is no longer available, the EIC will assign the comments paper to another editor whose expertise areas closely match the paper’s topic.

Preliminary/Conference Version(s)

If any portion of your submission has previously appeared in or will appear in a conference proceeding, you should notify us at the time of submission, make sure that the submission references the conference publication, and supply a copy of the conference version(s) to our office. Please also provide a brief description of the differences between the submitted manuscript and the preliminary version(s). You must select the appropriate designation for the files during the submission process in order to assist the editors and reviewers with differentiating between the files.

Please be aware that editors and reviewers are required to check the submitted manuscript to determine whether a sufficient amount of new material has been added to warrant publication. Section 8.2.1.B.9 of the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PDF) specifies that authors should submit only original work that has not appeared elsewhere for publication and that is not under review for another refereed publication. If you have used your own previously published material as a basis for a new submission, then you are required to cite the previous work(s) and clearly indicate how the new submission offers substantively novel or different contributions beyond those of the previously published work(s). In addition, if you intend to submit a conference version of your paper to a conference after submitting to the IEEE Computer Society, you must state your intention to submit in your cover letter and provide a copy of the conference paper upon submission to the conference.You will also need to provide a brief description of the differences between the submitted manuscript and the conference version(s). Any manuscript not meeting this criteria will be rejected. Copies of any previously published work affiliated with the new submission must also be included as supportive documentation upon submission.

Submission Site

The IEEE Computer Society employs a secure, web-based manuscript submission and peer review tracking system called ScholarOne Manuscripts for all article submissions to the IEEE Computer Society. The site itself provides detailed instructions on usage. This tool significantly reduces the time required for the peer review process.

Login Instructions

Sign in to ScholarOne Manuscripts using your User ID and password. If you already have an account but have forgotten your login or password, click Reset Password and enter your email address to receive an e-mail with your account information. If you do not receive a response email within one day, or if you do not already have an account, click Create an Account. The fields marked “req” are required information.

We ask that you enter some keywords in the “Keywords” text box. Our system links keywords to the names of potential reviewers, a feature that expedites the review process. Also, if you anticipate that you will need to be notified by more than one email address, please include it in the “Primary Cc E-mail Address” field.

Author Information

ScholarOne Manuscripts requires authors to enter a name and email address while registering. Email is our primary means of communication, so it is very important to verify that all information submitted is correct.

To update your account information at any time, click your name in the top right corner the main menu and click the appropriate selection from the dropdown list. Enter the new information in the appropriate fields, click Next, then click Finish.

Additional institutions that contributing authors may be affiliated with can be included in the “comments to editor in chief” box on Screen 9 of the submission process. You can also make any necessary changes to the affiliation(s) when or if you upload a revised version. Use the “previous” button until you reach Screen 2 to make changes.

Uploading Materials for Peer Review

After you sign in, click the Author tab on the main menu. Under the Author Dashboard header, select “Start New Submission.” The system will guide you through the process. Files may be edited after uploading.

Submit full papers, not outlines or abstracts. If you want feedback on an abstract, email it to the publication administrator.

Editing Uploaded Files (Prior to Submission)

Order: You may reorder uploaded files by selecting a number in the drop-down list located beneath the “Order” column. Click on the “Update Order” button after making adjustments and be sure to keep your main manuscript as the first file in the list.
File Designation: To change the file designation, click on the pull-down menu next to the file and select a different name from the list.
Change Description: To change the description of a file click on the “i” button and type a new description into the field.
Delete: To delete a file you have uploaded select “remove” from the drop-down list beneath the “Actions” header.

Proofing and Submitting Files

It is imperative that you carefully proofread your uploaded files before completing the submission process as we do not allow duplicate submissions. Please check all special characters, mathematical symbols, Greek letters, equations, tables, and images to ensure that they appear properly.

Errors can be corrected by going to the original document located on your computer and making any necessary changes. You may leave files in the system and return to them later; however, please be aware that your paper is not entered and we cannot begin the review process until you click the “submit” button.

Emailing Corrected Files (After Submission)

If you find that you have made an error in the submission of your manuscript (e.g., uploaded the wrong file, left one or more files out, etc.), please email the journal administrator for the title you are submitting to. Do not attempt to delete and/or resubmit it into ScholarOne Manuscripts, as this will only produce duplicate entries of the paper.

ORCID

All IEEE journals require an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) for all authors. ORCID is a persistent unique identifier for researchers and functions similarly to an article’s Digital Object Identifier (DOI). ORCIDs enable accurate attribution and improved discoverability of an author’s published work. You will need a registered ORCID to submit an article or review a proof in this journal. Learn more about ORCID and sign up for an ORCID today.

Follow these steps to link a ScholarOne account to a registered ORCID:

Login to ScholarOne and click on your name in the top right corner of the screen.
Click E-mail / Name in the dropdown menu.
In the ORCID section at the top of the page, click the appropriate link to either register for a new ORCID or associate the account with an existing ORCID.
A new page will open to create and/or validate your ORCID. Once the validation is complete, the new page will close and you will return to ScholarOne.
Save the changes to your ScholarOne user account.

Authors who do not have an ORCID in their ScholarOne user account will be prompted to provide one during submission.

Peer Review

Mandatory Overlength Page Charges

The following policy on Mandatory Overlength Page Charges (MOPC) applies to all IEEE Computer Society journals (except the IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society).

In its mission to maintain a consistent and high quality publication process, the IEEE Computer Society (CS) follows a strict policy on the lengths of published papers. Page length restrictions not only encourage authors to submit concise papers that readers will appreciate, but they help to keep the review process timely and maintain uniform editorial standards and consistency with page budgets. So that manuscripts meet page length requirements, all submissions must meet the journal’s submission guidelines and supporting but nonessential information (such as appendices) should be submitted as supplemental material. Independent of any Open Access or voluntary page charges, the IEEE Computer Society assesses the authors of accepted papers that exceed the regular paper length limit after final editing and layout a fee called Mandatory Overlength Page Charges (MOPC). The regular paper page length limit is defined at 12 formatted pages for Transactions and four formatted pages for Letters, including references and author biographies. Any pages or fraction thereof exceeding this limit are charged $220 per page. Submission page limits may differ from overlength page limits. Please review each publication’s Manuscript Types & Page Lengths policy (listed under Requirements) before submitting your manuscript. Authors will be notified of any assessed charges when galley proofs are sent for review. Payment must be sent at the time galley proofs are approved by the author.

The Computer Society’s policy on page limits as described here is strictly enforced. The IEEE and the CS will enforce payment of MOPCs as per regulation 6.5.2.F of the Publications Services and Products Board Manual, namely:

“Authors who do not pay Mandatory APCs without a waiver shall be barred from submitting future articles to IEEE publications until such time as their previous outstanding charges are paid.”

“Non-payment of an APC by an author shall not be considered an automatic application for waiver. If an author has not paid a Mandatory APC after a reasonable amount of time, this non-payment of the charges may be reported to the appropriate credit monitoring agencies. PSPB or the organizational unit sponsoring the publication may establish the length of time that must occur before this action is taken, and this information shall be included in the related instructions to authors.”

Authors requesting a waiver should submit substantiated evidence and documentation to pubs-waivers@computer.org. A waiver will be considered only prior to authors approving the final version of the proof of a manuscript. Unless a waiver is approved, invoices that are unpaid after 30 days will be forwarded to the IEEE’s credit and collections team. Further action may be taken for invoices unpaid after 180 days.

Copyright Form & Policy

The author is responsible for obtaining copyright releases and corporate and security clearances prior to submitting material for consideration. It is the IEEE’s policy to assume that all clearances are granted when a paper is submitted.

The IEEE copyright form must be completed and submitted in ScholarOne Manuscripts upon submission. For more information, please refer to the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Homepage and author FAQs (PDF).

This paper by Harold Stone (PDF) outlines basic author responsibilities in the area of copyright, reuse of material from your own previous publications and publications by others. It also touches on issues of duplicate, simultaneous, and plagiarized publications. All authors should be familiar with the guidelines summarized in Table 1 of this paper.

Concurrent/Duplicate Submission

Submissions must represent original material, and no version of the submission can be concurrently submitted to any conference, journal, or any other publication.

Papers are accepted for review with the understanding that the same work has been neither submitted to, nor published in, another journal or conference. If it is determined that a paper has already appeared in anything more than a conference proceeding or Letters, or appears in or will appear in any other publication before the editorial process is completed, the paper will be automatically rejected.

Papers previously published in conference proceedings, digests, preprints, or records are eligible for consideration provided that the papers have undergone substantial revision, and that the author informs the journal coordinator at the time of submission.

The question regarding concurrent submission appears on screen 5 in ScholarOne Manuscripts. Concurrent submission to these journals and other publications is viewed as a serious breach of ethics and, if detected, will result in immediate rejection of the submission.

We do not accept duplicate submissions of manuscripts. If you need to notify us of significant changes to the paper, please contact us. Please do not attempt to upload modified versions of papers that are already in ScholarOne Manuscripts. Identical submissions will be immediately rejected.

All IEEE authors are expected to adhere to the IEEE’s publishing ethics, including the appropriate citation of sources, the accurate reporting of data, and the publishing of original research.

Length of Review Process

The length of the review process varies, and many factors affect the time it takes to review a paper. The time it takes for an associate editor to be assigned, and for available, qualified reviewers to be located, depends on the complexity and the type of material submitted for review. Each publication makes a concerted effort to keep the review time to a minimum that is consistent with keeping the publications reputation for quality and integrity. Each submission placed into review is sent to at least three reviewers, making one submission correspond to roughly three review requests. The review process for our transactions journals may take approximately six to twelve months to be completed. For IEEE Computer Architecture Letters the response time from submission to author notification currently averages one month.

Since we make an effort not to “overuse” individual reviewers, we hope that you will make it a priority to help with the review of other submissions when we call upon you.

Open Access

Our journals are hybrid journals, allowing either traditional manuscript submission or author-paid Open Access (OA) manuscript submission. (The exception is the IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society, which is fully and exclusively open access.)

The OA option, if selected, enables unrestricted public access to the article via IEEE Xplore and the Computer Society Digital Library with payment of the current Article Processing Charge (APC). The OA option will be offered to the author at the time the manuscript is submitted and the APC must be paid before the article is published in the journal. Please visit the IEEE Open Access FAQ for further details. Authors seeking an APC waiver should submit substantiated evidence and documentation to pubs-waivers@computer.org.

The traditional option, if selected, enables access to all qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore and the Computer Society Digital Library. No OA payment is required.

Irrespective of any OA charges, please note that papers that exceed the publication’s stated page limit after acceptance and final layout will be subject to Mandatory Overlength Page Charges.

Double-Blind Review

The peer review process assures the anonymity of the reviewers. You can request a review in which your identity is also kept from the reviewers. This is called a double-blind review. Requests for a double-blind review should be clearly indicated during the submission process. (Note: Transactions on Cloud Computing, Transactions on Computers, and Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing do not offer this option.)

While you may request a double-blind review, such requests must be accompanied by an explanation in the cover letter on why the double-blind review is being requested. Furthermore, co-authors must be entered and listed in the co-author list during the submission process in ScholarOne Manuscripts. Papers requesting double-blind review must still provide copies of and differences from related papers by the authors that have been previously published. It is your responsibility to ensure that all electronic files (including but not limited to supplemental material and preliminary/conference versions), file properties, and materials submitted for double-blind review do not reveal your identity or the identities of contributing authors. Note that author anonymity for papers with preliminary versions cannot be guaranteed due to the possibility that reviewers may search for those versions on the web.

Requests for double-blind reviews will be honored at the discretion of the editor in chief based on the reasons behind the requests.

For published articles that underwent a double-blind review, each article was reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers using a double-blind peer review process, in which the identities of the reviewers are not known to the authors, and the identities of the authors are not known to the reviewers.

IEEE Review Process Statement

Articles in IEEE Computer Society journals are peer reviewed in accordance with the requirements set forth in the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PDF). Each published article was reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers using a single-blind* peer review process, where the identities of the reviewers are not known to the authors, but the reviewers know the identities of the authors. Articles will be screened for plagiarism before acceptance.

*See the Double-Blind Review section for additional information.

IEEE requires that referees treat the contents of papers under review as confidential information not to be disclosed to others before publication. It is expected that no one with access to a paper under review will make any inappropriate use of the special knowledge that access provides. Contents of abstracts submitted to conference program committees should be regarded as confidential as well, and handled in the same manner.

Periodicals that are published in cooperation with non-IEEE organizations must have a review policy that ensures the quality of the papers. The policies of the non-IEEE organizations should be generally consistent with the IEEE requirements contained in this Section 8.2.2.A.

To access Section 8.2.2.A – The Review Process in its entirety, visit the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PDF).

Submission Prescreening Process

All IEEE Computer Society publications adhere to the prescreening process as outlined in the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) Operations Manual (PDF), Section 8.2.2.A.3 regarding prescreening of articles by editors.

Note that “minimum technical content” is defined as what is normally understood as such by the publication’s community.

Submission to PubMed

IEEE authors who receive public funding for their research, and then publish the research in an IEEE publication, are required to submit their papers to PubMed.* IEEE does not submit papers/articles for authors, rather authors must submit the forms by going to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/authorms/.

*This does not apply to TCBB, as this journal is already indexed by PubMed and Medline.

Submitting Final Publication Materials

After your paper is accepted for publication, you must submit final publication materials (individual file size limit is 350 MB). Below is the author checklist designed to help you meet these requirements. Please note that all IEEE Computer Society Transactions papers are edited electronically; therefore, electronic materials are required for all final submissions.

You will be required to submit your final publication materials by the due date given in the acceptance letter. To avoid delays in the publication process, please refer to the author checklist below when preparing your materials.

Author Checklist

One editable copy* (.doc or .tex) of your complete manuscript must match the final accepted .pdf version downloaded from ScholarOne. A complete manuscript includes:
- abstract
- keywords/index terms
- author affiliation data
- main text
- figures and tables (including captions and titles)
- footnotes, if any
- references**
- photo and biography of each author (regular or survey papers only)
Signed copyright transfer form submitted via ScholarOne Manuscripts only***
Supplemental material (if applicable)†
Image permission (if applicable) – If you intend to use an image that you didn’t create (that is, it originally appeared elsewhere or someone else created it), you will need to provide permission that you’re authorized to use that image to the production editor assigned to work with you on your article.

The Transactions Art Guide (PDF) lists our printing specifications. Please consult this guide when considering how to best create graphics that will appear at the highest quality in print and online.

* PDF files of final, accepted papers will be downloaded from ScholarOne Manuscripts and used for preprints and publication. No changes can be made to a preprint. Any typographical errors may be addressed with the production editor during the proofing stage. All editable versions (Word or Latex) must match this final accepted PDF version downloaded from ScholarOne. Any subsequent PDF files will not be used for production.

**Please do not send a .bib file; we only use .bbl files. Please include only those references pertaining to the paper you are submitting.

***The author, in providing a signed copyright form, understands that all copyrights in and to the above work are assigned to The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (“IEEE”). All text and figures must be owned and created by the author, except possibly for material such as text passages, figures, and data that clearly identify the original source, with permission notices from the copyright owners where required. Copyright clearance must be provided for the use of commercial or non-public domain images. The author represents that he/she has the power of authority to make and execute this assignment.

† Must be a separate file from the main paper file and named as “log #-supp.” The supplemental file(s) will also be downloaded with the accepted PDF from ScholarOne Manuscripts to be accessed with the article preprint.

Non-Technical Material

It is essential that discussions of the social as well as the purely technical aspects of electrical and electronics engineering work be included in IEEE Publications. The following Publication Services and Products Board policies apply to editors and authors:

The subject matter shall be relevant to the field of electrical or electronics engineering, or computer science, and the field’s impact on society.
Reasonable efforts shall be made to provide for adequate and timely presentations of differing viewpoints.
Materials shall include a statement that the opinions expressed are those of the author, and no endorsement by the IEEE, its officials, or its members is implied.

Online-First Publication Model

The IEEE Computer Society uses an online-first publication model, which means that your paper will be posted online shortly after you submit all publication materials. As of 1 Feb. 2010, PDF files of final, accepted papers downloaded from ScholarOne Manuscripts will be stamped as a “PrePrint” posted to the IEEE Computer Society Digital Library (CSDL) and sent to the IEEE for posting in Xplore. No changes can be made to a preprint until the article appears in an issue. If for any reason you would prefer not to have your paper posted as a PrePrint, please advise the journal coordinator immediately; otherwise, your paper will be submitted for online posting shortly after all materials are received.

Authorship Principles

The IEEE outlines publication principles including authorship and author responsibilities in section 8.2.1 of the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PDF). Items specific, but not limited, to these principles are highlighted here:

Authorship credit and technical contribution
Coauthor awareness and approval of submission (or any revised version)
Ordering of authors on manuscript
Role of the corresponding author
Author conduct regarding plagiarism, dual submission, previous related work, and discussion of manuscript with reviewers
Citing the submitted paper in other relevant work under consideration for publication
Author responsibility for obtaining written permission to use material (i.e., charts, photographs, or other graphical or textual material) copywritten by other parties

Authors are responsible for reading and adhering to these guidelines. You must withdraw your submission immediately if you are unable to comply with any of them.

View the IEEE’s definition of authorship.

Requesting/Excluding Reviewers

You must indicate the reason for requesting or excluding reviewers during the submission process.

Resources

IEEE Author Tools

Visit IEEE Author Tools to find the right article template, validate your LaTeX files, verify your reference list, and more.

IEEE Video Tutorials for Authors

View instructional videos about citing sources, writing an abstract, responding to reviewer comments, and more.

Overleaf Authoring Tool

Work with your co-authors in real time using Overleaf, an online collaborative LaTeX and rich text authoring tool.

New to LaTeX? Get started with the free online course “Introduction to LaTeX” from Overleaf.

IEEE Collabratec

IEEE Collabratec is a cloud-based hub for scholarly collaboration—integrating authoring and productivity tools with a global community dedicated to technology professionals. IEEE Collabratec can help authors generate ideas for articles and find co-authors. Visit the IEEE AuthorLab forum to ask questions related to publishing your research in IEEE periodicals.

Social Media Tips and Templates

The IEEE Computer Society encourages its authors to post about their published work on social media. Read our tips for crafting an effective social media message about your work.

The IEEE Social Media and Communications Toolkit for Authors includes ready-to-use templates, images, and copy that authors can adapt to promote their work on their social media channels. The toolkit includes variations for both traditional and open access articles.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I want to use a keyword that is not in the provided taxonomy? Can I make up one of my own?

We prefer that you use the keywords from the taxonomy (PDF) provided, but if you do not see a word that closely reflects the topic of your paper, then you may type the appropriate word into the text box. Please keep in mind that using the keywords from the taxonomy is essential to the review process because ScholarOne Manuscripts links them to names of potential reviewers who are associated with that area of expertise, thereby expediting the review process.

Does ScholarOne Manuscripts expedite the peer review process? What is its benefit to me?

By using ScholarOne Manuscripts, we hope to expedite the review process by giving editors and reviewers unrestricted access to their assigned papers. The system provides real-time information and encourages volunteers to take action on pending assignments.

The main benefits to authors are:

It provides a simple, step-by-step submission process.
It provides access to the status of a paper without having to contact the journal administrator.

How can I check the status of my paper?

After you log in to ScholarOne Manuscripts go to the Author Dashboard. Your submissions currently in process will be listed in the first view called “Submitted Manuscripts.”

This is brief description of what the statuses mean:

Under review – The paper could be awaiting editor/reviewer assignment or pending reviews.
With Associate Editor – The paper is awaiting either a recommendation or decision.

The “Manuscripts with Decisions” view lists all submissions that have received a decision.

How long do I have before a partially submitted manuscript is deleted from ScholarOne Manuscripts?

The system does not automatically remove partially submitted papers from the database. It is your responsibility to either complete the submission process for a particular paper or click on the Delete link to remove the paper.

Is there a limit to the number of papers that I can submit?

We do not have limit on the number of papers that an author can submit at one time as long as they are not the same paper. We do not accept duplicate submissions. Please do not attempt to submit the same paper into the system more than one time. All duplicate submissions will be immediately rejected.

Can I submit my paper as an email attachment?

No. All papers must be submitted via ScholarOne Manuscripts.

How long does it take for the confirmation email to be sent when I submit a manuscript?

ScholarOne Manuscripts will send an email to you confirming a successful upload immediately after you submit the manuscript. If you do not receive one, please contact the journal coordinator.

If I request/exclude reviewers, will those individuals be used?

The selection of qualified reviewers is left to the discretion of the assigned editor. However, requesting or excluding reviewers can assist the editor by providing them a head start on determining which individuals can serve as potential reviewers. Please confirm with the editor, guest editor (if applicable), and editor in chief that there are no conflicts of interest with the recommended reviewer.

Can I post a copy of my submitted paper on my personal or my employer’s website?

If necessary, you may post a copy of your submitted paper either on your personal site or on your employer’s site as long as your employer allows it. Please refer to the section “Author posting policy” on the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights information page for additional details.

Is there a limit to how large uploaded files can be? How many files may I upload for my manuscript submission?

Please do not upload files larger than 50 MB. This size limit applies to all file types. There is no limit to the number of files that can be uploaded as long as they do not exceed that limit.

Do you need a copy of any preliminary versions? What if it was just an international workshop or an abstract that was published elsewhere?

Yes. We prefer to have copies of all preliminary versions, including those published in workshops and abstracts published elsewhere.

How do I know this site is secure? Exactly who will have access to my paper?

All peer review volunteers receive a username and password to access their appropriate user centers. Only the journal administrator, editor in chief, assigned associate editor, and specifically assigned reviewers will have access to your paper. Their level of access depends on their role in the review process. The assigned associate editor will have access to your paper’s entire manuscript record but the specifically assigned reviewers will only have access to your manuscript and their review.

I noticed that there was a mistake in my submitted paper. Can I submit a corrected or modified version?

Please do not attempt to submit corrected or modified versions of papers already in the system. This produces duplicate submissions, and duplicate submissions are automatically rejected. You are given the opportunity to carefully proof all of your materials before submitting them for review. You should contact the journal administrator only if modifications are crucial and would significantly affect the review process; otherwise, all corrections can be made when or if the paper undergoes revision.

How can I see the reviewer comment files?

Log on to your Author Dashboard in ScholarOne Manuscripts
In the “Manuscripts with Decisions” view, click “view decision letter” link.
Scroll down to the bottom of the reviews and click on the attached file.