IEEE Technical Activities Volunteer Training
IEEE Publications
July 2014
Topics
Publications contributions and value to the
community
Overview primary roles and responsibilities of
publications
Getting involved in the TAB publications
organization
Criteria and standards
High level timeline
IEEE Periodicals
IEEE periodical content are deemed high-quality and
are highly referenced
– High citations rankings
– IEEE publishing is the leader among patent citation sources
The trust placed in our content is a result of the care
and validation each paper receives. All IEEE articles,
whether feature articles in magazines or papers in
journals, are peer-reviewed
– All levels of editors and peer-reviewers are members of
that specific scientific community supporting the journal or
magazine
Importance of IEEE Periodicals
The number of journal articles added yearly has increased
steadily since 2001.
Journal articles added yearly
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23-Jun-16
Growth of Periodicals in IEEE
IEEE publishes 161 Journals, Transactions and Magazines and represents
more than 30% of the world’s annually published literature in energy,
electrotechnology, information and communication technology, control and
industrial automation, life science engineering, systems engineering, applied
electronics, vehicular transportation systems, computing, and related fields.
Reach of IEEE Periodicals
There are currently nearly 3M conferences and
publications articles in the IEEE digital library
7M+ articles are downloaded per month
More than 2M engineers, scientists, and students have
free access to articles
Top-Ranking Publications
Each year, the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports®
(JCR) examines the influence and impact of scholarly
research journals
The 2012 JCR study, released in June 2013, reveals that
IEEE journals have sustained their status as premier
scholarly publications
For more information on metrics used to determine influence
and impact, please see Gianluca Setti’s white paper on
Bibliometric Indicators:
– http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=06515033
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Top-Ranking Publications
Impact Factor: the average number of times articles from a journal
published in the past two years have been cited in the JCR year
–
–
–
–
18 of the top 20 journals in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
10 of the top 10 journals in Telecommunications
8 of the top 10 journals in Computer Science, Hardware, and Architecture
7 of the top 10 journals in Automation & Control Systems
Eigenfactor Score: the measure of a journal’s total importance to
the scientific community, using defined citation matrices
– 8 of the top 10 journals in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
– 10 of the top 10 journals in Telecommunications
Article Influence Score: a measure of the average influence of each
of a journal’s articles over the first five years after publication
– 8 of the top 10 journals in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
– 9 of the top 10 journals in Telecommunications
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IEEE Open Access
Hybrid journals
– Offered by majority of all IEEE transactions, journals, and letters
– Permit both traditional subscription-based content as well as
open access, author-pays content
Fully open access journals
– Dedicated to a specific subject area
– Contain author-pays articles
– Delivered online only
IEEE Access
– Rapid-decision, open access journal spanning all IEEE fields of
interest
– Fully open access
– Contains author-pays articles
– Delivered online only
Global IEEE Publication Activity
Regions 1-6: USA
Region 7: Canada
Region 8: Europe, Africa, Middle East
Region 9: Latin America
Region 10: Asia & Pacific
(from March 2014 Stats)
100%
90%
80%
70%
Region 10
60%
Region 9
50%
Region 8
40%
Region 7
30%
Regions 1-6
20%
10%
0%
Editors
Authors
Consumers
Lifecycle of Periodicals
Periodical Life Cycle Management
Ideation & Development
Start-up
– Adjustment as needed
Constant
Assessment
Maturity
– Regular pursuit of opportunities and continual improvement
– Revitalize when larger-scale changes are needed
– Merge when there’s a need to blending content of 2+
periodicals for strategic or economic advantage
– Sunset a title when none of the other options are viable
Periodicals Development Process
Idea Generation
Submit Letter of Intent
Proposal Creation
Approval Phase One
Approval Phase Two
Create First Issue
Ongoing Production & Life Cycle Management
First Year Review
Third Year Review
Periodicals Development Process
Idea Generation
Submit LOI
Approval
Phase One
Proposal
Creation
Ongoing Production
& Life Cycle
Management
Approval
Phase Two
Creation of
First Issue
First Year
Review
TAB Periodicals
Review and
Advisory
Committee Third
Year Review
TAB Periodicals
Committee
assignment to
Periodicals
Watch List
Idea Generation
Submit Letter of Intent (LOI)
A LOI:
– Establishes a starting point for development
– Notifies other impacted IEEE Societies/Technical Councils
– Explains the need for/benefit of establishing new publication
– Explains how new publication differs from existing publications
LOI is sent to dedicated email address (periodical@ieee.org)
An email with the LOI is sent to Periodicals Committee
members for review prior to Board meetings
Periodicals Committee reviews LOI at Board meeting
A survey is then conducted by IEEE to be used in proposal
creation
Proposal Creation
Approval Phase 1
Approval Phase 2
Roles and
Responsibilities
Many Ways to Volunteer
Within a specific publication (Editor-in-Chief, Associate
Editor, Reviewer)
Within a specific Society/Technical Council (different
positions defined by Society/Technical Council, including Vice
President of Publications, Chairs of various committees,
member of publications committees, representative to
steering/advisory publication committees)
Within a TAB/IEEE committee (Periodicals, PRAC, Proposal
Development committees)
Editor-in-Chief
Responsibilities of Editor-in-Chief are different for
each journal or Society/Technical Council
Responsible for day-to-day Volunteer leadership of
publication, which may include:
– Coordinating and overseeing peer review process
– Recommending/selecting candidates for editorial board
– Developing editorial plans
– Serving as member of Steering Committee and/or
Publications Board
– Working in general with Volunteers and staff to ensure and
maintain timely, high-quality publication
Associate Editor
Manages the peer review of manuscripts by
members of the peer community
Handles manuscripts and communications with
authors
Advises the EiC on questions related to special
issues, overview papers, new AE nominations,
suitability of papers, plagiarism, etc.
Attends Editorial Board meetings
Handles comments, corrections, and errata
Associate Editor (continued)
Editors are generally assigned a specific topic
segment covered by an IEEE journal or magazine.
Under the direction of the Editor(s)-in-Chief, the
Editor will guide submitted articles through the
peer-review process to ensure the content is
vetted among community experts
– Identification of and coordination with appropriate
reviewers who properly vet the article content in the
allowable time span for decision
– Usually there is a database of potential reviewers,
however there is always need for adding more willing
experts to do that important role. Identification of new
reviewer prospects may be necessary
Reviewer
Peer review of all papers that appear in transactions,
journals, or letters publications is required by the IEEE
Papers are selected for publication on bases of technical
merit and appropriateness
This is an important way to give back to your technical
community, as there is always a shortage of reviewer
experts
The time commitment for this role is variable, depending on
the complexity of the article. The assessment of the article
content can range from a few hours in total to something
which may take a few evenings to validate step-by-step
Author
Research and identify which periodical best fits your needs
Identify basic criteria for paper submission to best-fit
periodical
The basic structure of scientific papers
– All scientific papers have the same general format, typically
comprised of the following parts:
 Title
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Literature Review
 Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Cited Literature
Periodicals Positions within
Societies/Councils
Periodicals positions within Societies/Technical
Councils are defined by each respective
Society/Technical Council
These typically include leadership roles:
– Vice President, Publications
– Chairs of various boards/committees within
Societies/Technical Councils
And membership roles within Society-defined
boards and committees:
– Member of Publications Board
– Member of Publications Committee
– Member of other operational publications committees
TAB Periodicals Committee
Facilitate TAB action on proposals for new Society/Technical Council
(S/C) periodicals by reviewing all such proposals and making
recommendations to TAB and the PSPB on all matters other than
those relating to finance
Monitor the quality and timeliness of S/C sponsored periodicals and
recommend appropriate action to TAB to ensure that adequate
standards are maintained
Assist S/Cs in resolving any disagreements regarding overlapping
fields of interest in S/C periodicals
Report to TAB important developments in Institute publication
policies as they impact S/C periodicals
Advise TAB on proposed changes in Institute guidelines, policies
and procedures concerning S/C periodicals
Assume other responsibilities related to publications with which it
may be charged by TAB in furtherance of its functions
TAB Periodicals Review and
Advisory Committee (PRAC)
Monitor the timeliness, appropriateness, and quality of all
TAB S/C periodicals
Establish a schedule to review each S/C at least once every
five years
Work with the appropriate S/C Presidents and Division
Directors to ensure that scheduled reviews are completed,
and the findings of these reviews are submitted to the TAB
Periodicals Committee in a timely manner
Work in a collaborative and collegial fashion with S/C
publication boards to develop improvements in quality and
timeliness to enhance competitive positioning of the S/C
periodicals, based on best practices used by other IEEE
periodicals
TAB Proposal Development
Committee
Monitor the timeliness, quality, and potential problems with
proposals undergoing the TAB New Periodicals Development
Process
Report to the TAB Periodicals Committee any feedback the
Committee has regarding all proposals
Indicate to Technical Activities staff the readiness of
proposals to proceed to the multiple approval stages
identified in the TAB New Proposals Development Process
Work in a collaborative and collegial fashion with S/C
periodical proposers to impart the Committee’s knowledge
of best practices for periodicals and also best practices for
the proposal creation.
How to Work Effectively
with Associate Editors,
Reviewers, and Authors
Thrasos Pappas, Northwestern University
Presented at IEEE Panel of Editors Meeting
Chicago, 28 March 2014
EIC Tasks (Day-to-Day)
Select and appoint AEs
Assign AEs
Immediate rejects
Advise AEs on unusual cases, difficult decisions, etc.
Author complaints
Duplicate submissions
Plagiarism
Paper Overload
Over-length papers
Page budgets, etc.
Reporting to Vice President, Publications of the sponsoring
Societies/Technical Councils
Reporting to IEEE
EIC Tasks (Long-Term)
New research directions
– AE selection
– Overview articles
– Special issues
– “Editors Information Classification Scheme” (EDICS) updates
Publication quality
– Significance of the contribution (novelty; too narrow; etc.)
– Balance between incremental and groundbreaking papers
– Selective/inclusive balance
– New ideas, new perspectives, new people
– Immediate rejects – NOT based on reference to home journal
Dealing with increasing number of submissions
– AE and reviewer fatigue
– Difficult to find enough qualified AEs and reviewers
– Traditional system does not scale well
Selecting and Appointing AEs
Quality of research/publications
– Publications in IEEE transactions/journals
– Too many publications is not a good sign
Experience
– Tenure; number of years since Ph.D.
– Peer pressures
Dedication, honesty, integrity
Review activity
Other obligations/conflicts
Covering topical areas, prominent people
– AEs with reduced load
Demographics
– Geography, gender, minorities, academia/industry
Seek advice from TCs, other AEs, EICs
AE Tasks
Understand what the paper is really about
Secure at least 3 reviewers for each paper
– A lot easier to defend a decision based on 3 reviewers but increasingly
hard to find qualified reviewers
– Personalized invitation letters help attract reviewers
– Sending papers to people who have interest in the work
– “Editors Information Classification Scheme” (EDICS)
– Selecting reviewers with different perspectives on the work
Timeliness vs. quality of reviews
Make decision based on substance of the reviews
– Not a mechanical, majority rule – reviews are only advisory
– May add their own opinion
– What is the significance of the contribution?
– Incremental vs. breakthrough
AE Tasks (continued)
Justify and clearly communicate the decision to the authors
– Active and clear decision letter
– Why a rejection decision was made
– What the AE expects to see in a revision
– Reviewer comments may be contradictory
– Not all comments/suggestions are correct or need to be addressed
Second round of reviews
– Did the authors address AE expectations?
– Do not bring up new issues, except if…
 New evidence had come up (e.g., another paper by the authors)
Keep track of paper length
– Paper can grow too long if authors try to address every reviewer
recommendation
Conference vs. journal papers
EICs with the AEs
Assigning papers
– Individual assignment… but too many papers…
– Based on EDICS
– Let the AEs choose (but potential ScholarOne limitations)
– Allow AEs to swap papers
Can override AE decisions
– But better to work with them
Dealing with difficult authors
Difficult issues brought up by reviewers
Resubmissions of rejected papers
– Give clear guidelines to AEs how to handle these papers
– Explain how the paper has addressed reviewer concerns
– Substantial departure from previous submission
Time off or reduced load
EICs and AEs Working
with Authors
Important to respond
– Authors are appreciative
– Understand author complaints
– Make sure you have AE version of the story
– Coordinate with AE – and VP Pubs if needed
Be fair
Mutual respect
Follow Operations Manual
Follow EIC guidance
Other issues
– Simultaneous submissions
– Reviewer exclusion
– Conflicts of interest with reviewers or AEs
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) support unit
Ethics and Member Conduct Committee (EMCC)
Working with Other IEEE Journals
Recommend authors consider other IEEE journals
for papers that are out of scope
Sharing information about plagiarism, duplicate
submissions
Exchanging info about best practices
Exchanging ideas and bringing communities
together
Contacts
Who to Contact to Volunteer
Within a specific publication (Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor,
Reviewer)
– Contact Editor-in-Chief of the desired publication for more information
Within a specific Society/Technical Council (different positions
defined by Society, including Vice President of Publications, Chairs
of various committees, member of publications committees,
representative to steering/advisory publication committees, or to
propose a new publication)
– Contact Vice President of Publications of desired Society/Technical
Council for more information
Within a TAB/IEEE committee (Periodicals, PRAC, Proposal
Development committees)
– Contact Chair of desired committee or IEEE Vice President for Technical
Activities for more information
Staff contact, for additional questions:
– Laura Creighton, Senior Periodicals Product Manager (l.creighton@ieee.org)
Any Questions?