This guide is for use by the Associate Editors, members of the Editorial Board of the IEEE Sensors Journal, in managing the peer review of manuscripts submitted to the Journal.

Introduction

The role of the Associate Editor in a scholarly publication - management of the peer review of manuscripts by members of the peer community - is very important. IEEE requires peer review of all papers and correspondence that appear in IEEE journals such as ours. Manuscripts are selected for publication on the basis of merit and appropriateness, based primarily on the Associate Editor’s decision.

Quality and timeliness of published material are our paramount goal. This is achieved through the excellent contributions of our reviewers. By assuring selection of appropriate, well-qualified and responsible reviewers who can identify quality manuscripts, and by efficiently managing the peer-review process, the Associate Editor assures the quality and value of a publication. To help speed up the review process and to let the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors concentrate on the professional side of their duties, much of the related work in managing the manuscript flow is handled by our Publications Office (Linda Matarazzo, IEEE LEOS Publications Manager, Phone 732 562 3910, Fax 732 981 1138, E-mail l.matarazzo@ieee.org).

The Publications Office makes use of various manuscript tracking systems and other tools, primarily Manuscript Central - a tool for on-line electronic submission of manuscripts, their review, and monitoring (see http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/sensors).

Left to the Associate Editor is communications with reviewers, with authors, and with the Publications Office. In keeping up with the guidelines established by the IEEE Technical Activities Board (the body that facilitates activities of all IEEE Technical Societies), special procedures have been devised to reduce the submission-to-publication time window. The current procedures that you will use as Associate Editor have been approved by the Council's Publications Board. You may find it somewhat different from those of other publications – we hence request that you read this entire Guide through at least once, to get a sense of the process and to understand the interactions you will encounter when fulfilling your Associate Editor duties.

1.0. Background

1.1. Publication Mission

Publications play a major role in implementing the purpose of the IEEE as defined in its constitution and in its vision and mission. Throughout the world IEEE publications serve to advance the theory and practice of electrical and electronic engineering and allied arts and sciences; to enhance the professional standing of the Institute's members; and to promote the constructive use of technology for the public welfare. (IEEE Policy and Procedures, 6.1, 1999)

As part of IEEE, the IEEE Sensors Council is responsible for carrying out this mission. This is done in part through the Council's IEEE Sensors Journal, whose goal is to publish original high quality manuscripts pertaining to the Council's Field of Interest.

1.2. IEEE Sensors Journal Field of Interest

The Journal's Field of Interest is the study and application of sensing phenomena, including theory, design, and application of devices for sensing of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena. The emphasis is on the advance of electronics, physics, biology, and intelligence aspects of sensors and integrated sensors-actuators. The Journal is exclusively scientific, literary and educational in its character. More details on the Journal’s Field of Interest appear in the document entitled Editors Information Classification Scheme (EDICS).

1.3. Publications of the IEEE Sensors Council

The IEEE Sensors Council fully sponsors publication of the IEEE Sensors Journal (publication began in June 2000). Details of the manuscript submission process and requirements appear in Information for Authors.

2.0. Amendments to This Guide

Amendments to this Guide will be made by action of the IEEE Sensors Council Publications Board, the Council's AdCom, the IEEE Publications Board, and/or IEEE Board of Directors. The most recent version of the Guide will be posted at the Journal website, Amendments to the procedure may be recommended to the Council's Publications Board or to the Journal's Editor-in-Chief.

3.0. Membership Status, Term of Service, Duties, Responsibilities, and Workload.

3.1. Membership Status.

The Journal's Associate Editors are required to be Members of the IEEE. There is no such requirement for reviewers or authors, however.

3.2. Term.

The term of appointment of an Associate Editor is three years, and with a possible re-appointment for no more than two consecutive terms. New appointments can be made after a cooling period of two years. The appointment is made by the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, and subject to approval of the Council’s Vice-President for Publications. While the formal term of appointment may end according to the calendar, the Associate Editor continues on an informal basis until all manuscripts assigned to him/her have been peer reviewed and final dispositions made.

3.3. Duties.

As a member of the Journal's Editorial Board, the Associate Editor contributes to the advancement of the Journal and is responsible for ensuring that the publication maintains the highest quality while adhering to the publication rules and procedures of both the Council and the IEEE.

3.4. Responsibilities.

3.4.1. Identifying and Securing Reviewers.

One of the most important functions of the Associate Editor is identification of appropriate reviewers for each manuscript and securing from each an agreement to conduct the review in the allotted time. This is central to the peer-review process; it triggers activities in the Publications Office that set the peer review of a manuscript in motion. It is extremely important that (a) the reviewers understand that the time frame set forth for review is three weeks from their receipt of the manuscript, (b) they agree to this schedule or suggest a modification acceptable to the Associate Editor, and (c) they keep their Manuscript Central user record current with full, accurate contact information (mail address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail address).

Reviewers are identified via such means as peer contact, professional lists maintained by societies and other organizations, references listed at the end of the manuscript, Associate Editor's own contacts, etc. Our Manuscript Central website has an extensive database of potential reviewers that can be searched by EDICS specialization codes. Our authors are also asked to suggest up to four reviewers when they submit their manuscripts. Some of these may prove useful; however, use caution to avoid conflicts of interest as authors sometimes list colleagues who may be too close to the reported work to be objective and unbiased.

Reviewers should be selected across a range of ability. A more experienced senior reviewer can be balanced by eager junior reviewers. Good reviewers are like diamonds -- they may be sturdy, but one must be careful not to overload them. It is extremely important that the schedule for conducting the review be met. One way to assure this, and for reviewers to not feel overwhelmed, is to request one, and certainly no more than two, reviews at a time from a single individual.

3.4.2. Numbers of Reviewers.

Manuscripts submitted to the IEEE Sensors Journal normally receive three peer reviews. It is our common practice to appoint four or five reviewers, in the hope that at least three reviews will be submitted on time. IEEE policy requires that no fewer than two peer reviews be conducted. The latter case may occur in a very narrow field, or due to workload, or other factors, when it is extremely difficult to secure a third reviewer in a timely manner. In that event, it is permissible to have two peer reviews plus the third review submitted by the Associate Editor. Three independent reviews should be the norm, however.

There may be cases when the Associate Editor feels that the topic of the paper in question is beyond the Field of Interest of this Journal. In such cases, by securing a prior approval of the Editor-in-Chief, the Associate Editor can make the “reject” decision without soliciting reviewers. Such rejections are a special case and thus the Associate Editor will need to edit online the standard letter of rejection that is automatically generated by Manuscript Central.

3.4.3. Communicating with Reviewers.

Sometimes reviewers need help. When problems arise concerning the review process, the first line of communication is the Associate Editor. The Associate Editor must be available for such communication, probably by e-mail or phone, and be responsive to such requests. Manuscript Central access problems or questions should be redirected to the Publications Office for troubleshooting and resolution (Eileen Murray, e.murray@ieee.org).

3.4.4. Communicating with Authors.

The Associate Editor will likely communicate with the author(s), more than once if needed, as the status of the manuscript changes during the peer review process. The Associate Editor will help the authors clarify the instructions from reviewers and/or recommended changes in the manuscript. We recommend that the AE reply to authors directly through the Manuscript Central system. This creates a communications record in the online database that helps the AE and the Publications Office track review progress, diagnose problems, and answer author inquiries. Once the Associate Editor determines the disposition of the manuscript based on the reviewer comments and AE’s own assessment of the manuscript, the decision is conveyed to the author using Manuscript Central.

3.4.5. Communicating with the Society's Publications Office.

As one can see in the Schedule of review activities (below), communication between the Associate Editor and the Publications Office is extremely important. Normally this is done via e-mail automatically through the Manuscript Central (MC) system. If you correspond with an author outside Manuscript Central, this correspondence must be copied to the Publications Office – this will assist in building a complete file. However, we encourage all communications to go through Manuscript Central. For example, if an author sends you a question by email about her/his manuscript, log into MC and click the author’s name to generate a message back with your answer. Cut and paste the author’s original message at the end of the MC-generated reply. This MC-generated message is saved in the MC database giving you, the Publications Office, and the EIC a complete record of all correspondence on this specific manuscript. You will find this extremely helpful as you manage various papers assigned to you over your three-year appointment. Authors frequently send routine status inquires to the EIC. If all your correspondence is documented in the MC database, the EIC can reply directly without forwarding such requests to you or to the Publications Office.

The Manuscript Central system is web-browser based. Hence, access to the MC system is available throughout the world. Associate Editors can thus attend to their duties while traveling and on temporary assignments away from home base. If an AE is contemplating being away from "home base" without Internet access for one week or more, it is extremely important that the Publications Office be notified of this and provided with at least one means of emergency contact (e-mail, phone or fax).

If a situation is urgent and requires an immediate response, please telephone the Publications office or mark your e-mail URGENT REQUEST in the Subject line. The Office receives hundreds of inquiries every day, and this will help to prompt a quick response.

3.4.6. "Blind" Reviews.

Reviews of manuscripts submitted to the Journal are "blind" reviews -- the identity of the reviewers is never revealed to the author or others. The Associate Editor must assure that the identities of the reviewers are kept confidential.

3.5. Workload.

An Associate Editor will not be assigned more than three manuscripts per month during his/her term of service (normally less). This does not mean that each Associate Editor WILL receive three manuscripts each month. It may happen that Associate Editors covering popular EDICS categories will be more active than those covering more-esoteric EDICS.

Any difficulties with workload should be reported immediately to the Publications Office. Temporary relief can be administered to assure that workloads do not fall behind. If an AE fails to assign reviewers promptly, the Publications Office may transfer that manuscript to another AE to avoid unwarranted publication delay. If this happens occasionally, the Publications Office will continue to assign new manuscripts to the said AE assuming that occasional scheduling problems arise for us all. If this happens multiple times, then the Publications will contact said AE to discuss adjusting his/her manuscript workload appropriately.

4.0. Publication of Original Material.

The Sensors Journal publishes original material. The corresponding author submitting material to the Council's publications is required to complete a Copyright Form confirming the originality of the manuscript and the fact that it has not been submitted for consideration elsewhere. Copyright of material appearing in an IEEE publication is done for the purposes of

- enhancing the accessibility, distribution, and use of information;

- enabling the IEEE to control the use of its name;

- serving and protecting the interests of its authors and their employers.

Copyright policies are applied consistently throughout the Institute for all publications bearing the name and identity of IEEE. Copyright is held by the Institute itself, and not by any of its entities. In return for the transfer of authors' rights, the IEEE grants authors and their employers’ permission to make copies and otherwise reuse the material under terms established by the IEEE.

To assure that the Institute's and the Council's rules regarding submission of original material are followed, the Council has developed sanctions to discourage the fraudulent submission under copyright protection of material that has already been submitted elsewhere (See the section on "Sanctions"). The IEEE may choose to exert additional sanctions against author(s) for double submission of manuscripts.

5.0. Timely Publication

The IEEE Technical Activities Board has established a guideline for publication in less than one year from date of submission. The IEEE Sensors Journal subscribes to this goal. The following is a step-by-step description of that process.

At the time of publication of a manuscript, two dates are listed along with the manuscript: 1) the formal date of submission of the manuscript (the date the manuscript is received by Manuscript Central); and 2) the date of our e-mail to the AE finally approving the manuscript for publication (the Accept status date).

6.0. Peer Review Process and Calendar

6.1. Manuscript Submission

Information for Authors is posted at http://ewh.ieee.org/tc/sensors/SJ/info_for_authors.htm.

6.1.1. New Submissions

All new manuscripts and their revisions are submitted electronically, via Manuscript Central, http://sensors-ieee.manuscriptcentral.com/. The manuscript should include an abstract of no more than 200 words. The abstract states the scope of the paper and summarizes the author's conclusions so that the abstract itself may be useful in information retrieval.

6.1.2. Manuscript Submission and Tracking

Upon receipt by MC, the manuscript is issued a Manuscript Tracking Number and other pertinent information necessary to track the manuscript through the peer-review process. Always use this number in the subject line of email messages regarding a specific manuscript.

6.1.3. Manuscript Submission Length and Format

Regular Papers: The Council's Publications Board has established eight pages as the appropriate length for the final published manuscript. Although some papers may not be able to reveal the findings of the authors in eight pages, it is believed that most will be able to do so. Authors who exceed the eight-page guidelines are required to pay Mandatory Overlength Page Charges established by the Council and IEEE, to assist in defraying the expense of publishing each additional page. To help us keep the Journal’s subscription fees at a minimum, all authors are asked to pay Voluntary page charges when they can afford to do so through their employers or through research grant budgets.

Sensors Letters: Letters enable researchers and industrial practitioners to report original, cutting-edge developments quickly to their colleagues in the sensors community. To ensure rapid publication, the review cycle for Letters has been shortened to two weeks and accepted Sensors Letters jump to the front of the Journal's electronic and print publishing queues. Sensors Letters are limited strictly to two printed journal pages and should be submitted using a template available at the Sensors Journal website. No overlength Letters will be permitted. Letters manuscripts are accepted or rejected as submitted. The authors of rejected Letters manuscripts can revise their work and submit the manuscript again. Such revised manuscripts are treated as new submissions.

6.2. Peer Review Schedule

After the manuscript has been received by MC and qualified by the Publications Office as an appropriate submission, an Associate Editor (AE) is selected to match its technical area. The Publications Office will normally assign no more than three manuscripts per month to a specific AE.

The MC system acknowledges receipt of the manuscript to the "submitting" Author and also advises the author of the name and contact information of the AE assigned to manage the manuscript.

It is recognized that the Associate Editors often perform such duties for more than one periodical at the time. Different publications may have different rules for manuscript management, peer review, and scheduling. The Sensors Journal will function according to the following standard timeline, and every effort will be made to keep all parties of the peer review to this schedule.

6.2.1. Step A: 3-5 days:

The manuscript is assigned a manuscript number when it is accepted into MC. An appropriate Associate Editor is selected. The selection of an AE is performed according to EDICS and strives for a uniform distribution of load among Associate Editors. Access to manuscripts for AEs is via the Manuscript Central.

6.2.2. Step B: (Invitations 2 to 5 days; Acceptance 5 to 10 days):

Associate Editor reviews manuscript and invites three to five reviewers. This step requires the Associate Editor to contact the reviewers using MC (the AE invites a reviewers through MC; MC sends the email invitation with the abstract to candidate reviewers) asking them to agree to complete the review within three weeks (two weeks for Letters). The reviewer replied back to the AE outside of the MC systems. Hence, their act of agreement must be entered into MC by the AE; this gives “agreed” reviewers permission to access the manuscript. Reviewers access the manuscript files and report their evaluations through MC.

6.2.3. Step C: 1 to 3 weeks:

Each reviewer completes the review and types it online into MC. At three weeks plus one day, the MC system will begin sending automated reminders to the reviewer, with a copy to the Associate Editor.

6.2.4. Step D: 1-5 days:

The AE should monitor the reviewers’ progress and help keep them on schedule. Once three completed reviews have been received, the AE can make a publishing decision based on the results. The Publications Office monitors the progress of manuscripts under review and sends reminders to the AE in cases that seem to need attention.

The AE’s publishing decision is sent by MC to the author and includes the reviewer’s comments. Any information about the identity of the reviewers is automatically redacted by MC. Decisions that the Associate Editor may make are as follows:

A – (Publish Unaltered) Accept the paper as is, with no changes.

AQ – (Publish with Minor, Required Changes) Accept the paper with minor, required changes which the Associate Editor can adjudicate directly. The author's revision of the manuscripts with an AQ status will be evaluated by the Associate Editor but will not be returned to the reviewers. This decision is not appropriate for Letters.

R1 – (Review Again After Resubmission) The paper is not acceptable in its current form, but has merit. A major rewrite is required. Encourage the author to resubmit after major, required revisions have been completed. The author's revised manuscript will be resubmitted using MC and provided to the same Associate Editor and reviewers.

R2 – (Reject) The paper is not acceptable for the Sensors Journal. Encourage the author to submit the manuscript to another journal.

R3 – (Reject) The paper is seriously flawed. Resubmission is not encouraged.

6.2.5. Step E: up to 3 weeks:

For AQ decisions, the author amends the manuscript and uploads it into the Manuscript Central.

6.2.6. Step F: 3-5 days:

For AQ-rated manuscripts, the AE reviews the revised manuscript and makes another publishing decision. If additional work is required, the author is so notified. If the revised manuscript is A (Published Unaltered), the MC system notifies the author and the Publishing Office, triggering a sequence of interactions between the two to prepare the manuscript for publication.

6.2.7. Step G: Preparation of final files:

The acceptance letter gives detailed instructions for preparing final files for delivery to the Publications Office via e-mail. The IEEE Copyright form is completed online in the Manuscript Central Author Center.

6.2.8. Step H: 2 weeks:

The author has two weeks to provide the finalized manuscript in proper format to the Publications Office. Note that the Publications Office is prepared to build some flexibility into this step, so that the author will have sufficient time, although not a protracted period, to prepare the finalized manuscript. In most cases, the author can be granted a reasonable extension upon request.

6.2.9. Step I: 2 to 6 weeks:

Once all the final materials are assembled, the Journal’s Publications Office submits the package to the IEEE’s Journal Department for posting into the IEEE Xplore database. This makes the published paper available electronically around the world to millions of researchers, practicing engineers and scientists, and students.

6.2.10. Step J: Assembly of the Issue:

The complete data files of all papers that will appear in a given issue of the Journal must available at the time the Publications Office assembles the issue's Table of Contents. Remember that the Publications Office works on issues three months in advance of their actual publication. For example, in May the staff will be finishing work on the August issue. The publication date of a finalized manuscript is affected by our backlog of accepted papers and scheduling of special issues. While the backlog fluctuates over time, papers are rapidly available through Xplore while awaiting the printed versions to be produced and delivered by postal services.

6.2.11. Step K: 12 weeks:

IEEE's Journal Department produces the final printed Sensors Journal issues, which then go to press and mails two weeks prior to the cover date of the Journal.

6.2.12. Time to Publication:

Following the above steps, a manuscript with a first decision of A should be posted in IEEE Xplore in three to four months and appear in print in another four to six months. A manuscript that is AQ on its first decision will be delayed about one month longer than the A category.

7.0. Quality Publication

7.1. Novelty and Appropriateness

To be accepted, the manuscript will receive, and must satisfy, these two important criteria:

Novelty -- Does the manuscript disclose new science or contain fresh new approaches to established science? and

Appropriateness -- Is the manuscript a good "fit" for the publication, appealing to the publication's audience? Is the manuscript "complete," not requiring supplementation by other work to permit understanding of the disclosure?

7.2. Presentation

The Journal is published in English. The manner of presentation of the author's findings must be sufficiently literate in English to convey the author's ideas. While current trends in academic writing show a preference for "active voice" (making the author an active player, rather than a passive observer, in the text), such considerations won't play a role in selection of a manuscript for publication. However, manuscripts that are loosely written and repetitious, or restate established scientific principles instead of merely providing the appropriate reference to such science, will require reworking. It is up to the Associate Editor to determine whether a fix can be accomplished without another round of reviews (the AQ decision), or a major undertaking is needed for which another round of reviews will be required (the R1 decision).

7.3. Appropriate Publication Length

A manuscript needs to be long enough to meet the burden of disclosure, but no more; every effort must be exercised to eliminate "waste" of space. The Council has established eight (8) pages as the "standard" length of a final manuscript (two (2) pages for Letters). It is recognized that some manuscripts may not be able to meet the burden of disclosure in only eight pages. However, the authors will be required to meet the expense of publishing every page over eight. Quite often less than eight pages may be quite sufficient - then the Associate Editor, with advice from the reviewers, should require the author to alter the manuscript to an appropriate length, by providing clues for material to be eliminated.

8.0. Numbers of Reviews--By the Letters

8.1. Status of A

This manuscript requires no additional reviews, although there may be some small fixes (grammar, typos etc.), which the Associate Editor requests to be corrected. This manuscript will essentially be published "as is," with no additional action by the reviewers or Associate Editor.

8.2. Status of AQ

This manuscript, although meeting the criteria of novelty and appropriateness, requires a few fixes, usually of the technical variety (rather than typos or grammar), which are considered to be quite minor, but which the Associate Editor has determined he/she should review one last time prior to approving the manuscript for publication.

8.3. Status of R1

This manuscript, although meeting the criteria of novelty and appropriateness, is seriously flawed as to disclosure (technical, or literary, or both), and requires a major rework by the author. Manuscripts accorded a status of R1 will require a second round of reviews by the original reviewers (and possibly an additional reviewer) so must be revised and resubmitted.

No manuscript will be accorded the status of R1 more than once. That is, no manuscript will receive more than two full rounds of peer review. If an R1 manuscript cannot be upgraded to a status of AQ by the Associate Editor, it must be rejected (R2 or R3).

8.4. Status of R2

This manuscript has been rejected for one or more reasons. No further review is warranted. Manuscripts in this category fail to meet the criteria of novelty and appropriateness. They may be poorly written or targeted for a different audience. The manuscript should not be resubmitted to the Sensors Journal but may be appropriate for some other journal.

8.5. Status of R3

This manuscript has been rejected because of serious flaws. No further review is warranted. The manuscript should not be resubmitted to the Sensors Journal.

9.0. "Correspondence"

9.1. Definition.

The only type of "correspondence" that will be published in the Journal is that in which the author(s) provide comments on a manuscript previously published in that Journal. Such items are peer reviewed according to the same criteria and timeline as full manuscripts.

9.2. Notifying the Authors.

In the event a correspondence is accepted for publication, the authors of the original manuscript will receive a copy of the correspondence, and be permitted to rebut the correspondence. Such rebuttal will be peer reviewed by the original reviewers of the correspondence.

In the event the correspondence and rebuttal are recommended for publication, the Associate Editor shall so notify the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal. The Editor-in-Chief will review both the correspondence and the rebuttal and make the final decision regarding publication of both items.

9.3. Point of Publication.

In the event the decision is to publish the correspondence and the rebuttal, the author of the correspondence will receive a copy of the rebuttal. However, at this point, the author of the correspondence will be permitted no further comment until after both the correspondence and the rebuttal have been published, together, in the Journal.

9.4. "Automatic" Change in Status.

The correspondence author, on reviewing the rebuttal, may choose to request that his/her correspondence be withdrawn. In the event the correspondence is withdrawn, the rebuttal shall also automatically be withdrawn, and neither will be published in the Journal.

10.0. Sanctions

Authors are expected to submit original manuscripts that have not been submitted to any other publication for consideration. On submission of the manuscript, the author must sign a Copyright Form which is the author's oath that their manuscript meets this criterion.

Unfortunately, there have been instances of submissions of material that is not original, or even plagiarized, or has been submitted to other publications, despite the signed "oath" that no other submissions have been undertaken. When such instances arise, and it has been established that the author acted knowingly, the Council will apply sanctions.

In some cases – say, if the peer community for a work in question is small - the same reviewer is called on by both publications to review the duplicate papers. In such instances, plagiarism and/or duplicate submission are easily established. If the misdeed is not caught and the same manuscript is published in two different publications, the Council may consider other proper measures.

Sanctions regarding plagiarism shall be adjudicated by IEEE when discovered and documented. Such behavior not only constitutes a publishing misdeed, but may be actionable by IEEE under the rules of Member Conduct. When it occurs that an entire manuscript or significant parts of a manuscript mirrors a second manuscript, this must be reported immediately to the Journal Editor-in-Chief.

The Sensors Council is prepared to exert the sanctions regarding duplicate submissions, such as: (a) the manuscript submitted to the Council's Journal will be immediately rejected; (b) all authors (that is, any single, paired, or group of the authors to the duplicate manuscript) of the manuscript will be prevented from submitting new manuscripts to the Journal for at least one calendar year; (c) any manuscripts under review by any of the authors of the duplicate submission will have their manuscripts returned to them immediately, regardless of the stage of peer review; d) an attempt will be made to convey these actions to the other publication. Care will be taken for the sanction not to harm innocent co-authors of manuscripts, and affect only the authors of the duplicate submission.

11.0. Award-Quality Manuscripts

The final page of the manuscript online review form provides a space that permits the reviewer to indicate whether he/she believes the manuscript is of award quality. If the answer to the question is "Yes," the reviewer is requested to provide specifics.

Associate Editors are also requested to nominate award quality papers.

Award nominations should be communicated to the Publications Office. Copies of the nominations will be eventually passed to the Council’s Awards Committee which oversees the process and recommends candidates for the Journal’s annual Best Paper Award to the Sensors Council for consideration.

12.0. The Manuscript Style

The authors are strongly encouraged to use website style files developed by IEEE to reduce production costs.

IEEE provides on its website style files for manuscripts submissions for both Microsoft Word and LaTeX, the two most commonly used submission formats. See http://www.ieee.org/pubs/authors.html. Use of these formats by authors significantly reduces the per-page production costs the Sensors Council must pay IEEE.

Summary

Timely publication is one of the IEEE Sensors Council’s important goals. The Council strives to exceed the IEEE Technical Activities Board’s guidelines. In today’s review process, the role of the Associate Editor is to solicit reliable, knowledgeable reviewers who will commit to a speedy review cycle, and to make timely publishing decisions for their assigned manuscripts. It has been the IEEE experience that reviewers will respond when they are informed clearly of the time schedule established for the review.

The Council is keenly aware of the value of good reviewers, as well as the difficulty in locating good reviewers in sufficient numbers. There is sensitivity not to overburden popular reviewers with too many review requests. With the online tools available through Manuscript Central, there is a broadening reviewer database that can help AEs identify candidate reviewers. Associate Editors are also reminded that when forwarding information to the authors, the anonymity of the reviewers must be preserved.

(Revised: July 2007)

IEEE Sensors Journal Guide For Associate Editors

IEEE Sensors Journal
Guide For Associate Editors