Recently, some articles on OFAC restrictions on
publishing have contained inaccuracies about
IEEE’s publishing policy. Here is
IEEE’s policy for handling of manuscripts
from authors in embargoed countries. This policy
is based on the ruling IEEE received from OFAC on
30 Sept 2003.
The following activities MAY be done:
- Authors residing in Iran may submit their
manuscripts to the IEEE;
- IEEE may send manuscripts written by
authors residing in Iran to our member
volunteers for peer review and comments or
questions (no matter where they are located);
- IEEE editors may collect the peer reviewer
comments and communicate those comments or
questions on those manuscripts to authors
residing in Iran;
- IEEE is free to publish such papers, once
they pass peer-review, but no editing may
been done on these papers. (Editors may
consider adding a footnote to those papers
noting that they were not edited.).
Until further notice, the following is still NOT
allowed:
- IEEE reviewers and IEEE editors (both
volunteer and staff) may NOT do any editing
or otherwise revise manuscripts written by
authors residing in Iran. Editing of
manuscripts submitted by persons in Iran or
another embargoed country includes activities
such as the reordering of paragraph or
sentences, correction of syntax, grammar and
the replacement of inappropriate words prior
to publication. OFAC says this is
prohibited unless specifically licensed. IEEE
has provided additional information and
requested that OFAC reconsider this ruling
and declare our copy and style editing
exempt. We have also requested a license if
the activity is not ruled exempt.
In working with these papers it is important to
note that it doesn't matter where the reviewers or
editors are located when applying these rules.
OFAC says that since they are acting on behalf of
an entity located in the US, they are all subject
to OFAC restrictions.
IEEE continues to work to remove the remaining
restrictions on our scholarly publishing process.
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