Information for Authors

The IEEE Transactions on Multimedia covers the breadth of research in multimedia technology and applications, including: circuits, algorithms and architectures, software design, synchronization, joint processing of multimedia/multimodal signals/data, compression, storage, retrieval, networking, multi-modality devices/systems. Please consider the journal with the most appropriate scope for your submission.

Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts of Regular papers (papers which provide a complete disclosure of a technical premise), or Correspondences (brief items that describe a use for or magnify the meaning of a single technical point, or provide comment on a paper previously published in the Transactions). Submissions must be previously unpublished and may not be under consideration elsewhere.

Every manuscript must (a) provide a clearly defined statement of the problem being addressed, (b) state why it is important to solve the problem, and (c) give an indication as to how the current solution fits into the history of the problem.

By submission of your manuscript to this Transactions, you are acknowledging that you accept the rules established for publication of manuscripts, including agreement to pay all overlength page charges, color charges, and any other charges and fees associated with publication of the manuscript. Such charges are not negotiable and cannot be suspended.

New and revised manuscripts should be prepared following the "New Manuscript Submission'' guidelines below, and submitted to the online manuscript system, Manuscript Central, via http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tmm-ieee. After acceptance, finalized manuscripts should be prepared following the "Final Manuscript Submission Guidelines'' below. Do not send original submissions or revisions directly to the Editor-in-Chief or Associate Editors; they will access your manuscript electronically via the Manuscript Central system.

New Manuscript Submission. Please follow the next 6 steps:

Account in Manuscript Central. If necessary, create an account in the on-line manuscript system, Manuscript Central, at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tmm-ieee.

Please check first if you already have an existing account which is based on your e-mail address and may have been created for you when you reviewed or authored a previous paper.

Electronic manuscript. Prepare a PDF file containing your manuscript in double-spaced, single-column (1-column) format, with one full blank line between lines of type, using a font size of 11 points or larger, having a margin of at least 1 inch on all sides. For a regular paper, the manuscript may not exceed 30 double-spaced pages, including title; names of authors and their complete contact information; abstract; text; all images, figures and tables; and all references. Overlength page charges are levied beginning with the 9th published page of the manuscript. You are, therefore, advised to be conservative in your submission.

Upload your manuscript as a PDF file "manuscript.pdf'' to the Manuscript Central web site, then proofread your submission, confirming that all figures and equations are visible in your document before pressing the <SUBMIT> button. Proofreading is critical; once you press the <SUBMIT> button, your manuscript cannot be changed in any way. You may also submit your manuscript as a PostScript or MS Word file. The system has the capability of converting your files to PDF, however it is your responsibility to confirm that the conversion is correct and there are no font or graphics issues prior to completing the submission process.

Additional material for review may be uploaded as well, such as supplementary tables and figures (jpg, gif, tif or eps format, which will all be converted to jpg), audio fragments and quicktime movies. Reviewers will be able to view these files only if they have the appropriate software on their computers. Use short filenames without spaces or special characters. When the upload of each file is completed, you will be asked to provide a description of that file.

Double-column version of manuscript. You are required to also submit a roughly formatted version of the manuscript in single-spaced, double column (2-column) IEEE format (10 points for a regular submission or 9 points for a Correspondence) using the IEEE style files (it is allowed to let long equations stick out). This version will serve as a confirmation of the approximate publication length of the manuscript at submission, and gives an additional confirmation of your understanding that overlength page charges will be paid when billed.

Upload this version of the manuscript as a PDF file "double.pdf'' to the Manuscript Central web site.

Cited References not yet published need to be included as supporting documentation for the Associate Editor and reviewers. This applies to each reference listed that has not yet been published or is otherwise hard to access for reviewers.

Abstract. Abstracts of manuscripts under consideration may be published separately in advance on a space-available basis only. If you are interested in this, then upload a PDF file "abstract.pdf'' containing the abstract of your paper with the following statement inserted at the bottom of the abstract: "Permission to publish this abstract separately is granted".
Submission. After uploading all files and proofreading them, submit your manuscript by pressing the <SUBMIT> button. A confirmation of the successful submission will open on screen containing the manuscript tracking number and will be followed with an e-mail confirmation to the corresponding and all contributing authors. Once you press the <SUBMIT> button, your manuscript cannot be changed in any way.
Copyright form. By policy, IEEE owns the copyright to the technical contributions it publishes on behalf of the interests of the IEEE, its authors, and their employers; and to facilitate the appropriate reuse of this material by others. To comply with United States copyright law, authors are required to sign and submit a completed "IEEE Copyright Transfer Export Control Compliance Form'' with their original submission (and again with the finalized manuscript prior to publication).

The form is available online at http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/rights/index.html. Print the form, complete it and send it by fax to the IEEE Signal Processing Society Publications Office at +1 732 562 8905. Please note that your manuscript will not be processed for review if a properly executed copyright form is not received by the publications office. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in the immediate rejection of the manuscript.

Correspondence Items. Correspondence items are short disclosures with a reduced scope or significance that typically describe a use for or magnify the meaning of a single technical point, or provide brief comments on material previously published in the Transactions. These items may not exceed 12 pages in double-spaced format, using 11 point type, with margins of 1 inch minimum on all sides, and including: title, names and contact information for authors, abstract, text, references, and an appropriate number of illustrations and/or tables. Correspondence items are submitted in the same way as regular manuscripts (see "New Manuscript Submission'' above for instructions).

Assistance in English Writing. If you would like assistance with English grammar and usage prior to submitting a manuscript for review, you can go to http://www.prof-editing.com/ieee/ to submit a manuscript for copy editing. This is an external professional service at the expense of the author. The SPi copy editors will edit for grammar, usage, organization, and clarity, querying potentially substantive revisions as necessary. Cost estimates are available immediately on-line. Edited manuscripts will generally be returned to the author within two weeks of submission.

Manuscript Length. The IEEE Transactions on Multimedia has determined that the standard manuscript length shall be no more than 8 published pages (double-column format, 10 point type) for a regular submission, or 6 published pages (9 point type) for a Correspondence item, respectively. Manuscripts that exceed these limits will incur mandatory overlength page charges, as discussed below. Since changes recommended as a result of peer review may require additions to the manuscript, it is strongly recommended that you practice economy in preparing original submissions.

Exceptions to the 30-page (regular paper) or 12-page (Correspondences) manuscript length may, under extraordinary circumstances, be granted by the Editor-in-Chief. However, such exception does not obviate your requirement to pay any and all overlength or additional charges that attach to the manuscript.

Plagiarism. The IEEE Transactions on Multimedia publishes only original material that has not been either published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts that are found to have plagiarized others, or that contains a 25% crossover with another manuscript by the same authors or other author(s), or that do not specifically cite prior work are subject to penalty under the IEEE policies governing publications. The Society will adhere to the policies published at http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/rights/Multi_Sub_Guidelines_Intro.html.

Submission Format. Authors are encouraged to prepare manuscripts employing the on-line style files developed by IEEE. All manuscripts accepted for publication will require the authors to make final submission employing these style files. The style files are available on the web at : http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/authors/transjnl/index.html (LaTeX and MS Word).

Authors using LaTeX: the two PDF versions of the manuscript needed for submission can both be produced by the IEEEtran.cls style file. A double-spaced document is generated by including \documentclass[11pt,draft,final]{IEEEtran} as the first line of the manuscript source file, and a single-spaced double-column document for estimating the publication page charges via \documentclass[10pt,twocolumn,twoside]{IEEEtran} for a regular submission, or \documentclass[9pt,twocolumn,twoside]{IEEEtran} for a Correspondence item.

Title page and abstract: The first page of the manuscript shall contain the title, names and contact information for all authors (full mailing address, institutional affiliations, phone, fax, and e-mail), the abstract, and the EDICS. An asterisk * should be placed next to the name of the Corresponding Author who will serve as the main point of contact for the manuscript during the review and publication processes.

An abstract should have not more than 200 words for a regular paper, or 50 words for a Correspondence item. The abstract should indicate the scope of the paper or Correspondence, and summarize the author's conclusions. This will make the abstract, by itself, a useful tool for information retrieval.

EDICS: All submissions must be classified by the author with an EDICS (Editors' Information Classification Scheme) selected from the list of EDICS published online at http://www.ieee.org/organizations/society/tmm/tmmedics.html. The EDICS category should appear on the first page---i.e., the title and abstract page---of the manuscript.
Illustrations and tables: Each figure and table should have a caption that is intelligible without requiring reference to the text. Illustrations/tables may be worked into the text of a newly-submitted manuscript, or placed at the end of the manuscript. (However, for the final submission, illustrations/tables must be submitted separately and not interwoven with the text.) Table and illustration captions should also be typed in a separate list and appended to the manuscript.

In preparing your illustrations, note that in the printing process, most illustrations are reduced to single-column width to conserve space. This may result in as much as a 4:1 reduction from the original. Therefore, make sure that all words are in a type size that will reduce to a minimum of 9 points or 3/16 inch high in the printed version. Sharp, laser-printed illustrations are acceptable; however, illustrations produced on dot-matrix printers should be redrawn. Only the major grid lines on graphs should be indicated.

Abbreviations: This TRANSACTIONS follows the practices of the IEEE on units and abbreviations, as outlined in the Institute's published standards. See http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/transactions/auinfo03.pdf for details.
Mathematics: All mathematical expressions must be legible. Do not give derivations that are easily found in the literature; merely cite the reference.

Final Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

Upon formal acceptance of a manuscript for publication, instructions for providing the final materials required for publication will be sent to the Corresponding Author. Finalized manuscripts should be prepared in LaTeX2e or MS Word, and are required to use the style files established by IEEE, available at http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/authors/transjnl/index.html

Instructions for preparing files for electronic submission appear in http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/pubs/transactions/eic-guide.pdf

Files must be self-contained; that is, there can be no pointers to your system setup.
Include a header to identify the name of the Transactions, the name of the author, and the software used to format the manuscript.
Do not import graphics files into the text file of your finalized manuscript (although this is acceptable for your initial submission). If submitting on disk, use a separate disk for graphics files.
Do not create special macros.
Do not send PostScript files of the text.
File names should be lower case.

Additional instructions for preparing and submitting graphics are available via http://www.signalprocessingsociety.org/publications/guides/electronic-graphics/. In summary,

Graphics files are accepted only in PostScript, Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) or Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). Files submitted in EPS format will be converted to TIFF format by the IEEE production staff. If an EPS graphic calls for fonts directly, please use one of the following Adobe Type 1 fonts: Times Roman, Helvetica, Helvetica Narrow, Courier, Symbol, Palatino, Avant Garde, Bookman, Zapf Chancery, Zapf Dingbats, New Century Schoolbook.

If submitting graphics in TIFF, make sure that the graphics contains all of the required tags (see http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/authors/index.html). At present, only "paletted color TIFF'' format is accepted. The resolution should be 400 dpi. If you have any questions regarding these tags, please e-mail graphics@ep.ieee.org.

Graphics files should be separate from the text, and not contain the caption text.
Graphics file names should be lower case and named fig1.resolution, fig2.resolution etc.

If a manuscript includes computer-generated images, then the accepted, finalized manuscript must include originals of these images. These should take the form of glossy, black-and-white photographs for gray-scale images or color photographs for color images. Printing of illustrations in color will be at the expense of the author. Halftones produced by laser printers (300 dpi) generally are not of acceptable quality and are susceptible to moire patterns when re-sized and screened. To conserve space in the publication, most illustrations are reduced to single-column width. However, the quality of the published image is of paramount importance. Author guidance is sought on the image size necessary to discern the level of detail the author believes is required. Thus, for each image, please specify a suggested publication width.

Page Charges.

Voluntary Page Charges. Upon acceptance of a manuscript for publication, the author(s) or his/her/their company or institution will be asked to pay a charge of $110 per page to cover part of the cost of publication of the first eight pages that comprise the standard length (six pages, in the case of Correspondences).

Upon payment of page charges for the first eight/six pages, the author will be entitled to 100 free, black-and-white reprints (without covers).

Mandatory Page Charges. The author(s) or his/her/their company or institution will be billed $220 per each page in excess of the first eight/six published pages. These are mandatory page charges and the author(s) will be held responsible for them. They are not negotiable or voluntary. The author(s) signifies his willingness to pay these charges simply by submitting his/her/their manuscript to the Transactions. The Publisher holds the right to withhold publication under any circumstance, as well as publication of the current or future submissions of authors who have outstanding mandatory page charge debt. To avoid incurring mandatory page charges, the author(s) are strongly advised to practice economy in the original manuscript submission and restraint in preparation of the final manuscript following peer review.

Color Charges. Color figures which appear in color only in the electronic (Xplore) version can be used free of charge. In this case, the figure will be printed in the hardcopy version in grayscale, and the author is responsible that the corresponding grayscale figure is intelligible. Color reproduction in print is expensive, and all charges for color are the responsibility of the author. The estimated costs are as follows. There will be a charge of $62.50 for each figure; this charge may be subject to change without notification. In addition, there are printing preparation charges which may be estimated as follows: color reproductions on four or fewer pages of the manuscript: a total of approximately $1045; color reproductions on five pages through eight pages: a total of approximately $2090; color reproductions on nine through 12 pages: a total of approximately $3135, and so on. Payment of fees on color reproduction is not negotiable or voluntary, and the author's agreement to publish the manuscript in the Transactions is considered acceptance of this requirement.