Author Frequently Asked Questions

Visit the IEEE Author Digital Toolbox, which provides general guidelines regarding the submission of text and graphics, as well as templates, and instructions on how to submit multimedia materials. Most of the information is in the form of a convenient, downloadable PDF file.
 

The Journals and Magazines page provides a listing of our publications and a link to each publication's Web page. There, you will find the scope of each publication, contact information for obtaining more details, the frequency of its publication, a description of the topics covered, associated page charges, and contact information such as the Editor-in-Chief, or associate editors. Some publications also supply a link to their Society's Web site for more specific information regarding that publication's review and submission processes.
 

Download the most up-to-date version of our "Information for Authors" kit. IEEE "Information for Authors" kit (PDF, 260 KB)
 

The IEEE provides LaTeX and Word templates that can be used for all final submissions. In addition, the IEEE Transactions on Magnetics has supplied a Word template for creating submissions to TMAG. All of these templates are available for download at the IEEE Author Digital Toolbox page.

Some publications do provide information to their authors that is more specific than the IEEE's general guidelines and in some cases customized templates and instructions are provided as well. For links to individual transactions, journals, and letters Web pages, please go to the Journals and Magazines page.
 

IEEE accepts TeX, LaTeX, Word and Rich Text Format (RTF).
 

IEEE accepts Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and PDF files for graphics submission. High-resolution JPGs are acceptable for author photos only (IEEE also continues to accept Postscript, EPS, and TIFF). As part of the production process, all grayscale figures and line art are converted to TIFF format.

Image quality is very important in how the graphics will reproduce. Even though IEEE can accept many formats, graphics cannot improve if they are poor quality when received. If you need further help or have questions, please e-mail graphics@ieee.org.
 

The following are the basic charges for color:

• $1,045.00 US for printing charges (four or fewer color pages)
• $2,090.00 US (four to eight pages)
• $3,135.00 US (nine to twelve pages)
• + $62.50 US per color image (i.e., if you have two color figures the charge would be $125 US, + $1,045)

Please note that these are costs for color printing and do not include page charges or reprint charges, which must be paid separately. Once your paper is received at the IEEE, a staff editor will contact you with specific instructions on how to proceed with color figures.

If your decision is to include color graphics, IEEE will require that you send as soon as possible, a faxed copy of the purchase order reflecting the amount due or an e-mail with the following details of your credit card: Name as it appears on credit card, credit card number, type of credit card (Visa/ Mastercard etc.) expiration date, and amount to be charged. Notify IEEE, as soon as possible, if your decision is to have all graphics in black and white.

Color art can be processed only after IEEE receives either the purchase order or the credit card details.
 

The answer depends on your publication's page charge policy, including any overlength charges. To find out this information, download "Instructions for Authors on Reprints and Special Charges" (PDF, 65 KB). It also depends on how many reprints you order, and of course any color charges if you have figures in your paper that you choose to have printed in color.

If your journal has overlength page charges, then you will need to estimate the number of pages in your paper. The number of pages can be estimated two ways: counting all the pages in your submitted work (including figures, pages of text, pages of figure captions, references, bios, author photos, etc.) and divide the total by 3. Or, you can use the IEEE style template to preformat your work, including figures and tables, in order to give you a more accurate page estimate.
 

Please contact the editorial office of the journal to which you submitted your work for information regarding where it is in the submission process.
 

Send a blank email to keywords@ieee.org to receive a list of suggested keywords.
 

Please e-mail trans@ieee.org or your staff editor and IEEE will provide the status
 

Your proof will be in IEEE format, and once your paper is ready for review, you will receive an email notification that contains a unique weblink, login ID, and password. Once you log in to the Web site, you will have access to a high-resolution PDF for download and review. Please note that unless requested by the corresponding author, proofs are sent only this way, not by fax or regular mail.
 

Early Access is simply the early online publication of your work in the IEEE Xplore® digital library prior to it appearing as a printed paper. These papers typically are highlighted on publications’ Web pages. Since not all journals participate in Early Access, you will need to seek out the Web page for a particular publication to see whether they have Early Access available. For more information, you can also contact your staff editor or your editor-in-chief.
 

Please e-mail trans@ieee.org or your staff editor and IEEE will provide the status. You will need to check the Web page for your publication to find out whether your co-authors will receive complimentary copies of the printed publication.
 

Inclusion in IEEE Xplore normally takes 30 days from receipt. If this time period has passed, you can inquire by sending an e-mail to confpubs@ieee.org. For other papers, e-mail onlineproducts@ieee.org.
 

IEEE sends regular updates to all abstract and index partners as they are loaded in IEEE Xplore. However, IEEE does not control how long the abstract or indexing will take at the partner site. IEEE recommends you allow 12 weeks from the time you first viewed it in IEEE Xplore. If you find it is still not in a partner’s database, you should send an e-mail to discoveryservices@ieee.org.
 

You should contact discoveryservices@ieee.org if you feel your paper was erroneously not indexed.
 

IEEE content is indexed by Google and has agreements in place with other publishers and services to include IEEE papers in their online and print indexes. Examples include INSPEC, Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science, Ei Engineering, and Village. For a complete listing, please click the Publishing and Indexing Partners link on the "Welcome to IEEE Xplore" help page.
 

Not all abstract and index partners include the same information and in some instances, titles are submitted for editorial evaluation. It is best to e-mail discoveryservices@ieee.org for more information.
 

IEEE policy is that the PDF version in the IEEE Xplore digital library is the version of record, and cannot be changed. However, IEEE will review the error, and if appropriate, will make a change to the bibliographic metadata record and annotate the abstract associated with the article. For further assistance, you can e-mail discoveryservices@ieee.org stating the title of the paper, the product type it is in (e.g., periodical, conference proceedings, etc.) and the correction requested.
 

Much of IEEE Xplore's metadata comes from IET’s Inspec. Where this is not the case, Inspec style and policies are still generally followed. In some cases it is difficult to differentiate between first name(s) and last name (family name). Inspec therefore captures the names exactly as in the original document without abbreviation or punctuation and IEEE Xplore displays the same. For information on author name searching and related data policies, please download Author Searching on Inspec (PDF, 291 KB).
 

Unfortunately, not all partners accept updated records from publishers. However, if a user of that index service links over to IEEE, they will be presented with the most up-to-date information on that article, including corrections and annotations on the abstract page.
 

You may send an e-mail to reprints@ieee.org for information regarding your reprints. Please supply the six-digit number provided to you on the top of the reprint order form, or at the bottom of your paper’s first page.

Contact the Customer Service Department of the IEEE at customer-service@ieee.org.
 

Please visit the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Web site for more information.
 

Please go to the journals and magazines listing page for contact information on each publication.
 

E-mail trans@ieee.org or your staff editor stating the title of your paper, the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), if known, and your new address.