Setting Paper Submission Guidelines

Find publishing templates, learn how to handle non-presented papers, and understand the importance of indexing content.

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Publishing Templates

The purpose of a conference template is to provide a consistent format for papers appearing in the conference proceedings. IEEE strongly encourages the use of conference paper templates.

IEEE conference templates contain guidance text for composing and formatting conference papers. Please ensure that all guidance text is removed from your conference paper prior to submission to the conference to assure publication-readiness. 

For conference organizers: Using conference paper templates provides the best vehicle for submitting IEEE Xplore®-ready content. Attention to detail in paper preparation can avoid delays or persistence of errors downstream. Following these publishing guidelines in submission will greatly support the positive outcome of your papers.  

Author-generated keywords and metadata will greatly improve the discoverability of work after publication.

Handling of Non-Presented Papers

Authors are expected to present their papers and share their ideas at the event. If authors are unable to attend the conference and present their papers, they should contact the Program Chair as soon as possible so that substitute arrangements can be made. To encourage attendance, IEEE recommends that conferences exclude or limit the distribution of any paper that was not presented at the conference. 

You must clearly notify your authors prior to the start of the event if you plan to exclude or limit the distribution of non-presented papers. IEEE suggests you add the following statement in the call for papers: 

“IEEE reserves the right to exclude a paper from distribution after the conference, including IEEE Xplore® Digital Library, if the paper is not presented by the author at the conference.”

If a paper is included in the proceedings distributed on site and is later identified as a non-presented paper, you must still include the paper in the proceedings delivered to IEEE. You can flag the paper when generating the packing list so that the paper will be archived but will not be indexed or appear in IEEE Xplore®. Copyright of non-presented papers is still retained by IEEE.

Indexers

IEEE has entered into contractual agreements with many abstract and index partners (A&I).  As content is loaded into Xplore®, it is also in parallel placed on our FTP site where partners can extract the files. Each A&I partner makes its own editorial decision on what content it will index, therefore IEEE cannot guarantee entries are included in any particular database.

Conferences should not specifically claim, reference or guarantee indexing in any database.  IEEE partners with independent abstracting and indexing (A&I) services who evaluate each conference for consideration in their online products.

We Are Here to Help

If you have questions about setting paper submission guidelines, please contact the MCE team.