Manuscript Preparation Template
IBM Journal of Research and Development
Welcome! Please type directly in this template over the black text, which describes journalspecific style and formatting requirements. Blue text is for instructional purposes and
should be deleted. Do not add spaces between paragraphs. Use Word’s built-in Styles to
indicate manuscript sections. This ensures that the document is formatted according to
typesetter specifications.





Use Microsoft Word, not LaTeX. Be concise: 6,000 words maximum per paper.
(Please do not compose in LaTex and then convert to doc format, because the
equations may turn into uneditable images with unpredictable results).
The manuscript should be a report of significant new work, a new review or
overview, or a combination of the above—and be targeted toward the general
technical reader.
Maximum of 4 figures, placed at the end of the Word document.
The paper must not have been published previously outside of IBM. For example, it
must not be available on the web outside of IBM. It must not have been published
previously in a conference proceedings. Papers should provide results and findings.
IBM authors must have their papers cleared by IBM. This usually involves a
manager giving approval for external publication. Please send evidence of the
clearance when you submit the paper.
[Title]Please use sentence case (≤10 words)
[Byline: separated by commas, do not insert “and”]J. S. Smith, C. Brown
[Abstract]Abstract text goes here. This single paragraph (≤200 words) summarizes the
significant aspects of the manuscript. Often it indicates whether the manuscript is a report of new
work, a review or overview, or a combination of the above. Do not cite references in the abstract.
Throughout the paper, spell-out acronyms. Example start of Abstract: “The design of optical
communication links has traditionally been based on the use of multimode fiber (MMF).…”
[First section head of the manuscript]Introduction
The introduction should provide background information (including relevant references) and
should indicate the purpose of the manuscript. Inclusion of statements at the end of the
introduction regarding the organization of the manuscript can be helpful to the reader.
Cite relevant work by others, including research outside your company. Place your work in
perspective by referring to other research papers. The manuscript should not exceed 6,000 words.
Example start of the Intro: “Car-Parrinello molecular ab initio molecular dynamics (CPAIMD)
algorithms [1–4] may be implemented….”
Heading level 1: Subsequent sections
Section heads should be unnumbered with no ending punctuation. However, if sections are
referred to numerous times, we can accept numbered level 1 heads ("1. Introduction"). Sections
following the introduction should present your results and findings. Paragraphs should be more
than one sentence long. Do not use paragraph indentation.
1
Heading level 2: Style and formatting
All acronyms should be defined at first mention, no matter how obvious they are to you.
References must be cited in brackets in numerical order, starting with [1]. Do not use automated
numbering features in the word processor. Consecutive reference number citations should be
indicated with an n-dash (–) [2–6] or a comma [7, 8] as necessary. Do not use footnotes. The use
of technical jargon, slang, and vague or informal English should be avoided.
Avoid using any bulleted and numbered lists. Instead, use full sentences and flowing paragraphs.
(This is not a PowerPoint presentation.) If your paper cannot survive without lists, use them
extremely rarely and keep them short:


Style for bulleted lists—This is the style that should be used for bulleted lists.
Punctuation in lists—Each item in the list should end with a period, regardless of
whether full sentences are used.
Math
Scalar variables and physical constants should be italicized, and a bold (non-italics) font should
be used for vectors and matrices. Do not italicize subscripts unless they are variables.
Heading level 3: A comment on equations
Equations should be either display (with a number in parentheses) or inline. Use the built-in
Equation Editor to insert complex equations.
Figures and tables
In-text callouts for figures and tables
Every figure and table must be cited in the running text. Example: “Figure 1 shows…” At first
mention, the citation should be boldface (Figure 1); subsequent mentions should be Roman type
(see Figure 1 and Table 1). Figures and tables should be cited in consecutive order. Previously
published figures or tables require permission to reprint. Please obtain permission. Then, add to
the figure/table caption: “From [reference no.], with permission,” or “Adapted from [reference
no.], with permission.” Carefully explain each figure in the text. Each manuscript should be
limited to four figures (where each figure is really just a single figure, and not an attempt to cram
part a, b, c, d, etc. into one multi-part figure to avoid the 4-figure limit).
Conclusion
The manuscript should include a conclusion. Example: “In this paper, we have described a link
design methodology that…”
Acknowledgments
The “Acknowledgments” section appears immediately after the conclusion. If applicable, this is
where you indicate funding for the work if applicable.
References
[[Do not use built-in (automated) numbering features, as this sometimes leads to problems
when the paper is finally typeset. Do not use Wikipedia for references. List all authors.
Provide issue numbers for papers. This section should not be used for commentary and
2
notes. Use only one reference in each citation.]]
1. R. E. Kalman, A. Jones, and C. Pickover, “New results in linear filtering,” J. Basic Eng., vol.
83, no. 3, pp. 95-108, 1961. [for a journal paper]
2. B. Klaus and P. Horn, Robot Vision. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986. [for a book]
3. M. Semilof, Business on web. [Online]. Available: http://www.a.com [for a web site; do not
use active hyperlinks]
4. C. Janow, “Guidance and control,” in Proc. Nat. Electronics Conf., New York, 1994, vol. 24,
pp. 30-35. [for a conference proceedings]
Bios
[[We publish brief biographical sketches of authors. Do not include street address, but do
include the city, state and zip (if applicable), country, and email address. Continue to spellout all acronyms. Avoid using first names in the body of each bio. Use "Dr. Smith" and not
"John Smith." We use "Dr." or "Mr." for men, and "Dr." or "Ms." for women.]]
John L. Smith IBM Research Division, Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights,
NY 10598 USA (johnsmith@us.ibm.com). Dr. Smith is a Research Staff Member in the Physical
Sciences department at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center. He received a B.S. degree in
physics from Bucknell University in 1976 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the
University of Michigan in 1977 and 1981, respectively. He subsequently joined IBM at the T. J.
Watson Research Center, where he has worked on magnetic films. In 1991, he received an IBM
Outstanding Innovation Award for his work on coupled magnetic films. He is author or coauthor
of 4 patents and 16 technical papers. Dr. Smith is a member of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers) and APS (American Physical Society).
Figures and tables (placed at end of paper)
[[Please provide a figure caption for each figure. Refer to each figure in the main text by
number. A minimum number of figures and tables should be used. Acronyms and
abbreviations used in a figure should be spelled out in the figure caption. Figure captions
and tables should be placed after the bios and should be formatted as follows...]]
Figure 1 Comparison of theoretical and experimental …. (OS: operating system; VPN: virtual
private network.) From [reference no.], with permission.
Figure files
[[Save your raw figure files for us so that when we ask for them, you can supply. For
example, for any data graphs and flowcharts, we will eventually need your digital files that
contain all the data points (e.g., excel, eps, ppt, etc), and we can’t use an image capture of
the graph that does not contain the data values.]]
Table format
Table 1 Parameters for calculating ….
Column head
Column head
Column head
Table body text
20%
−15
Table body text
10%
−5
3
*Additional Useful Style Advice Here: http://www.pickover.com/cliffs-notes.html
4