Trans on Automat Contr   Trans on Contr Sys Tech     Associate Editors     Information for Authors     Guidelines for Reviewers     Current & Previous Issues     Related Links   Contr Sys Magazine   eletter

Frank Doyle, Editor-in-Chief Dept. of Chemical Engineering University of California, Santa Barbara Tel: 805/893-7445 FAX: 805/893-7446 ieeetcst@engineering.ucsb.edu

Information for Authors

In the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, the IEEE Control Systems Society publishes high-quality papers on technological advances in the design, realization, and operation of control systems. Submissions should emphasize novel contributions to the solution of control engineering problems arising in specific application areas. The IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology is published bimonthly. Three types of contributions are regularly considered:

1. Papers - Presentation of significant research, development, or application of control technology.
2. Brief Papers - Concise descriptions of a contribution to a specific aspect of design, realization, or operation of control systems technology.
3. Letters - Significant remarks of interest to control systems engineers, and comments on previously published papers.

In addition, special papers (tutorials, surveys, and perspectives on the current trends in control systems technology) are solicited. Authors are encouraged to contact the Editor-in-Chief before submitting such papers.

Papers and Brief Papers go through the same review process. Letters go through a shorter review process to facilitate rapid publication. Papers should be no longer than 32 double-spaced pages, including figures. Brief Papers should be no longer than 16 double-spaced pages, including figures. Letters should be no longer than 8 double-spaced pages of text, including figures. Manuscripts exceeding the specified page limits, or clearly outside the scope of the TRANSACTIONS will be returned without review.

A. Process for Submission of Manuscripts

Papers may be submitted for publication through the on-line Manuscript Central system at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tcst.  Only Postscript and PDF files are accepted. In the case of PDF files, authors should embed all the fonts needed to print the paper. For instructions on submitting a manuscript to the on-line system, click here.

Authors are expected to obtain any needed clearances for their works and to ensure ITAR compliance, if appropriate (see http://www.ieee.org/organizations/tab/export_compliance.html for details). The on-line system will send an acknowledgment letter to the corresponding author after the paper has been submitted. Authors should contact the editorial office if such a letter has not been received within 1 week after submission of the paper.

The procedure for the electronic submission of papers accepted for publication is somewhat different, but may be considered in the preparation of a paper, in order to adopt a format that will be appropriate in case of acceptance. The preferred formats for accepted papers are TeX/LaTeX (.tex), Word (.doc), and ASCII text files (.txt). The preferred formats for graphics are Postscript (.ps), Encapsulated Postscript (.eps), and Tagged Image File Format (.tif).

B. Copyright

To comply with IEEE copyright policy, authors are required to provide a signed IEEE copyright transfer form after acceptance of their paper. The form is published periodically in the journal and an electronic form is available in the on-line system and at http://www.ieee.org/copyright/cfrmlink.html.

C. Style for Manuscript

In general, manuscripts should follow the standards of the IEEE as described in the Information for IEEE Transactions and Journal Authors, available on request from the IEEE Transactions Department, 445 Hoes Lane, P. O. box 1331, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 USA, or mail to trans@ep.ieee.org or FAX to +1 732 562 0545. Submitted manuscripts must be typewritten in English. Specific guidelines are as follows.

1. The contribution of the paper should be presented in a manner that makes it accessible to the interested control engineering professional. Descriptive prose giving intuitive insight and interpretations is preferred to a formal mathematical development (lemmas, theorems, and proofs). Authors are encouraged to put detailed mathematical derivations in appendixes.
2. The first page should include the title; names, affiliations, and complete mailing addresses of all authors; an indication of the corresponding author; and a one-paragraph abstract which briefly and clearly describes the contribution of the paper.
3. The introduction should describe the particular control engineering problem considered as it arises in applications.
4. If possible, prepare copies using two sides of each page.
5. If accepted for publication, the text of the paper must be available electronically.

D. Style for Illustrations

Figures and photos should be original proofs and not Xeroxes. Photos must be glossy prints with no screens. Laser prints are not acceptable in place of photos or where gray scale graphics are involved. All line drawings and photos should be in black and white, unless specifically requested, Letters should be large enough to be readily legible when the drawing is reduced to two-column width - as much as 4:1 reduction from the original. All material should be no larger than 22x28 cm (8 1/2 x 11 in).

E. Mandatory Overlength Page Charges

A mandatory page charge is imposed on all papers exceeding twelve TRANSACTIONS pages in length, including illustrations. The charge is $125 per page for each page over the first twelve and is a prerequisite for publication. Details are provided at the time of acceptance; authors are, however, urged to keep this in mind when submitting and revising their papers.

F. Page Charges

After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the author's company or institution will be approached with a request to pay a charge of $110 per page to cover part of the cost of publication. Payments of page charges for this IEEE TRANSACTIONS, like journal of other professional societies, is not necessary prerequisite for publication. The author will receive 100 free reprints (without covers) only if the page charge is honored. Detailed instructions will accompany the proofs.

G. Additional Information

Authors should consult the IEEE web site (www.ieee.org) for up-to-date information about publishing with IEEE. The Guide for Transactions Authors is currently available at:  http://www.ieee.org/organizations/pubs/transactions/information.htm

The page has a link to the manual: Information for Authors. When submitting a paper, it is useful to note the “Author Responsibilities” copied below:

“Manuscripts submitted for publication to IEEE Transactions, Journals, Letters, or to the Proceedings of the IEEE should be original work submitted to a single IEEE Journal. It should not have been previously published and should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

The IEEE assumes that material submitted to its publications is properly available for general dissemination for the readership of those publications. 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 an author uses charts, photographs, or other graphics from previously printed material, he/she is responsible for obtaining written permission from the publisher to use the material in his/her manuscript.

Statements and opinions given in work published by the IEEE are the expressions of the authors. Responsibility for the contents of published papers rests upon the authors, not the IEEE.”

The Guide for Transactions Authors web page also contains useful information for papers accepted for publication (e.g., graphic formats), and should be considered when a revision of the paper is prepared.

The IEEE Policies and Procedures manual also contains various information of interest to authors and is available at: http://www.ieee.org/about/whatis/policies/ (see especially section 6). For example, answers to questions regarding electronic posting, copyright notice, and electronic preprints may be found. Please consult the web site for further information.