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Publications

These guidelines are for articles to be published after they have been through the review process and are accepted by the Editor-in-Chief. If you are submitting a new/revised article for review, please visit the Manuscript Submission Policy. The production process is separate from the review process and requires a full set of materials to be sent directly via Manuscript Central. 

Magazine production uses a different process than journal production. If you are familiar with the submission of paper materials for a journal such as JSAC, of JLT be aware that the guidelines below are different. Please read them carefully and do not make assumptions on what we need based on your prior experience with a journal publication.

Please make sure you have referred to the IEEE Communications Society Publications Department Style Guide and reviewed the Electronic Posting Policy and Self-Plagiarism Policy before submitting the final version of your manuscript.

Timeline

  • Final Manuscript Files Due: The 1st of the month, 2 months prior to issue date. For example, final materials for a paper in a January issue are due by November 1st. Please be aware that if this deadline is missed, the paper may not be published on time.
  • Page Proofs Sent to Contact Author: 3 weeks prior to issue date.
  • Page Proofs Back to Publications Department: 2 weeks prior to issue date.

Submission of Materials to Production Staff

IEEE Communications Magazine does not use style sheets or templates for submission of materials.

The following materials MUST be included when submitting the absolute final version of your files via Manuscript Central.

An editable electronic file
  • Include the abstract, biographies, and captions for tables and figures.
  • A Microsoft Word file is preferred, but LaTex and ASCII files will be accepted. Do not send read only files.
  • Please keep in mind that LaTex files are acceptable if all the sections (abstract, bibliography, etc.) have been merged into one text-only document and require more time to process.
A .PDF file of the manuscript
  • Include abstract, figures, tables, equations, references, and biographies (50 to 75 words) within the body of the manuscript.
  • Callouts for each figure or table are included within the text.
  • Manuscripts should be one-sided only and include all required formatting in text, figures, tables, and equations.
  • References must be numbered sequentially, not alphabetically. The basic reference format is: [#] A. Brown, "Communications and Modern Man," IEEE Commun. Mag., vol. 1, no. 1, Jan. 1998, pp. 11–38.
  • We cannot accept Microsoft Word files as the hard copy version even if we will be using them for the editable copy.
Separated figure(s) .PDF file
  • A separate set of figures and tables even if they are included within the manuscript pages. 
  • Include ALL original ungrouped/unlocked/unflattened .eps or .pdf files for each figure. Send vector files if possible. Ensure the text is not rasterized.
    • If your article contains photographs, please send high-resolution (300 dpi or greater) .jpeg or .tif files. If your article contains screenshots, send the original digital image along with your paper. We will not be able to alter the text if the figure is locked.
    • Do not send figures with logos or other elements you do not have permission to have published. 
    • Please do not send .gif files. This low-resolution format works fine on the Internet or for viewing on a monitor, but they will not yield high quality print versions. If your photo was captured as a .jpeg and then converted to a .tif, it will retain the low quality of the original .jpeg in the final print version.
    • If you cannot supply us with a high-resolution digital file, we cannot be responsible for the results you will see in the final printed magazine.
A completed and signed copyright form
  • Upon completion of the paper submission process in Manuscript Central, you will be asked to electronically transfer copyright (eCF) to the IEEE though the use of the IEEE eCopyright Form
  • See the Additional Information section for more details on the copyright form.
Contact information for the main contact author
  • E-mail addresses (include an e-mail address for each author if available).

 

Open Access (Hybrid)

View the IEEE Article Processing Charges List

If you would like to have your manuscript published as open access, please fill out the following form. If you have any questions, please email Morgan Carleton.

The Open Access article processing charge (APC) fee is US$2,995. IEEE members can receive a 5% discount and IEEE ComSoc members can receive a 25% discount (regardless of grade level). Please note that authors affiliated with institutions that have an Open Access agreement with IEEE (see the IEEE Open Access Agreements with Institutions page), can request a waiver of the Open Access APC fee (Open Access funding requests will be approved by an administrator at a local library).

Additional Information

Clearance

IEEE assumes that material submitted to its publications is properly available for general dissemination to the readership of those publications. It is the responsibility of the authors, not IEEE, to determine whether disclosure of their material requires the prior consent of other parties and, if so, to obtain it.

Content

Statements and opinions given in works published by the IEEE are the expressions of contributors. Responsibility for content of published papers rests with the authors, not the IEEE.

Original Work/IEEE Copyright

Manuscripts submitted for publication in IEEE Communications Magazine should normally be original work submitted exclusively to the magazine, not previously published, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. It is the policy of the IEEE to own the copyright to technical contributions it publishes on behalf of the interests of the IEEE and its authors and their employers, and to facilitate the appropriate reuse of this material by others. To comply with IEEE policy under the U.S. Copyright Law, authors are required to sign an IEEE Copyright Form before publication. This form returns to authors and their employers, full rights to reuse their material for their own purposes.

The U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulation page should be viewed by authors who are submitting military- or defense-related material, and are U.S. nationals (including green card holders); or work for a U.S.-based organization, regardless of where they are physically located; or work at a U.S. location of a non-U.S.-based organization. All authors must ensure that they are in compliance with ITAR and the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control regulation as outlined in the above page. If you have any questions on these two regulations, please contact the email address listed on that page. For information on IEEE copyright policy, permission to reuse IEEE copyrighted material, electronic preprints, or posting your article on your own server, please visit the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights page.

In addition to the IEEE policies, pre-publication author misconduct, such as double-submission or plagiarism, will result in rejection of the manuscript(s), and a minimum 6 month ban on submissions to fully owned ComSoc publications by the author(s).

Reprints

Information on ordering reprints of your article can be found by e-mailing the IEEE Reprints Department at reprints@ieee.org.

Final Note

Due to differences in printers and printer descriptions from computer to computer, there is no guarantee that .doc and .pdf files that you submit will result in documents that look exactly like your original version after they are printed. When your page proofs are sent to you, remember to check them carefully for any discrepancies that might have occurred in the original transfer process. This is especially true if symbols (mathematical, Greek, etc.) and unusual fonts were used in the article. We highly recommend and prefer final manuscript files to be in Word format.

Magazine Production Staff

See the Production Staff List for contact information