THE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
PROCEDURE MANUAL
Version 2a, November 28, 2006
PREAMBLE
Twenty years ago, the field of
Robotics was defined and galvanized by the creation of an IEEE Journal devoted
to the topic. We now have the
opportunity to do the same for the field of Automation. The IEEE voted in February 2003 to bifurcate
the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, the
top-cited archival publication on robotics.
The renamed Transactions on Robotics will gain a sibling: the
Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE). This Procedure Manual is a working document
to outline the Scope of T-ASE, its structure, manuscript and decision
categories, detailed operation procedures, and the long-term goals.
1. SCOPE OF THE 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.
Thus, the
quarterly T-ASE publishes foundational research on Automation: Scientific
methods and technologies that improve efficiency, productivity, quality, and
reliability, specifically for methods, machines, and systems operating in
structured environments over long periods, and the explicit structuring of
environments. Its coverage goes beyond
Automation’s roots in mass production and includes many new applications areas,
such as Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals,
and Health; Construction, Transportation, and Security; Manufacturing,
Maintenance, and Supply Chains; Home, Laboratory, and Service; Business and
Software; Food Handling and Processing.
Research includes topics related to robots and intelligent
machines/systems in structured environments and the explicit structuring of
environments, and topics at the Operational/Enterprise levels such as System
Modeling, Analysis, Performance Evaluation; Planning, Scheduling, Coordination;
Risk Management; and Supply Chain Management.
The T-ASE Call for Papers, details
on motivation, distinctions between Robotics and Automation, scope statements,
and sample application areas are available at http://www.ieee.org/t-ase.
2. STRUCTURE OF T-ASE
Overall Structure. The T-ASE has an Editorial Board,
an Advisory Board, and a Senior Editors Panel.
Editorial Board.
The Editorial Board is responsible for handling papers, from the time of
their submissions, throughout their review, to publication. It is a three-tier system consisting of an
Editor-in-Chief (EiC) supported by an Editorial Assistant, a small number of
Editors (around four), and multiple (on the order of 20 to 30) Associate
Editors (AEs). Editorial Board members
should be reputable experts with the energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to make
T-ASE the Flagship journal in automation.
Their collective expertise should cover the major areas of automation
science and engineering. While some
members are RAS members, some will be invited to join from outside the RAS or
IEEE to encourage submissions on non-traditional RAS topics, and to handle these
submissions in a quality and timely fashion.
These non-IEEE members will be strongly encouraged to become IEEE/RAS
members. Our co-sponsoring societies
(IEEE Industry Applications Society and
Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society) can also nominate AE candidates.
Advisory Board.
In view of the broad coverage and rapid development of automation
science and engineering, the Transactions will have an Advisory Board to
provide advice, support, long-term vision, and a bridge to sister societies,
their members, and their publications.
The Advisory Board will consist of a Chair, a Vice Chair, and multiple
(on the order of fifteen) Advisors, with RAS Vice President for Publications
and T-ASE EiC as ex officio. Advisory
Board members will be distinguished and internationally recognized leaders in
the field, who possess wisdom, vision, and connections; and are committed to
make T-ASE the Flagship journal in automation.
Similar to members of the Editorial Board, it is expected that many
advisors will be invited from outside the RAS or IEEE, and they will be
strongly encouraged to become members of IEEE/RAS.
Senior Editors Panel.
The Senior Editors Panel
consists of the current and past EiC, Editors, the RAS Vice President
for Publications, and Chair of the Advisory Board. The responsibilities include evaluating AE
candidates, AE one-year checkpoint reviews, and Special Issue proposals.
Editor-in-Chief. The EiC represents the
T-ASE in the scientific and industrial communities; interfaces with the
Advisory Board, the Robotics & Automation Society, IEEE Publications and
other units, and other professional organizations; develops the Editorial
Board, manages related administrative issues, chairs Editorial Board meetings,
and sets long-term visions and strategies; solicits contributions, receives paper submissions, assigns
them to Editors, coordinates the review process, submits final packages to IEEE
Publications, and oversees the publication process; resolves
conflicts, ensures the smooth functioning of the T-ASE, and is responsible for the overall
success of the T-ASE. The EiC
is supported by an Editorial Assistant who supports the administrative and
daily operations of the T-ASE. The EiC is appointed to a
five-year term and the position is without reappointment. An EiC-Elect shall be selected at least one
year before the end of the term of the EiC, and shall assist the EiC in
carrying out administrative functions, learn the operations of the
Transactions, and succeed the EiC at the end of his/her term. The EiC-Elect is recommended by the current
and past EiCs, the RAS Vice President for Publications, and Chair of T-ASE
Advisory Board, and appointed by the RAS President. While not a written requirement, the EiC is
usually selected from those who have served as Editor.
Editor. Editors are the interface between
authors and the review process. The handling Editor of a submitted
paper is thus always known from the beginning to the authors. Editors are required to work closely with AEs
to manage papers in their general areas of expertise in a quality and timely
fashion (with target turn-around-time of 3 months). Their tasks include assigning papers to AEs,
deciding the dispositions of papers based on AEs’ recommendations and their own
evaluations, directly communicating with authors about the decisions and
responding to questions that the authors might have, and serve as Editors for
Special Issues. They
guarantee fairness, quality, and timeliness of the overall review process,
balance the relevance of contributions according to general areas of interests,
and resolve conflicts that may occur in the review process. Initially, the workload will probably be relatively light,
as the Transactions is just getting started, but may increase to around 80 to
100 papers per year. As a member of the
Senior Editors Panel, Editors will have the rights and obligations to evaluate
AE candidates, AE one-year checkpoint reviews, and Special Issue proposals. Editors are selected by the Senior Editors
Panel, usually from present or past AEs to ensure the highest standard of
quality and the familiarity with procedures.
After the selection, the appointment should be ratified by the Society
President. The initial term is for one
year, and if things work out well at the one-year checkpoint review conducted
by the current and past EiCs, RAS Vice President for Publications, and Chair of
T-ASE Advisory Board, the term will be extended for four more years without
reappointment. Editors
receive some financial support for secretarial assistance.
Associate Editors. Associate Editors are the
core of the service of the T-ASE, and are responsible for complete
(originality, relevance, technical correctness, paper organization and
presentation, references) and fair reviews of papers in a quality and timely
fashion. Upon the assignment of a paper,
an AE should judiciously secure four reviewers thus increasing the likelihood of obtaining three
substantial reviews. After reviews are
obtained, the AE should analyze their ratings and comments, and combine them
with AEs’ own comments to prepare a recommendation to the handling Editors, targeting a turn-around-time of
two months. More will be said below
about securing reviewers and the preparation of recommendations. AEs are kept anonymous until the publication
of papers where a footnote is provided identifying the handling AE. Initially the workload will probably be
relatively light, but may increase to around 12 to 15 papers per year. In a more proactive way, AEs should beat
bushes to invite top quality papers and submit their own papers, promote
Automation, network with experts in the general R&A areas, and grow
professionally within RAS. Associate
Editors are selected by the Senior Editors Panel and ratified by the RAS
President, and their selection is based on scientific quality,
international reputation, commitment to service, reliability, and the needs of
the Editorial Board. It is also important that AE
candidates have shown their active involvement in the scientific life of the
RAS. The initial term of an AE is one
year, and if things work out well at the one-year checkpoint review conducted
by the Senior Editors Panel, the term will be extended for two more years. While another one-year extension may be
granted in cases of special needs, it is normally required that a person takes
a break for at least a year before serving a second term as an AE. This is to provide an opportunity for other
members of the scientific community to participate in the editorial process and
to avoid having the Transactions become a province of a small group of
people. Co-sponsoring sister Societies
can recommend AE candidates, who are subject to the same appointment and review
processes.
The Appointments of Advisory Board.
The Chair and
Vice Chair of the Advisory Board shall be appointed to a five-year term by the
RAS Vice President for Publications with the concurrence of the RAS President,
and without reappointment. A Chair-Elect
shall be selected in the same way from among Advisory Board members at least
one year before the end of the term of the Chair. The Chair-Elect will assist the Chair and
Vice Chair in carrying out various Advisory Board functions, learn the
operations of the Advisory Board, and succeed the Chair at the end of his/her
term. Advisors shall be appointed to a
three-year term by the Chair, with the concurrence of RAS Vice President for
Publications and the RAS President.
Further appointment must be separated by at least one year. Advisors can be recommended by co-sponsoring
sister societies, and the candidates are subject to the same appointment
process described above. The Chair, with
the assistance of the Vice Chair and the Advisory Board, shall establish
operating policies and procedures for the Advisory Board.
Editorial/Advisory Board and Senior Editors Panel Meetings.
The Editorial Board and the Senior Editors Panel shall meet twice per
year, once in conjunction with IEEE International Conference on Robotics and
Automation (ICRA, the RAS’ annual conference).
The second meeting could be in conjunction with IROS (IEEE/RSJ
International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems), Program Committee
meeting of ICRA, or other appropriate occasions as deemed appropriate. Members of the Editorial Board should attend
at least one meeting per year. Urgent
matters shall be communicated, coordinated, and decided by email. The Advisory Board shall meet once per year
in conjunction with the Editorial Board meeting attached to ICRA.
3. PAPER
AND DECISION CATEGORIES
Paper Categories. T-ASE publishes Regular Papers, Short Papers,
Communication Items, and Book Reviews.
Regular Papers describe new abstractions, algorithms, theory,
methodologies, models, systems, or enabling technologies for Automation. Short Papers usually describe a single
result, experiment, or technique of general interest for which a short
treatment is appropriate. Communications
Items are a separate class of short manuscripts that are subject to an
expedited review process and substantially faster publication than Regular or
Short Papers. Appropriate items include
(but are not limited to) rebuttals and/or counter examples of previously
published papers, or preliminary results of significant current research of
wide interest. Book Reviews contain a
description and evaluation of published books of interest to the Automation
audience, and the evaluation and publication of Book Reviews are relatively
fast. Review papers are published
periodically, and manuscripts of a tutorial nature are also welcome. Papers describing specific applications are
encouraged, provided that the methods represent the best current practice,
detailed characteristics and performance are included, and the topics are of
general interest. 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.
To enhance accessibility of
its papers, T-ASE initiated a new feature requiring that each submission
include a 100-300 word “Note to Practitioners” (NtP). In view that T-ASE addresses a research
community willing to integrate knowledge across disciplines and industries,
authors are asked to step back and describe without jargon how their results
might be applied to practical problems. Writing a good NtP is a challenge. Since the NtP will appear just below the
Abstract, it is important not to repeat information that is contained in the
Abstract. It should be aimed at
colleagues from industry who want to understand how the ideas can be put into
practice, avoiding jargon and mathematical notation. Begin by specifying the practical problem(s)
that motivated the paper and possible application areas. Clearly describe the potential and
limitations of the work, and how it might be extended to be more practical.
Decision Categories.
Decision categories include: Accept, Conditionally Accept, Revise and
Resubmit, and Reject. In addition, the
authors of a Regular Paper may be asked to shorten their manuscript to become a
Short Paper, reducing its length and changing its presentation style. Accept and Reject are straightforward. For a
paper that was Conditionally Accepted, the revised manuscript has to be
submitted within 60 days from the date of decision. It retains the same paper ID number,
the review clock continues without re-start, and the additional review cycle
should be short. Revise and Resubmit is
an encouraging way to say that a paper was a reject, but it may contain publishable
results after a serious revision. The authors are encouraged to revise the
manuscript based on reviewers’ comments and specific instructions provided by
the AE and the Editor. A revised
manuscript will be assigned a new paper ID number, is treated as a brand new
submission, and has to go through a full review process. The reference to the old paper ID number is
provided to facilitate the new review process.
4. PAPER SUBMISSION, COPYRIGHT, AND ETHICAL
ISSUES
1) A valuable IEEE link is “IEEE
Publishing Tools & Policy Information for Authors, Editors & Conference
Organizers” http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/pubtoolsandpolicyinfo/index.html
2) Paper submission and review are now through Manuscript
Central V3 at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/t-ase.
Instructions for authors are provided on-line at the site.
3) 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). After the abstract, please provide Note to
Practitioners before the Index Terms (keywords). Regular papers are limited to ten
Transactions pages and Short papers five Transactions pages, with mandatory
page charges imposed on extra pages (see Page Charges below). Excessively long papers may be rejected
without review.
4) Uploaded information: A cover letter, an abstract
(up to 200 words for Regular Papers and 50 words for Communications and Short
Papers), a Note to Practitioners right after the abstract, index terms, and the
type of paper (Regular, Short, or Communication Item).
5)
All figures must be numbered and cited in text.
Use consistent font and size in all figures and tables, and choose sizes
that will allow the text to be scaled to 8 points at final printed size. Otherwise, an entire figure may be enlarged
so that the smallest size is scaled to 8 points for readability.
6) References must be in a separate reference section
at the end of the paper in IEEE style, with items referred to by numerals in
square brackets. For journal articles:
Author initials followed by last names, title in quotation marks, periodical,
volume, inclusive page numbers, year; for books: Author initials followed by
last names, title, location, publisher, year; and for conference papers: Author
initials followed by last names, title in quotation marks, conference,
location, month and year, and inclusive page numbers.
7)
For a paper that was previously reviewed by T-ASE, the old paper number
should be presented, and a separate response file should be submitted
describing how reviewers' comments were addressed.
8) If it
is felt that a paper is beyond the scope or capability of T-ASE, the
corresponding author will be notified within one week of submission by the
EiC. Please direct all questions to the EiC.
9) If you have
difficulties, please contact Editorial Assistant Tatiana Janowycz (ieeetase@engr.uconn.edu) or the
Editor-in-Chief Peter Luh (Peter.Luh@uconn.edu).
1)
After a paper is accepted, the following will be required: All line drawings
(graphs, charts, diagrams, etc.) should be prepared on a white background in
black ink. Lettering should be large
enough to be readily legible when the drawing is reduced to two- or one-column
width – as much as 4:1 reduction from the original. Include a separate list of figure captions
with the manuscript. Original
illustrations and photographs must be sent upon acceptance of the paper.
2)
Authors of regular papers are requested to send current biographies (no more
than 100 words) and recent photographs at the time of paper acceptance. Electronic
photos in .tif and .eps formats are acceptable and preferred to
photographs. If photographs are used,
they should be glossy prints of high contrast, without spurious marks.
3)
Galley proofs of accepted articles will be sent to the corresponding
author. For further information, see
"Information for IEEE Transactions and Journal Authors," downloadable
from
http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/authors.html.
As
a part of IEEE's ongoing efforts to create tools to make the publication
process easier for authors and to reduce costs, IEEE has developed the ability
to accept color figures in journals for web-only publication. That is, an author may now submit a color
figure with instructions to use the color for display in IEEE Xplore while
publishing a black & white figure in the print issue. When a color figure is processed for web-only
publication, there is no expense associated with the figure; therefore, the
author will not be charged for color.
However, color costs will still apply to figures processed for color
print publication.
Color
images should be formatted and saved using a suitable graphics processing
program that will allow the author to create the images as Postscript (PS),
Encapsulated Postscript (EPS), or Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), size them, and
adjust the resolution settings. If the
source files were created in one of the following, you will be able to submit
the graphics without converting to a PS, EPS, or TIFF file: Microsoft Word,
Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, or Portable Document Format (PDF).
Of
course, placing poor quality images into any of these formats will result in
poor quality graphics. All color
graphics will need to be saved at a resolution of 400 DPI and the size the
image will be printed at. The IEEE
Publication Office needs hard copy images of the color figs as well as the
electronic files.
T-ASE is now accepting multimedia materials
accompanying the submission of a paper. Multimedia can be "playable" files (.mpeg,
.avi, .wav, .mov, .midi, etc.) or "dataset" files (e.g., raw data
with programs such as Excel to manipulate them). Such material is intended to enhance the
contents of a paper, both in clarity and in added value. Please follow IEEE general guidelines for the
preparation and submission of multimedia, including the format, description of
content, user requirements, the way this material should be referenced to in
the body of the paper, etc. See
"MMdocumentation.pdf" within "Tools for Authors" at http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/transactions/information.htm. In addition, T-ASE requires that such a paper should be
self-contained, i.e., fully readable and understandable independently from the
multimedia material; and only freely available media players (e.g., QuickTime,
RealPlayer, Microsoft Windows Media Player) should be required by users. Multimedia materials should be submitted with a
“ReadMe” file describing the minimum requirements for a user, and should contain
a brief description of the multimedia content.
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 IEEEXplore (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=8856),
back to back with the pdf file of the paper.
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
Authors
of accepted papers can complete the electronic copyright form (EDF) directly on
Manuscript Central by going into their Manuscripts with Decisions, then
clicking on ECF in the right column for the accepted paper. The ECF will go directly to IEEE.
Page Charges
A voluntary page charge form
($110/page) is sent to the authors of accepted papers 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.
A mandatory overlength page charge is imposed on all regular papers
whose length exceeds ten TRANSACTIONS pages, including illustrations.
This charge is $175 per page of 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.
Ethical
Issues
Manuscripts should be original, previously
unpublished work not currently submitted to any other publication. 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.
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 briefly indicate how the new submission offers substantively
novel contributions beyond those of the previously published work(s).
Multiple submissions to
different journals are unacceptable.
This applies to the entire period in which a paper is under T-ASE
review. It is the responsibility of the
authors to clearly spell out the differences of their submitted papers with
similar content, and any common part should be clearly indicated. If in doubt, please contact the EiC.
5. OPERATION PROCEDURES
Paper Handling. IEEE journals have a highly structured and efficient review
process, and the publication policies are available at http://www.ieee.org/about/whatis/policies/index.html
(Section 6, including IEEE copyright policies, grievance policies, and the
review process). For T-ASE, after a
paper of any category is received, it is given a Paper ID.
The handling Editor then assigns it to an appropriate Associate Editor,
who in turn recruits reviewers. The
Associate Editor is asked to read the paper, assimilate the reviews, and make
his/her recommendation to the handling Editor.
The Editor then analyzes the recommendation and the reviews, makes the
final decision, and communicates with the Corresponding Authors. Although most decisions are consistent with
the AEs’ recommendations, this is not always the case. The Editors also serve as trainers for the
AEs, and interact with new AEs on quality of the reviews and their
interpretation. Communication Items and Book Reviews are also given Paper
IDs, but are normally reviewed internally, although outside reviews
may be solicited if
that is deemed appropriate. The target
durations for the steps are:
·
Reviewers: Six weeks after the assignment
·
AEs: Ten weeks after the assignment
·
Editors: Fourteen weeks after the assignment
Although
the above durations can be changed according to the Transactions needs, it is
important for each person to know the target durations and try to meet the
deadlines.
EiC Assigning a Paper to an Editor.
The assignment of a paper to an Editor by the
EiC is based on the general areas of interest and workload of the Editors. The revised version of a conditionally
accepted paper is assigned to the original Editor, who in particular knows well
the amount of changes to the original paper that were needed and therefore can
also set locally a deadline for the AE in case his/her intervention is needed.
Editor
Assigning a Paper to an AE. In assigning a paper to an AE, the
handling Editor should consider AEs’ primary and secondary areas of expertise
and their workload. In view of the wide
spread manuscript topics and the limited number of AEs, a paper may not lie
within an AE’s primary areas of expertise, especially for papers on new topics or
interdisciplinary papers. A resubmitted
paper is usually assigned to the original AE in view that the authors have
revised the paper in compliance with his/her recommendation.
Securing Reviewers.
When a paper is assigned to an AE by an Editor, the AE has three
workdays to decline in view of heavy workload (e.g., “already handling too many
papers”) or the topic is out of the AE’s secondary areas of expertise. Otherwise, the AE should glance over the
paper to roughly understand what the paper is about, its potential
contributions, who are the leading experts in the topic area, etc. For a
very weak paper, the AE may write a review and send it to the Editor, who then
writes a rejection letter to the authors.
By not assigning the paper to reviewers, this would save
reviewers’ time for future papers. The
practice, however, should be used judiciously.
For other papers, the AE should
secure FOUR reviewers per paper and get their agreement to review the
paper by showing them the abstract, and
request that the reviews be sent back within a given period of time (six weeks
for Regular and Short Papers and four weeks for Communication Items). The names of secured reviewers should be sent
immediately to the handling
Editor and the Editorial Assistant. Selecting
appropriate reviewers is critical to have a quality and timely review
process. Candidate reviewers may include
leading researchers in the topic area, colleagues who are familiar with the
topic, authors of papers on the reference list, and authors of relevant papers
that have been previously accepted. A
good mix of senior and junior reviewers is desirable as they provide reviews
from different perspectives and at different levels of detail, and a mix of
reviewers from different geographical regions is also desirable. A key idea to secure reviewers is to align
the interest of reviewers with ours: the paper is on a topic that they would
really like to see or to say something about.
Having reviewers who are interested in going over the manuscript would
alleviate the need of repeated sending of reminding messages, and avoid the
need for AEs to write detailed comments themselves to supplement shallow and
not-to-the-point reviews. Generally, it
is not recommended to ask other AEs to be reviewers unless they are directly
involved in the subject matter, and it is not recommended either for the
handling AE to serve as a reviewer. On
the contrary, AEs should constantly look for new reviewers whom they may not
know personally. The Web is a powerful
tool for doing this, e.g., using IEEEXplore (http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/DynWel.jsp)
to identify relevant researchers, and then using search engines such as Yahoo
or Google to locate their institutions and email addresses.
Content of a Good Review.
The
following are suggested questions requiring reviewers to comment:
·
Does the introduction state the purpose of
the paper?
·
Is the literature review complete?
·
Is the paper technically sound? If not, why not?
·
Does the author explain the intellectual
merit of the method?
·
Does the author explain the significance
of the results?
·
What is the overall contribution of the
paper?
·
Are the references relevant and
complete? Supply missing
references.
·
Is the paper clearly written and well
organized?
·
If the paper is too long, how can it be
shortened?
Also ask reviewers to provide any
information to authors that will be useful in revision, in enhancing the appeal
of the paper, or in convincing them of the mistakes. Reviews should be specific. If the results are already known, references
to earlier papers that contain these or similar results should be
provided. If the reasoning is incorrect
or vague, where and why should specifically indicated. If the paper should be rewritten, specific
suggestions should be given regarding which parts to delete, amplify, or
modify. To avoid confusion, the
reviewer's specific acceptance or rejection recommendation should not be
included in the comments to the author.
Sometimes papers are passed on to senior graduate students for
review. Some excellent reviews may
result from this. It is important,
though, that the quality and professionalism of the review be maintained, and
the originally assigned reviewer should check the review personally before
submitting.
Double
Submissions. Upon receiving a manuscript submission, T-ASE
confirms with the corresponding author that the paper is original, previously
unpublished, and not being considered for publication by any other
journal. If this is not the case, the
corresponding author should withdraw the paper immediately. T-ASE will not consider papers that are under
review or have been accepted by another journal. If a reviewer reported that he/she recently
reviewed the same or a similar paper by the same set of authors for a different
journal, the AE should report the case to the handling Editor with information
as detailed and specific as possible.
The Editor should then verify with the corresponding author and possibly
with the EiC of the other journal. If
the paper is indeed under review by the other journal, then the paper shall be
rejected, and the authors should be warned that this is an unacceptable
practice. Otherwise, the review process
should proceed as normal.
AE Recommendation Letters.
When reviews are due, reviewers may need to be reminded. Depending on the tightness of time, the AE
may want to wait for more reviews or act immediately. In
any case, the AE should be able to act after receiving two solid and consistent
reviews. Combining reviewers’
comments and AE’s own reading of the paper, the recommendation should be
impartial, to-the-point, and constructive.
In the recommendation, the AE is asked to provide a general summary of
the paper, the recommended disposition (accept, conditionally accept, and
revise and resubmit, either as a Regular Paper, a Short Paper, or a
Communication Item; or reject), the analysis of reviews, justification of the
recommendation, and the specifics that the authors should follow in a
revision. AEs need to be very specific
about reviewers’ comments, and clearly indicate which comments MUST be fully
addressed, and which only need to be discussed.
If the paper should be cut short, the indication of which parts to cut,
and on how the paper should be re-organized for better reading should be given. The AE may also want to comment on the
relevance of the problem, the adequacy of simulations, numerical testing, or
experiments, the clarity in conveying the contributions, etc. It is important to justify our recommendation
since the authors may come back to argue against specific points. In preparing the recommendation, AEs should
be aware that the material will be processed by the Editor before going to the
authors. In doing so, anonymity of the
reviewers and of the AE will be preserved.
After the decision is made by the Editor, the AE should forward the
Editor’s decision (including already the comments by the anonymous reviewers)
and the AE’s recommendation back to all reviewers, and thank them for their
effort in evaluating the paper.
Editor Decision Letters. Based on the
reviews, AE’s recommendation, and Editor’s own reading of a paper, the Editor
decides the disposition of the paper and communicates with the Corresponding
Author. The Editor needs to justify the
decision, gives specific revision instructions, and provides resubmission
information as appropriate – the authors should not just submit a revised
manuscript, but should also state how the comments were addressed in a separate
responses file, and the deadline for resubmission for a conditionally accepted
paper (60 days from the date of the decision).
The identity of the reviewers should be kept strictly confidential, and
the AE should also remain anonymous until the publication of the paper where a
footnote is provided identifying the AE.
Generally the acceptance rate is expected to be around 30%.
Handling Book Reviews.
Book Reviews are generally reviewed by an AE and the handling Editor
without going out for peer review.
Handling Resubmitted Papers.
Conditionally accepted papers have to be resubmitted within
60 days from the date of decision.
Depending on the decision made during the previous review cycle, it may
be reviewed by the Editor only, by the Editor and the AE only, or also using
one or two reviewers of the previous cycle, typically those who have special requests. The review cycle is generally fast (a few
weeks). The resubmission of a revise and
resubmit paper is not bounded by the 60 day limit. The same original Editor and Associate Editor are usually
selected and the paper has to go through a full review cycle possibly
with a mix of new and
old reviewers. For both conditionally
accepted and revise and resubmit papers, authors should provide a separate
document detailing the list of changes and how the previous comments were
addressed.
Monthly Load Report.
A Monthly Load Report is issued at the end of each month by the EiC and
the Editorial Assistant on the status of papers currently under review. The report (in the format of an Excel sheet)
is sent to all current members of the Editorial Board, to Guest Editors of
Special Issues in process, and to past-term Editorial Board members with
assigned papers still in review. The
Excel sheet includes Paper ID, Date of manuscript submission, the name of the
assigned Associate Editor, the name of the handling Senior Editor, the status
of the paper within the Review Cycle
Included also within the Load Report are the resubmitted papers that
were conditionally accepted in the previous review round. Upon receiving the Monthly Load Report, all
Editors, Associate Editors, and Guest Editors should check if there is anything
that is not consistent with his/her own record.
Associate Editors should work with reviewers on papers that were
assigned to an Editor more than 90 days before, and try to wrap them up within
the following two weeks. Editors should
prepare their decision letters as soon as possible for papers on which the AE
recommendation is already available.
Note that only papers either still in the review process or that have
not yet had a final decision by an Editor are listed in the Load Report. If a paper is authored by a member of the
Editorial Board, our “privacy policy” dictates that the paper be listed under
the Editor's name rather than under the AE’s name.
Special Issues.
T-ASE encourages the publication of Special Issues. A proposal for a Special
Issue should be submitted to the EiC, with a well-articulated unifying theme that reflects the best
work in a particular area of significant importance. Topics can either be areas that are just
reaching significant maturity or important emerging areas in which research is
likely to be significantly developed by the publication of a collection of
excellent papers. The proposals are reviewed
and approved by the Senior Editors Panel.
Detailed policies on Special Issues can be obtained from the EiC, and the editorial procedures are generally the same as those for
regular issues except that Guest Editors play the role of AEs, and an Editor
will be assigned to carry out the standard Editor’s functionalities. A proposal for a Special Issue
may end up only with a Special Section if the number of accepted papers is not
sufficient to warrant an issue.
6. BEST PAPER AWARDS
At
the beginning of each year, T-ASE selects a paper that appeared in the
Transactions during the previous calendar year for its Best Paper Award. Candidate papers are nominated by members of
the Editorial Board, and the nomination process is simple: Just let the
Editorial Assistant know the paper title, authors, issue number, and page
numbers. The Editorial Assistant will
then compile the reviewers' comments, AE's recommendation, and Editors'
decisions from file. Evaluation is done
by members of the Senior Editors Panel, with criteria including technical
merit, originality, potential impact on the field, clarity of presentation, and
practical significance for applications.
The award includes a certificate for each of the co-authors, and a check
of $1000 to be divided among the co-authors.
The award is presented at the Award Ceremony at the IEEE International
Conference on Robotics and Automation.
Additionally,
we also have the Googol
Technology Best Automation Application Paper Award for at least five years
under the generous contribution of Googol Technology (HK) Ltd. The selection criteria are similar to the
above, with a special emphasis on the novelty and significance of new
applications. The winning co-authors will also receive certificates and
share $1,000.
7. THINGS TO WATCH
Conflict of Interest.
Conflict of interest should be avoided by not asking a person to review
a paper who was a student/advisor of one of the authors; who has collaborated
with one of the authors within the past four years on a project or co-authored
a paper; or who has had a public disagreement with one of the authors within
the past four years. Such an issue
should be clarified when securing reviewers.
Similarly, when an AE (or an Editor) is assigned a paper with which
he/she has a conflict of interest as described above, he/she should let the
Editor (respectively, the EiC) know the situation and request that the paper be
re-assigned.
Intellectual Property Rights.
IEEE
Policy requires that members
of the Editorial Board and reviewers treat the contents of papers under review as privileged
information not to be disclosed to others before publication. It is expected that no one with access to a
paper under review will make any inappropriate use of the special knowledge
gained by the access to the paper. If a member of the Editorial Board
is very much interested in the work, the correct procedure is to directly
communicate with the author (as a researcher not as a member of the Editorial
Board) and check if he/she has recent results on a particular topic, and if
he/she is willing to share the results.
Communication Protocol. Efficient
communication among members of the Editorial Board is important. Upon receiving a request, please respond as
soon as possible, even during a trip. If
additional time is needed to provide an answer, the right protocol is to
respond immediately with a message informing the inquirer when to expect the
answer. Don’t leave the loop open for
too long.
Reporting Difficulties Early.
If difficulties arise in finding appropriate reviewers, in getting a
review from a particular reviewer who already agreed to review a paper, having
too many papers to handle, or having a family emergency or major professional
commitment (e.g., eight months before a major conference for which a major
responsibility is involved), Editorial Board members should report the
difficulties to Editors and the EiC at an appropriate stage. It is much better to anticipate and report
difficulties and obtain help than to simply stop communication while letting
papers pile up for major disasters to occur.
Similarly, if plagiarism is identified, report the case to the handling
Editor and the EiC with specific supporting documentation.
8. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Beat the
Bushes. As T-ASE is a new journal, we need to beat the
bushes to invite top quality papers. Course
of action may include sending current Calls for Papers to our colleagues via
email, bringing printed copies of the CFPs to conferences, and making personal
requests to colleagues for submissions (without guarantee of acceptance). Posting our full-color flyer at conferences
and exhibits. Authors
of good or award-winning papers from relevant conferences, symposia, or
workshops should be encouraged to upgrade their papers and submit them to
T-ASE. Please also submit own good
papers.
The Roles of Editorial Board.
With the advance of the Internet, everyone can post his/her papers on
the web. The value of a journal is no
longer for dissemination of information only.
Rather, the more important aspect is the Seal of Approval for
quality. Consequently, enhancing the
quality of a journal is more important than ever. Members of the Editorial Board play a key
role in this process. It is, therefore,
important for us to have a service mentality for quality and timeliness. Our responsibilities are not just for the acceptance or
rejection of papers, but for improving paper quality by having a constructive
and cultivating review process for better papers as the end product. It is our goal to establish T-ASE
as the flagship and most cited journal devoted to Automation by publishing
original, significant, and visionary papers describing theory and new
applications. The enthusiasm and
dedication of members of the Editorial Board and the Advisory Board will be key
factors in achieving this goal.
Our home page is at http://www.ieee.org/t-ase. All technical correspondence relating to
publications should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Peter B. Luh, SNET
Professor of Communications & Information Technologies,