How can I learn more about T-ASE?
The new IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and
Engineering (T-ASE) announcement is a good place to learn more about the
new transactions.
What is the history of the origin of T-ASE?
When the IEEE Transactions
on Robotics and Automation (T-RA) was bifurcated into two separate journals,
they were renamed Transactions on Robotics (T-RO) and Transactions on
Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE).
T-RO publishes fundamental papers on Robotics, with special emphasis on
robots and intelligent machines or systems for unstructured
environments, where a significant portion of the environment is unknown and
cannot be directly sensed or controlled.
In contrast, T-ASE publishes fundamental papers on topics related to
intelligent machines/systems in structured environments and the explicit
structuring of environments.
How can I access the T-ASE Homepage?
The T-ASE
home page can be accessed at http://www.ieee.org/t-ase/
When were submissions begun for T-ASE?
Acceptance
of submissions to T-ASE began June 1, 2003.
When did the first issue of T-ASE appear?
The first issue of T-ASE appeared in July 2004.
Where can I view sample papers published by T-ASE?
Sample T-ASE papers can be viewed via IEEE
Xplore (linked from the T-ASE home page).
Who are the Editors-in-Chief for T-ASE and T-RO?
The Editorial Board of T-RA was transformed into the
Editorial Board for T-RO and a new Editorial Board of T-ASE was formed. Professor Peter Luh is the Editor-in-Chief of T-ASE and
Professor Alessandro De Luca is the Editor-in-Chief of T-RO.
Who are the main
contacts for T-ASE and T-RO?
For T-ASE editor-related
issues:
Peter Luh, Editor-in-Chief of T-ASE, Peter.Luh@uconn.edu
For T-ASE strategic
issues:
Ken Goldberg, Chair of T-ASE Advisory Committee, goldberg@ieor.berkeley.edu
For T-RO editor-related
issues:
Alessandro De Luca, Editor-in-Chief of T-RO, deluca@dis.uniroma1.it
FAQs for Authors
Should I submit my paper to T-ASE (rather than T-RO)?
A key goal of T-ASE is
to broaden the definition of Automation Science both vertically, from the
Enterprise Level down to the design of machines, and horizontally, across a
spectrum of industries. One characteristic of papers in T-ASE is their focus on
scientific results that advance efficiency, quality, productivity, and
reliability. We welcome papers in T-ASE that emphasize high quality results and
foundational theory.
T-ASE attempts to
synthesize a broader view of Automation activities that go beyond the
conventional view of Automation as activity-related only to manufacturing. For example, here are some sample new application areas
for T-ASE:
Biotechnology and Health
Pharmaceutical High Throughput Screening
DNA Chip Fabrication and Screening
Medical and Health Monitoring
Combinatorial Chemistry
Food Handling and Processing
Agriculture
Livestock and Fishing
Inspection and Storage
Service Industries
Construction
Cleaning
Data Storage and Cartridge Loading
Retirement and Child Care
Hospitality, Entertainment, and Theme Park Systems
Retail: Labeling, Checkout, Stocking
Transportation, Security, and Maintenance
Transportation and Traffic Automation
Package and Baggage Handling and Inspection
Automatic Identification
Law Enforcement
Home/Garden Automation
Space and Underwater Systems
What is the scope statement of T-ASE?
The IEEE Transactions on
Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE) publishes fundamental papers on
Automation, emphasizing scientific results that advance efficiency, quality,
productivity, and reliability. T-ASE encourages interdisciplinary approaches
from computer science, control systems, electrical engineering, mathematics,
mechanical engineering, operations research, and other fields. We welcome
results relevant to industries such as agriculture, biotechnology, healthcare,
home automation, maintenance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, retail, security,
service, supply chains, and transportation.
How do I submit a paper
to T-ASE?
Submissions are made directly on
Manuscript Central V3 at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/t-ase.
Where can I find Instructions for
Authors?
Instructions for authors are provided on-line at the
Manuscript Central site at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/t-ase.
What basic information is needed at the
time of submission?
At the time of submission the following
is needed: A cover letter, an abstract
(no more than 200 words for regular papers and 50 words for communications and
short papers), a Note to Practitioners of 100 to 300 words), keywords, and the
type of paper (Regular, Short, or Communication Item). Complete information on the author(s) is also
needed.
How do I list the references?
References must be in a separate reference section at
the end of the paper, with items referred to by numerals in square brackets.
References must be completed in IEEE style as follows: Author(s), first initials followed by last
name, title in quotation marks, periodical, volume, inclusive page numbers,
month and year. Books: Author(s),
first initials followed by last name, title, location, publisher, year,
chapter, page numbers.
What is the Note to
Practitioners?
Because T-ASE addresses
a research community willing to integrate knowledge across disciplines and
industries, each paper shall include a Note to Practitioners that summarizes
how its results can be applied or how they might be extended to apply in
practice.
Is the Note to
Practitioners a requirement?
Yes, T-ASE requires that
each submission include an Abstract, a Note to Practitioners and a List of
Keywords.
Is the Note to
Practitioners different from the Abstract?
Yes, the Note to Practitioners
is different from the Abstract. Rather
than simply restating the technical abstract, authors should step back and
describe without jargon how their results could be applied or be extended to
practical problems, and the potential and limitations of their work, as though
they were addressing a colleague from industry.
Shall I submit my paper
as a Regular or a Short paper?
Short papers usually
describe a single result, experiment, or technique of general interest for
which a short treatment is appropriate.
What are Communication
Items?
Communication
items are a separate class of short manuscripts which deal primarily with
discussing previously published
papers or their minor extensions. These
are subject to an expedited review process and substantially faster publication
than regular or short papers.
What style do I use for
my submitted manuscript?
Manuscripts should be
submitted in a double column format using an IEEE style file (downloadable from
http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/transactions/stylesheets.htm).
What is T-ASE's policy on multi-part papers?
Multipart papers will
only be published if there is compelling rationale for a multipart treatment.
All parts of such submissions must be accepted for any part to be published.
May I submit Multimedia
Material?
T-ASE is now considering the acceptance of
multimedia material (typically, videos) accompanying the submission of a paper.
Which types of
Multimedia Material are acceptable?
Multimedia can be
"playable" files (.mpeg, .avi, .wav, .mov, .midi, etc.) or
"dataset" files (e.g., raw data with programs to manipulate them).
Such material is intended to enhance the contents of a paper, both in clarity
and in added value. IEEE has set up general guidelines for the submission of multimedia,
ranging from the format to the description of content and of user requirements,
and to the way this material should be referenced to in the body of the paper.
This information is available in the file "MMdocumentation.pdf" among
the "Tools for Authors" at http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/transactions/information.htm.
How do I submit
Multimedia Material?
In preparing this material, it is recommended that the
general IEEE guidelines are followed right from the initial submission. Authors should submit their multimedia
material (as a video and the ReadMe file), as additional items accompanying the
paper, in the usual manner to the T-ASE site at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/t-ase.
The multimedia material will be reviewed together with the submitted paper.
Once a paper and its associated multimedia material is accepted, the latter
will be available on the T-ASE page within IEEE Xplore
(http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?puNumber=8860), back to back
with the pdf file of the paper.
What is the policy on
Copyright?
It is the policy of the IEEE to own 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
When
do I complete the electronic copyright transfer form?
The electronic copyright form (ECF) is completed
AFTER a paper is accepted for publication.
How
do I complete the electronic copyright transfer form?
The electronic copyright form (ECF)is completed
directly on Manuscript Central by going into Manuscripts with Decisions and
clicking on ECF in the right column alongside the title of their paper. The completed ECF goes directly to IEEE.
What ethical issues
should I consider before submitting a paper?
Manuscripts should be original,
previously unpublished work not currently submitted to any other publication.
Multiple submissions to different journals are unacceptable. This applies to the whole period in which a
paper is under review for the IEEE Transaction on Automation Science and
Engineering. It is the responsibility of
the authors to clearly spell out differences of their submitted papers with
similar content. Any common part should
be clearly cited. If in doubt, please
contact the Editor-in-Chief.
The material, if accepted,
should be properly available for general dissemination to the readership. It is
the responsibility of the authors, not the IEEE, to determine whether
disclosure of their material requires the prior consent of other parties and,
if so, to obtain it. If authors make use of charts, photographs, or other
graphical or textual material from previously published material, the authors
are responsible for obtaining written permission to use the material in the
manuscript.
What are the grounds for
plagiarism?
IEEE defines plagiarism as the use of someone
else's prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicitly
acknowledging the original author and source.
Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable and is considered a serious
breach of professional conduct, with potentially severe ethical and legal
consequences.
Self-plagiarism is also unethical. If authors have used their own previously
published work(s) as a basis for a new submission, they are required to cite
the previous work(s) and very briefly indicate how the new submission offers
substantively novel contributions beyond those of the previously published
work(s).
How long is the paper review process?
The average time for the entire review process is
approximately three months from the time of submission to the editor's
decision.
What exactly is involved
in the review process?
The paper review process
is multi-level. As soon as the
submission is initially processed by the Editorial Assistant, the paper is
passed on to the Editor-in-Chief, who assigns a handling Senior Editor. The Senior Editor, in turn, assigns the paper
to an Associate Editor who is well-versed in the subject matter of the
paper. The Associate Editor then invites
several individuals with expertise in the topic to act as reviewers. As soon as three or four of the invited
reviewers send in their reports, the Associate Editor makes his/her
recommendation concerning the paper to the handling Senior Editor. The Senior Editor weighs all the information
and communicates his/her decision on the disposition of the paper directly to
the author via email.
If my paper is accepted
for publication, what do I need to provide?
An itemized Author's
Checklist is sent by the T-ASE Editor-in-Chief's office to the corresponding
author at the time the paper is accepted for publication.
What specific items are
needed for publication?
Needed items
include: A Word or LaTeX
file of the manuscript, a Word or LaTeX file of the
Note to Practitioners, a pdf file of the manuscript, 2 hard copies of the manuscript,
a file of all graphics, separate hard copies of each graphic, a list of
keywords, a separate page listing captions for all figures and/or tables, a
separate page listing all footnotes, a brief biography for each author (for
regular papers only), an electronic photo of each author (for regular papers
only). In addition, a complete mailing
address for each author as well as information on where material in paper had
been previously presented (as at a conference).
Do I need to create
separate files for each figure/graph in the tiff or eps format or it is
possible for you to extract them from Word file?
The Publisher requires
that you create separate files for each figure/graph and place on a disk or
CD. The publisher ALSO needs a hard copy
of each figure/graph on a separate piece of paper.
Does T-ASE have page
restrictions or limitations for publication?
T-ASE does not have strict page restrictions or
limitations for publication but there is a mandatory overlength page charge of
$175 per page for short papers and communication items exceeding five
Transactions pages, and for regular papers exceeding ten Transaction pages
including illustrations.
This charge is $175 per page for each page over the
first ten based on the final typeset length and not on manuscript length, and
is a prerequisite for publication. The
same policy applies to communications and short papers exceeding five
TRANSACTIONS pages.
IEEE also charges $30/page for pages not
submitted electronically.
Does T-ASE have any
voluntary page charges?
A voluntary page charge
form ($110/page) is sent to the authors with proofs, and the author is
encouraged, whenever possible, to make a contribution to defray part of the
publication cost. Authors receive 100 free reprints if the charge is honored.
FAQs for Associate Editors
Is there a database of
potential reviewers?
There are four methods
for assistance in selecting potential reviewers:
(1) You may run a search
on appropriate reviewers based on selected keywords directly on Manuscript Central.
(2) Once you're in
Manuscript Central and have accessed the paper assigned to you, scroll down to
Reviewer Auto-Suggest. Click Search On
as based on related manuscript keywords. This will open up a pretty impressive reviewer
list complete with email addresses, etc.
(3) Another source for
reviewer selection is the author's Preferred/Non-preferred Reviewer List.
(4) In addition, the
Related Papers Search is a feature on Manuscript Central that searches for
reviewers and authors of past papers with the selected keywords, title or
author last name.
How can I send the
revised paper to the original reviewers?
When you access a
revised manuscript on Manuscript Central, you will see the heading "Peer
Review Milestones" and directly below that you will see the heading
"Version History." In this
Version History section, you will see the listing of the two submissions of
this paper. On the extreme right of this
section you will see a column entitled "Switch Details" with a blue
tab. Click on the blue tab to bring you back to the original version. Then scroll down to the Reviewer List, which
has the names of all of the reviewers for the first version. A better approach to selecting reviewers is
when you access the revised manuscript, click on the "Select
Reviewers" tab on the top right.
This will bring up the names of the first-round reviewers who have
agreed to review the revised paper. All
you need to do is click on the Invite tab.
What if one of my
reviewers is not able to access the assigned paper?
If you have successfully
assigned the paper through Manuscript Central, an account should have been set
up for the reviewer. Inability to access
the assigned paper may be caused by one of the following:
(1) the reviewer may be
using an email account different from the one it was set up on, (2) you may
have forgotten to check off the "agreed" option when the reviewer
contacted you, or (3) the reviewer may be trying to access the paper through
his
FAQs For Reviewers
What do I do if I have
forgotten my password?
After you access
Manuscript Central at the site http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/t-ase
by using your email
address, you will notice a block for your password. If you have forgotten your password, click on the Forgot Password and your
password will be email to you immediately.
How do I access the
paper assigned for review?
When you access your
account and get to the Main Menu, click on
How do I prepare my
review report?
When you are ready to
submit your review report, click on the blue tab entitled View Details, which
is on the extreme right of the paper title.
This will open up to Instructions to Reviewers. Click on the Score Sheet tab on the top
right. Fill in your report and submit.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions,
please send a message to Tatiana Janowycz at ieeetase@engr.uconn.edu.