Information for Reviewers
Information for Reviewers
We endeavor to administer a fair and timely review process for all of our manuscripts and to publish only papers of the highest quality - this is largely dependent upon the efforts of our reviewers.
Conduct of the Reviewer
To guarantee fairness to the author, the reviewer of a manuscript should abide by a number of guidelines, including, but not limited to:
- Respond promptly within the allotted time
- Provide sound, constructive reviews
- Assume that manuscripts submitted for publication are not meant to be public
- Do not use material from a manuscript you have reviewed
- Do not share material from a manuscript you have reviewed with others
· Do not distribute copies of a manuscript you have been asked to review unless the material is already public
- Tell the Associate Editor, Guest Editor, and Editor-in- Chief if there are any conflicts of interest involved in reviewing a manuscript
IEEE Review Process Statement (8.2.2.A Review Process)
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.
To access Section 8.2.2.A – The Review Process in its entirety, visit the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) Operations Manual .
Length of Review Process
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 qualified referees to be located who are available to handle the review of a paper, depends on the complexity and the type of material submitted for review.
We make a concerted effort to keep the review time to a minimum. Each submission placed into review is sent to at least three reviewers. The review process may take approximately six months to be completed.
Preliminary or Conference Version
If the authors submit a previously published conference paper, please check the 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 PSPB Operations Manual 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 an author used their own previously published material as a basis for a new submission, then they 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).
Also included should be a brief description of the differences between the papers.
Comments Paper
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, the author must include the title and/or number of the previously published manuscript. The journal coordinator will retrieve as much information as possible about the paper being commented on and will forward the materials to the Editor-in-Chief (EIC). The EC will assign the comments paper to the Associate Editor (AE) who was assigned to the previously published paper. If that AE is no longer available, the EIC will assign the comments paper to another AE whose expertise areas closely match that paper's topic.
Supplemental Material
IEEE journals accept supplemental materials for review with regular paper submissions. Types of supplemental material can include: proofs, code, experimental data, appendices, animations and audio files. These materials may be published on our digital library with the electronic version of the paper, where they can be accessed for free. A pointer to the supplemental material will be included in the printed version.
Supplemental material must also undergo peer review, so questions pertaining to the supplemental material (if applicable) are included in the review form.
Recommended Reading
It is recommended that all reviewers read the paper titled Task of the Referee (PDF), about reviewing manuscripts.
IEEE Links
http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/publish-with-ieee/peer-review-ieee/what-is-peer-review/
http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/publish-with-ieee/peer-review-ieee/ethics-peer-review/