PEER REVIEW
 

Magazine 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.

If you do not use a template, set the paper size in your document to 8 1/2 inches wide by 11 inches high rather than A4. Margins should be at least one inch on the left and right and at least 1.5 inches from the top and bottom. Your manuscript must have two columns and have page numbers on every page (at least one inch from the bottom of each page).

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 350 MB.

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

Word and Reference Limits

Please see each magazine’s Author Information page (links below) for word count and reference limits.

Note: Supplemental material is not included in these word counts. Read the “Supplemental Material” section below for more information.

Writing Style

Articles should be understandable to a broad range of readers who want information they can apply in their daily work. Writing should be down-to-earth, practical, original, and comprehensible to all readers, regardless of their specialty. Don’t assume that your audience has specialized experience in any particular subfield. Explain terms and concepts and avoid jargon and academic language.

Use active instead of passive voice (“We discovered …” rather than “It was discovered …”) and straightforward declarative sentences. In an introduction of two to three paragraphs, tell what the article is about and why this topic is significant. Avoid repetition of results and signposting (indications of what will follow or references to previous or subsequent sections). Do not number section headings. If you must use acronyms, define each one on its first appearance. When you mention a person in the text, include the full name on first reference and only the last name subsequently. Conclusions should not summarize but instead outline future goals or lessons learned. Footnotes are only allowed in tables; otherwise, extra notes are placed in parentheses in the text.

We encourage Further Reading lists, lists of important URLs, and Related Work sidebars to help readers understand the context, relevance, and significance of your work.

For more guidelines, see 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. The editing process begins four to ten weeks before publication and takes approximately two to three weeks. 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.

References

With the exception of Annals, 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.

Note that in-text reference numbers will be formatted as superscript in the final layout version.

Author Biographies

Author biographies must follow this format:

Feature articles

[Full name] is [role] at [institution] at [city, state, postal code, country]. [His/Her/Their] research interests include [3 very brief (not a complete list of) topics]. [Last name] received [his/her/their] [highest degree] in [topic] from [institution]. [He/She/They] is a [member/fellow/other] at [professional organization]. Contact [him/her/them] at [website or email address]. 

Example

Francesca Computersmith is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, BT9 5BN, U.K. Her research interests include behavioral software engineering, user interfaces, and AI. Computersmith received her PhD in software engineering from Bournemouth University. She is a member of IEEE. Contact her at email@email.com.

Columns/departments

[Full name] is [role] at [institution] at [city, state, postal code, country]. Contact [him/her/them] at [website or email address].

Example

Michael Programson is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064 USA. Contact him at email@email.com.

Keywords and Taxonomy

Keywords should closely reflect your topic, selecting from the provided keywords that are taken from the ACM taxonomy. (This is an extended version of the ACM Computing Classification System; Copyright © 2003 ACM, used with permission.)  We recommend that you enter a minimum of three keywords when uploading your manuscript. Expert reviewers in your topic area are assigned to your manuscript by keywords.

Footnotes

Authors can use footnotes to provide links to shared code or other open source information that is not part of the bibliography or references list. Footnotes may also be appropriate for providing additional historical background or contextual descriptions to bibliographic items and information presented in the text.

Visual Elements

We strongly encourage the use of visual presentation of your ideas. All illustrations must be submitted inline, cited in the text, numbered, and accompanied by descriptive, clear, and complete captions. Graphs should show only the coordinated axes (or at most the major grid lines) to avoid dense, hard-to-read illustrations. We also encourage the use of code fragments to illustrate important ideas or techniques. They may be inserted inline or treated as figures. If your article is accepted, be prepared to submit separate files for each figure. Please provide high-quality, high-resolution files for best results; original source files are preferred.

Artwork Guidelines

  • All artwork must be numbered, called out in the text, and be accompanied by figure captions that describe what is shown in the figure. For clarity, please name files with the submitting author’s last name, followed by “-fig1,” “-fig2a,” and so on.
  • For submissions to Computer, IEEE Security & Privacy, and IEEE Software, we often redraw line art to conform to other figures in the magazine. Do not embed images into Microsoft Word files. For photographs or screenshots, please use high-resolution JPG or TIF files, so that the image is at least 300 dpi at the intended display size. For graphs and charts charts, please use the original editable source format (PDF, Visio, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, and so on), so that they can be formatted with our color palette, fonts, and style.
  • For submissions to Computing in Science and Engineering (CiSE), IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications, IEEE Intelligent Systems, IEEE Internet Computing, IEEE Micro, IEEE MultiMedia, IEEE Pervasive Computing, and IT Professional, figures and graphs will not be reformatted. Please be sure to proofread text and symbols. All figures should be high-resolution so that the image, graph, screenshot is at least 300 dpi at the intended display size.
  • Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use/reuse copyrighted images. Please list required art credits/permissions/copyrights in the figure captions for images.

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 necessary fees required.

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 magazine administrator if you have questions.

Supplemental Materials

IEEE Computer Society magazines accept submissions of supplemental materials for review, including short videos, animations, audio files, extended code samples, and extra text and graphics that do not fit in the article.

All supplemental materials must be submitted as separate files from the main manuscript. When submitting your paper in the ScholarOne system, upload these files as “supplemental material.”

If your article is accepted for publication, these files will appear alongside the article in IEEE Xplore and the Computer Society Digital Library as “web extras.” Web extras are free to download.

Files submitted to ScholarOne Manuscripts cannot exceed 350 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.

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 obtain 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 magazine’s peer review 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 magazines 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:

  • Computing in Science & Engineering
  • IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
  • IEEE Internet Computing
  • IEEE Micro
  • IEEE Software

Preliminary/Conference Version(s)

All manuscripts submitted must be original. Articles published (completely or in significant part) in other magazines or journals will not be considered for publication. We will consider papers published in conference proceedings if they contain important or interesting new results, but they will be reviewed again by the magazine’s reviewers, independent of the conference’s reviewing process. If a manuscript has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere, the author must include that information in the submission cover letter and provide a brief description of the differences between the submitted manuscript and the preliminary 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 submitting, 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 (PSPB) Manual (PDF) specifies that authors should only submit original work that has neither appeared elsewhere for publication, nor which is 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.

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

Login Instructions

Everyone who submits a manuscript must have a ScholarOne Manuscripts account. If you have previously volunteered in any capacity for the IEEE Computer Society, ScholarOne Manuscripts has emailed you or will email you a login and temporary password. If you do not know or have forgotten your password, please use the Password Help function on the site login page. Please avoid creating a duplicate account.

If you have not volunteered with the IEEE Computer Society or received a new-user email, then click on “Register Here” button on the login page.  The required fields must be completed to continue the process.

Also, if you anticipate that you will need to be notified at two email addresses, include the second email address (Primary CC).

If you have technical difficulties with your account, contact the magazine’s administrator.

ORCID

All IEEE publications 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). 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.

 

Peer Review

Review Process

We solicit peer reviews from at least three individuals both inside and outside the manuscript’s specialty. Reviewers are assigned to manuscripts based on their expertise. Reviews are used as the basis for acceptance and content revisions. The editor in chief makes the final decision regarding publication. Only about 25 percent of all manuscripts submitted to our magazines are accepted, and the manuscripts we publish generally receive very positive reviews.

The length of the review process varies between papers, 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 publication’s 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 magazines may take approximately six months to be completed.

Magazine articles are peer reviewed in accordance with the requirements set forth in the IEEE PSPB Operations Manual (Sections 8.2.1.C & 8.2.2.A). Each article undergoes 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.

When submitting your manuscript, you have the option to indicate preferred and non-preferred reviewers. Please confirm with the editor, guest editor (if applicable), and editor in chief that the suggested reviewers are individuals who “are competent and have experience in the area of the subject matter of the article” and that there is no real, perceived, or potential conflict of interest between any of the authors and suggested reviewers. Conflict of Interest is defined in IEEE Policies, Section 9.8 – Conflict Of Interest.

Open Access

Our magazines are hybrid publications, allowing either traditional manuscript submission or author-paid Open Access (OA) manuscript submission.

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 magazine. Note that authors will receive an email from CCC-Rightslink, our APC vendor, asking for payment. Please visit the IEEE Open Access FAQs for further details. Authors seeking an APC waiver should submit  substantiated evidence and documentation to pubs-waivers@computer.org. Corresponding authors from low-income countries are eligible for waived or reduced open access APCs.

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.

Copyright Information

Articles submitted to us must be published under the IEEE copyright. At least one author must sign a release form transferring copyright to the IEEE before we can publish an article. The author must secure all necessary copyright clearances. Refer to the IEEE Computer Society copyright information page and the author FAQs (PDF) for additional information.

Derivative, Concurrent, Duplicate, and Multiple Submissions

  • We don’t accept articles under review by another publication.
  • We don’t accept papers that have been published elsewhere, whether in other periodicals, books, edited volumes, or formal proceedings, and whether in print or digital form.
  • We expect the authors to disclose any derivative works and their sources.
  • Failure to disclose multiple related submissions or derivative works may result in IEEE publication sanctions against the authors.
  • For more information, refer to the relevant IEEE policies in the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations (PSPB) Manual.

We do not allow submission to more than one publication at one time. If we determine that a manuscript has been submitted to another publication before the review process is completed, your manuscript will be rejected.

All articles submitted for publication should be original and not under consideration elsewhere; if your article is based on a previous publication such as a conference proceeding, cite the original publication and clearly indicate how the articles differ. Contact the editor-in-chief with any questions on publishing ethics.

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.

We do not accept duplicate submissions of manuscripts. Please do not attempt to enter or upload a modified version of a manuscript that is already in the system as a new submission. Identical submissions will be immediately withdrawn.

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.

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). Topics include:

  • 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.

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. 

Log in to Overleaf using your IEEE account to take advantage of enhanced benefits.

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 ACM taxonomy? Can I make up one of my own?

We prefer that you use the keywords from the ACM taxonomy (This is an extended version of the ACM Computing Classification System; Copyright ©2003 ACM, used with permission.) provided in ScholarOne Manuscripts, 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 magazine 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 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 magazine administrator.

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.

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

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 350 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 user name and password to access their appropriate user centers. Only the magazine 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 magazine 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 (if any)?

  • 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.

Contact Us

IEEE Computer Society
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