Publishing Policies
Publication Policies

Publication Policies

The following are publication policy guidelines that promote integrity in scholarly research and publications.

Title-Specific Publishing Policies

Some publishing policy information varies by article type and title. For information about title-specific information like publication fees and errors in published articles, take the following steps:

  1. Use the "Search by keywords" box on the Browse Journals & Magazines page in IEEE Xplore
  2. On the Journal or Magazine title page, select the About Journal tab
  3. Navigate to the Publication Details section to find applicable Publishing Policies

Peer Review

Peer review is vital to the quality of published research. While each journal title may be subject to a specific peer review process, there are general IEEE peer review guidelines. Each article submitted to IEEE is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers selected by a member of the publication’s editorial board. Learn more about the IEEE peer review process.

Publishing Ethics

Authorship and Contributorship

IEEE considers individuals who meet all of the following criteria to be authors:

  1. Made a significant intellectual contribution to the theoretical development, system or experimental design, prototype development, and/or the analysis and interpretation of data associated with the work contained in the article.
  2. Contributed to drafting the article or reviewing and/or revising it for intellectual content.
  3. Approved the final version of the article as accepted for publication, including references. Learn more in the IEEE Author Center.

Learn more about Authorship and Contributorship at the IEEE Author Center

Plagiarism and Redundant Publication

When submitting your article for publication to IEEE, it should:

  1. Contain original research that has not been published before.
  2. Not be submitted to any other publication while you await a peer review decision.

For specific details please see the IEEE Author Center and the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PSPB Manual), section 8.1.7.E.

Complaints and Appeals

Allegations of misconduct are handled as described in the PSPB Manual, section 8.2.4. During the handling of the complaint, the identity of the persons involved and the scope of the inquiry are kept confidential to the extent practicable.

View the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PSPB Manual)

Human and Animal Research Disclosure

Authors of articles reporting on research involving human subjects or animals must advise the Editor upon article submission whether or not an approval was obtained from a relevant Review Board (or equivalent local/regional review). If such an approval was obtained, the original source and reference must be provided to the Editor at submission and appear in the article itself. For more information, consult the PSPB Manual, section 8.1.1.E.

View the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PSPB Manual)

Conflicts of Interest

Authors who submit to this publication are required to disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest in their submission. Conflict resolution procedures are outlined in the PSPB Manual, section 8.2.4.

View the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PSPB Manual)

Data Sharing and Reproducibility

The IEEE promotes the sharing of data and code to help with scientific reproducibility. To make it convenient to share data and code of an article, IEEE offers author tools such as IEEE DataPort and Code Ocean. Learn more in the IEEE Author Center.

Learn more about Data Sharing and Reproducibility at the IEEE Author Center

Ethical Oversight

See the IEEE Principles of Ethical Publishing section in the Introduction of the PSPB Manual to find the journal policies on ethical oversight.

View the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PSPB Manual)

Intellectual Property

For general information, frequently asked questions, or the address of the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Office, please consult the IEEE Intellectual Property Rights website as well as the PSPB Manual, section 8.1.4.

A completed IEEE Copyright Form is required in order to publish an article in this publication. Signing the IEEE Copyright Form transfers ownership of the article to IEEE. Visit the IEEE Author Center for more details on the IEEE Copyright Form.

Learn more about the IEEE Copyright Form

Licensing

Articles in this publication are published under the IEEE Copyright Form. Visit the IEEE Author Center for details on posting and reuse policies.

Learn more about IEEE Publication Policies

Posting on Third-Party Repositories

IEEE supports article sharing and provides detailed policies for posting at the various stages of the article life cycle, as described in the IEEE Author Center.

Learn more about IEEE Publication Policies

This publication is fully open access. The two licensing agreements available are the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) and the Creative Commons Attribution, NonCommercial, No Derivatives License (CCBY-NC-ND). Both licenses permit the author to retain copyright to the article and permit readers to distribute, reuse, modify, and build upon the work as long as proper attribution to the original article is provided. Under the CCBY-NC-ND license, the work may not be changed in any way, nor may it be reused for commercial purposes. Visit the IEEE Author Center for more details on the available Creative Commons licenses.

Learn more about Open Access Rights Management

Licensing

Articles in this publication are published under either the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) or the Creative Commons Attribution, NonCommercial, No Derivatives License (CCBY-NC-ND). Both licenses permit readers to distribute, reuse, modify, and build upon the work as long as the proper attribution to the original article is provided; however, under the CCBY-NC-ND license, the work may not be changed in any way, nor may it be reused for commercial purposes.

Posting on Third-Party Repositories

IEEE supports article sharing and provides detailed policies for posting at the various stages of the article life cycle, as described in the IEEE Author Center.

Learn more about Posting on Third-Party Repositories at the IEEE Author Center

This is a "hybrid" publication, meaning that it is a subscription-based publication but authors may choose to make an individual article open access. Authors may choose from three available publishing agreements:

  1. IEEE Copyright Form: this transfers ownership of the article to IEEE.
  2. Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY): this open access publishing agreement permits the author to retain copyright of the article and permits readers to distribute, reuse, modify, and build upon the work as long as proper attribution to the original article is provided. Publishing open access requires the payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC).
  3. Creative Commons Attribution, NonCommercial, No Derivatives License (CCBY-NC-ND): this open access publishing agreement permits the author to retain copyright of the article and permits readers to distribute, reuse, modify, and built upon the work as long as proper attribution to the original article is provided; however, the work may not be changed in any way, nor may it be reused for commercial purposes. Publishing open access requires the payment of an APC.

Visit the IEEE Author Center for more information about selecting a publishing agreement.

Licensing

Articles in this publication may be published under the IEEE Copyright Form, the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), or the Creative Commons Attribution, NonCommercial, No Derivatives License (CCBY-NC-ND). Visit the IEEE Author Center for details on posting and reuse policies for all three publishing agreements.

Learn more about Licensing at the IEEE Author Center

Posting on Third-Party Repositories

IEEE supports article sharing and provides detailed policies for posting at the various stages of the article life cycle, as described in the IEEE Author Center.

Learn more about Posting on Third-Party Repositories at the IEEE Author Center

Post-Publication Information

Content Preservation

For electronic backup and preservation of access to journal content if the journal ceases publication, IEEE partners with Portico, a not-for-profit "dark archive" that preserves digital publications, including IEEE articles. Visit Portico to learn more.

Learn more about Portico Content Preservation

Advertising

Third-party advertising is permitted in IEEE publications, subject to approval by the IEEE Media department and the IEEE organizational unit which supports the publication. The publication's Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board retain editorial control of the publication and their decisions regarding the merit of submitted articles are unaffected by advertising considerations. Visit the IEEE Author Center or the PSPB Manual, section 8.1.8.B. for more information on IEEE's advertising policies.