Instructions for Authors

Manuscript Submission System

For submitting a new manuscript or a revised version of a manuscript, please visit the IEEE Author Portal.

Prepare a Manuscript
The IEEE Systems Journal publishes original, innovative contributions in its scope. Manuscript must be exclusively submitted to this journal, must not have been published before, and must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Significantly extended and expanded versions of papers published in conference proceedings can be submitted, providing also a detailed description of the additions.

Manuscript type:

  • regular paper: the full-length manuscript presents an innovative idea in a complete way, suited for an archival journal, including a clear definition of the problem addressed, the goals, the literature background, the solution proposed, the theoretical proofs if applicable, the experimental results, the discussion and the comparisons with the literature and/or the practice;
  • short paper: the short manuscript presents a simple innovative idea, focusing on a very specific aspect of the overall problem addressed; even though concise, the presentation should be complete and suited for an archival journal;
  • survey or tutorial paper: the manuscript is a comprehensive survey of a field or an introductory tutorial on a specific fundamental area or an advanced topic.

Manuscript length:

  • regular paper: up to 12 final published pages (up to 8 final published pages are complimentary; up to 4 allowable additional pages will be subject to the extra-page charge);
  • short paper: up to 4 final published pages;
  • survey or tutorial paper: up to 12 final published pages (up to 8 final published pages are complimentary; up to 4 allowable additional pages will be subject to the extra-page charge). For more information on survey papers’ page limit, you may want to contact the Editor-in-Chief.

Manuscript style
Prepare the manuscript in the standard IEEE Journal format (double column, font 10 Times Roman, keywords, corresponding author, etc.). Look for the “Template for Transactions” in “Article Templates” within the resources for Journals.

Only manuscripts written in English are considered. Contributors for whom English is not a native language may consult a colleague who is familiar with the English language, prior to submitting the paper, for the purpose of editing the manuscript for proper English usage.

An informative abstract should be provided at the beginning of the manuscript (see details below).

At least five keywords or index terms should be included after the abstract to characterize the manuscript.

Acknowledgement of possible financial support will be listed in the first page of the final manuscript, as a footnote.

References should appear in a separate section at the end of the paper, with items referred to by numerals in square brackets. References must be complete and in IEEE style: Style for papers: Author, first initials followed by last name, title in quotations, periodical, volume, page numbers, month, year. Style for books: Author, title. Location: publisher, year, chapter, and page numbers (if desired).

Figures and tables should be sharp, noise-free, and of good contrast: unfortunately, we cannot provide drafting or art service. On graphs, show only the coordinate axes, or at most the major grid lines to avoid a dense hard-to read image. All lettering should be large enough to permit legibility in the final IEEE Journal format. The authors must submit figure and photo files in the appropriate format and resolution.

Abstract style
The abstract is what users and researches will read when deciding whether your article pertains to their interests and needs. For this reason, your abstract is an extremely important and powerful representation of your article. As an author, you should spend time ensuring that it is readable and that it contains a complete description of your research. In approximately 150-250 words, you will need to summarize your findings, and describe the implications of those findings. The abstract must be an accurate reflection of what is in your article as follows.

  • Your abstract must be self-contained, without abbreviations, footnotes, or references. It should be a microcosm of the full article.
  • Your abstract must be written as one paragraph, and should not contain displayed mathematical equations or tabular material.
  • Your abstract should include three or four different keywords or phrases, as this will help readers to find it. (It is important to avoid over-repetition of such phrases as this can result in a page being rejected by search engines).
  • Ensure that your abstract reads well and is grammatically correct.
  • Visit the journal’s “Information for Authors” page to review its abstract’s specifications and description. Be sure that you adhere to its guidelines and limitations; otherwise, it is likely that you will be asked to edit your abstract accordingly.

When submitting an abstract for your original research, it is important to state the primary objective and offer any tested hypotheses. Describe your research design and methodology and accurately state the following: the methods and procedures you employed, the main outcomes and results, and the conclusions that might be drawn from these data and results. Include any implications for further research or application/practice.

English Language Editing Services
English language editing services can help refine the language of your article and reduce the risk of rejection for poor readability. 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.

Submit a Manuscript

The IEEE Systems Journal currently accepts manuscripts only in Adobe Acrobat PDF file format.

Submit electronically your manuscript at the IEEE Author Portal. The site has instructions and/or help buttons on each page. No other submission procedure is accepted.

During the online submission process, the contact author will be requested to list all authors with their email addresses, provide the text of the paper abstract, select appropriate keywords from a predefined list (keywords listed in the manuscript may be different and give a more detailed characterization of the manuscript), and upload an optional cover letter (where authors can provide any additional information to the editor, e.g., about possible previous versions published in conference proceedings). Due to possible conflict of interest, the contact author will be allowed for specifying non-preferred Associate Editors and/or reviewers, who will not be involved in the review process.

In addition to the manuscript, attachments (video, animations, applets, code, data, etc.) may be uploaded to be considered in the review process and, possibly, posted as supplementary material with the online version of accepted papers. Currently the following files are accepted: avi files (PowerPoint animations), MPEG video files, Java applets, code with specific compilation instructions and execution instructions and machine specific information, and data sets with a description of the data format.

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. The author will need a registered ORCID in order to submit a manuscript or review a proof in this journal.

Page limits and extra page charges. By submitting a manuscript authors automatically commit to accept the page limits on the final manuscript for the corresponding type (regular, short, and survey/tutorial paper) and to pay the possible related extra page charges if the manuscript will be accepted for publication. Each extra page or fraction of page exceeding the complimentary pages is subject to a mandatory extra page charge of 150 US$. Payment will be requested for accepted papers during the production stage.

Open-Access charge. The IEEE Systems Journal is a hybrid journal, allowing traditional manuscript publication and open-access manuscripts. After being accepted for publication, authors can choose to have their manuscript published as an open-access paper: making this choice, authors automatically commit to pay the open-access charge to enable unrestricted public access. The open-access charge defined by IEEE is $2,495.00. Any other production charges (such as extra page charge) are not included in the open-access charge and will be billed separately.
If authors will choose their manuscript to be a traditional publication, no open-access charge will be required and the paper will be made available to qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore.

Review Process

All manuscripts are subject to the following review process.

  1. The manuscript is verified with respect to the scope of the journal. If the manuscript is out of the journal scope, it is rejected (desk reject) by the Editor-in-Chief, possibly in consultation with an Associate Editor, without performing the complete review process.
  2. An administrative check is performed on the submitted material. Completeness is verified. All questions in the submission form must be answered and, eventually, properly documented in the cover letter. All authors must be listed in the submission form. The manuscript must be readable both in PDF and HTML formats. The manuscript cannot exceed the page limit of the manuscript type selected by the authors. The manuscripts must be written in English.
    If any of the above aspects is not satisfying the requirements, the manuscript is returned to authors for proper correction. Then, the complete review process is started.
  3. A manuscript submitted to regular issues is assigned by the Editor-in-Chief to an Associate Editor. Authors are allowed to name possible non-preferred Associate Editors: no suggestion for preferred Associate Editors will be considered. Manuscripts submitted to special issues will be forwarded to the Guest Editors.
  4. The Associate Editor (or the Guest Editor for a special issue) assigns the manuscript to at least 3 independent reviewers.
  5. The reviewers return their evaluation, recommendations, and suggestions for improving the manuscript.
  6. The Associate Editor (or the Guest Editor for a special issue) makes a recommendation for acceptance, revision, or rejection to the Editor-in-Chief, on the basis of the received reviews and his/her personal assessment of the manuscript. Recommendation will be always based on at least 2 independent reviews.
  7. The Editor-in-Chief takes the final decision about acceptance, revision, or rejection on the basis both of the Associate Editor’s recommendation and assessment and the reviewers’ reports.
  8. If the final decision for a manuscript is revise, the review process is repeated from step 2.

The first review cycle is on average 3 months long. The second review cycle is about 1.5 months long.

Peer Review
The articles in this journal are peer reviewed in accordance with the requirements set forth in the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (https://pspb.ieee.org/images/files/files/opsmanual.pdf). Each published article was reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers using a single-anonymous 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.

Check the Status of a Manuscript
Authors can check the status of the review process at the IEEE Author Portal.

Prepare and Submit a Revised Manuscript
If revisions have been requested for a manuscript, the revised version should be prepared by following the same guidelines provided above for the manuscript which has been initially submitted.

Authors are also requested to prepare a separate document describing which action has been taken for each of the recommendations given by the reviewers, the Associate Editor or the Editor-in-Chief.

The IEEE Systems Journal currently accepts manuscripts and documents containing the answers to reviewers/editors’ recommendations only in Adobe Acrobat PDF file format.

By submitting the revised version of a manuscript, authors implicitly commit to pay all applicable charges, as described above for the initial submission, if their manuscript will be accepted for publication.

Prepare and Submit the Final Material for an Accepted Manuscript
The final material of an accepted manuscript should be prepared by following the same guidelines provided above for the initial submission.
In the first page, the first footnote should be “Manuscript received…” (date to be filled in by Editor), followed by the affiliation of the author(s) with possible contact information and possible acknowledgement of financial support.

For the final production process, authors should submit the source files of the manuscript in one of the electronic formats that can be processed by the IEEE: the preferred formats are TeX, LaTeX, and Microsoft Word. LaTeX style files can be obtained at IEEE Journal format.

Each figure and photograph should be submitted in a separate file in one of the following formats: TIFF (.tif), Postscript (.ps), or Encapsulated Postscript (.eps). Figures and photographs should have appropriate resolution.
A short technical biography (usually less than 100 words) and a recent head-and-shoulder photo of each author should be provided. Typically, the biography includes: name, degrees earned and schools, main employments and positions, fields of work, professional society membership and activities, offices, awards.

Open Access

The copyright transfer form should be filled in electronically during the submission of the final material if the authors will not choose to publish their accepted manuscript in open access.

Page limits and extra page charges. Each extra page or fraction of page exceeding the complimentary pages in the final manuscript for the corresponding type (regular, short, and survey/tutorial paper) is subject to a mandatory extra page charge of 150 US$. Payment will be requested for accepted papers during the production stage.

Open-Access charge. The IEEE Systems Journal is a hybrid journal, allowing traditional manuscript publication and open-access manuscripts. Authors of an accepted manuscript can choose to have their manuscript published as an open-access paper: making this choice, authors automatically commit to pay the $2,045 open-access charge to enable unrestricted public access. Any other production charges (such as extra page charge) are not included in the open-access charge and will be billed separately.

If authors will choose their manuscript to be a traditional publication, no open-access charge will be required and the paper will be made available to qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore.

For submitting the final material of an accepted manuscript, please visit the IEEE Author Portal. No other submission procedure is accepted.

Correction of the galley proofs
The final formatted manuscript (galley proofs) will be made available to authors for final verification and correction of possible minor errors occurred during the formatting phase. Significant corrections not due to production errors, but by authors’ autonomous choice may be subject to a processing charge: before applying these corrections authors will be contacted to verify if they accept to pay this processing charge. Details about the proof-reading of the final formatted manuscript will be provided to authors.

Advance posting
The IEEE Systems Journal adopts an advance posting policy. An accepted paper will be posted in IEEE Xplore as soon as the production process has been completed and the final formatted manuscript approved by the authors, even prior the formal publication. Authors will be provided with a unique DOI, which will not change after formal publication.

An advance-posted paper will be accessible according to the same rules of the corresponding published paper. If authors have chosen to publish it in open access, the paper will have unrestricted public access. If authors have chosen the traditional publication, the paper will be made available to qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore.

Papers ready in advance-posting can be reached also in the Upcoming Papers page.

Posting of accepted papers in personal, employers or institutional web sites
According to IEEE regulations and following the practice of many other publishers, authors and/or their employers are allowed to post the accepted version of IEEE-copyrighted papers on their own personal servers or the servers of their institutions or employers without permission from IEEE, provided that the posted version includes a prominently displayed IEEE copyright notice and, when published, a full citation to the original IEEE publication, including a Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

The IEEE permits also posting on certain approved third-party servers (typically public institutions funding research for the benefit of the general public), under the same conditions described above. The list of approved servers is available at the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Office.

Authors and/or their employers are not allowed to post the final, published versions of their papers (i.e., the ones including the number of issue and the page number).

Immediately at the end of the production process, the IEEE production department will provide the PDF file of the accepted version of IEEE-copyrighted papers, which can be posted as described above.

Papers published in open access are not subject to the above dissemination conditions.