ComSoc’s publications represent a shining star of the society, playing an essential role in the fast-evolving realm of communications and networking, and representing a great service to our members. In this month’s column of the IEEE Communications Magazine, I am delighted to introduce Octavia A. Dobre, Vice-President for Publications. Octavia is a Professor and Canada Research Chair Tier 1 with Memorial University, Canada. Her research interests encompass wireless communication and networking technologies, as well as optical and underwater communications. She has (co-)authored over 500 refereed papers in these areas. Octavia was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society and the EiC of the IEEE Communications Letters. She was the recipient of the 2022 IEEE Communications Society Joseph LoCicero Award for Exemplary Service to Publications. Dr. Dobre is a Fulbright Scholar, Royal Society Scholar, and Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Communications Society. She obtained Best Paper Awards at various conferences, including IEEE ICC, IEEE Globecom, IEEE WCNC, and IEEE PIMRC. Octavia is an elected member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the IEEE.

In addition to the Vice-President Publications, ComSoc’s publication pillars, namely journals, magazines, and online content, are each led by a director. We are fortunate to have a team of experienced and dedicated volunteers in these roles, i.e., Marco di Renzo as Director of Journals, Yi Qian as Director of Magazines, and Emil Björnson as Director of Online Content. Marco oversees five fully owned journals and works with the steering committees and editor-in-chiefs (EiCs) of nine co-owned journals. He brings his experience as former EiC of the IEEE Communications Letters, as well as editor and guest editor for various journals. Yi oversees five magazines, and previously led the IEEE Wireless Communications magazine as EiC. Emil is responsible for assessing, overseeing, and expanding the on-line content. He has been one of the most active ComSoc members in on-line content through his blog, podcast, etc. In addition to the Vice-President and the three directors, the Publication Council includes a non-voting member, Angela Yingjun Zhang (former EiC of the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society), and the Director of Production and Portfolio Management, Christina Keller (Dzikowski) as a staff member. The assemblies reporting to the council are the Journals Board, Magazines Board, and On-line Content Board. The list of voting members of these boards is available at www.comsoc.org/about/councils/publications-council.

ComSoc’s publication portfolio spans a broad range of topics in communications and networking. The journals and magazines are either solely owned or financially and/or technically co-sponsored with other IEEE societies or non-IEEE organizations. Some publish short letters, such as IEEE Communications Letters, others publish full technical papers, like IEEE Transactions on Communications, and others are more survey and tutorial in nature, such as IEEE Communications Magazine and IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials. Most publications are hybrid, allowing both traditional manuscript submission and open access. The society also has two open access journals, namely the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society and the IEEE Transactions on Machine Learning in Communications and Networking. All publications undergo a very rigorous review process. The society’s publications have healthy submission and acceptance rates, downloads, and impact factors. More information on publications can be found at www.comsoc.org/publications. ComSoc also provides a diversity of on-line content services, such as Tech Focus (a collection of publications on a specific topic or technology), Best Readings, Technology News, and the ComSoc YouTube Channel.

The publication leadership team, together with EiCs, steering committees and editors, guarantee the highest standards of the publication portfolio, delivering first-rate services to our members. They strive to provide high quality accepted papers, a healthy acceptance rate, and a reduced time from submission to first decision and publication; extend the Reviewer and Editor Appreciation Program to all journals and magazines; deliver educational resources to editors through editorial board meetings and publication guidelines; organize educational sessions on publications especially for young professionals, with the first event to take place at the IEEE ICC 2024; make available educational resources to authors and reviewers; strengthen industry involvement in publications; enhance the diversity of the editorial boards, including geographical region, gender, ethnicity, etc.; encourage authors to make their codes available for reproducibility of results; promote the success stories of our publications; and attract, develop, and sustain a new generation of leaders for the next decade.

We welcome our members to participate in ComSoc’s publications — as readers, content providers, reviewers, and editorial board members — for the advancement of the fast-developing field of communications and networking, the international reputation of the society’s publications, and their own professional experience and fulfilment. Thank you!