Guest Editor Guidelines for IEEE Computer Society Publications

Guest editors (GEs) propose and facilitate peer review for special issues (SIs). For many Computer Society publications, SIs organized around a central theme play an important role in highlighting emerging areas of research and providing a variety of perspectives on a particular topic to the publication’s readership. Note that individual publications may use terms such as special section, theme issue, or mini-theme, but the process remains the same.

GEs play an essential role in managing their SI, including promoting the call for papers (CFP), if applicable; recruiting submissions of engaging and high-quality content; ensuring the rigorous peer review of submitted manuscripts in keeping with the publication’s policies; recommending appropriate content decisions with consideration for the available space; and ensuring timeliness of the overall process so that all final materials are available by the publication’s deadline.

All GEs are required to review and consent to the Computer Society’s GE guidelines described here, on the publication’s website, and in the welcome packet that is sent by email. Often, the publication’s editor-in-chief (EIC) will add an editorial board member to the GE team or have an editorial board member oversee the process in some way.

IEEE entrusts the responsibility for content decisions to the EIC. Although the EIC may approve GEs to oversee an SI, GEs make recommendations about which articles to accept based upon the peer review process they have overseen. All final decisions are made by the EIC.

The Computer Society requires that papers be selected for publication on the basis of merit and appropriateness. All technical manuscripts are submitted through our online peer review system, ScholarOne Manuscripts. This ensures that each submission can be tracked properly, will receive a fair and unbiased review, and is handled in an efficient and timely manner. If you are unfamiliar with the system, please view the ScholarOne Editor Basics video tutorial. If there are any problems using the system, please contact the publication’s peer review administrator.

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It is a conflict of interest (COI) for any GE to submit an article they have authored to the SI that they are overseeing. If a GE would like their research to be considered for publication in the SI, advance permission must be granted by the EIC and the article must be assigned by the EIC to a non-conflicted member of the editorial board to ensure an independent and unbiased review. GEs shall play no part in the decision-making for that paper. If accepted, the article may appear as part of the SI, but the GEs’ introduction (see the Guest Editors’ Introduction section) should explain this special handling to the readership to clarify how the apparent COI was addressed.

A GE should not act as a reviewer of articles submitted to their SI. IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PDF) Section 8.2.2.A.1 states, “Careful selection of referees shall be made to avoid any conflict of interest or bias with regard to authors of the article being reviewed (see also Subsection 2.6.2). Editors responsible for the final decision on an article shall not serve as a referee for one of the independent reviews used in the decision for an article.” Authors of papers submitted to the SI shall not serve as reviewers of other articles submitted to the SI.

GEs must declare any potential COI to the EIC within one week of the paper being assigned. COI is defined in IEEE Policies, Section 9.9 – Conflict of Interest (PDF). COIs include the following:

• Your PhD advisor, post-doctoral advisor, PhD students, and post-doctoral advisees, forever.
• Family relations by blood or marriage, or their equivalent, forever.
• People with whom you have collaborated in the past five years, including co-authors of accepted/rejected/pending papers and grant proposals.
• Funders (decision-makers) of your research grants, and researchers whom you fund.
• People (including students) who share or shared your primary institution(s) now or in the past five years.
• Other relationships, such as close personal friendship, that might affect your judgment or could be seen as doing so by a reasonable person familiar with the relationship.

GEs must notify the EIC or AEIC as soon as the potential COI is discovered. The paper will be assigned to a nonconflicted editorial board member who will oversee the paper through peer review and make all recommendations for the paper.

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Please review the publication’s website for any specific proposal template or requirements.

The SI proposal is expected to provide the title, the team of GEs including their qualifications, an explanation of the SI’s scope and the rationale for it, and an outline of the dissemination/advertising plan. Requests for a preferred publication date may also be included, but final issue assignment and the review schedule must be approved by the EIC, subject to availability.

Submit your proposal to the publication’s EIC, unless the publication website designates an alternate point of contact, such as an associate editor-in-chief (AEIC). Unless submissions to the SI are strictly “invited” (for which specific authors are asked to submit), please include a CFP created using the CFP template (download).

If the EIC approves the proposal, the following steps will be triggered:

• • • The CFP will be posted to the publication website and the Computer Society CFP portal, and the URL will be provided to the GEs for dissemination. The Computer Society will also advertise the CFP via newsletters, social media channels, etc.
    • A GE group email alias will be created, which will ensure there is a single login account for all GEs to access ScholarOne and a single email address that authors may use to reach the GEs. Once the alias is set up, the GEs will receive an email with login instructions.
    • The SI will be opened in ScholarOne and ready for author submissions.

In the CFP, authors should be instructed to submit full-length papers via ScholarOne Manuscripts, selecting the SI to which they are submitting in the “Manuscript Type” drop-down menu on the first screen of the submission process. If the GEs wish to review abstracts in advance of full submissions, please indicate this in the CFP with directions to submit the abstracts directly to the GEs via the email alias.

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GEs should broadly promote their CFP (if applicable) through distribution opportunities such as social media channels, community newsletters, and professional networks. Encourage people in your field to submit their work to the SI.

Solicit original work from authors that has not been published elsewhere. Please read about concurrent/dual submissions here.

Revised and expanded versions of papers that have previously appeared in a conference proceedings may be submitted but must undergo a detailed technical review process to determine whether there has been sufficient new material added to warrant publication. Please read about preliminary/conference versions here.

If a submission is sent directly to the GEs, the authors should be directed to ScholarOne. If the authors have questions about how to submit, please direct them to the Author Guidelines page.

Once an author submits their article, it will be checked for length, plagiarism, and other requirements before being assigned to the GEs and appearing on their dashboard in ScholarOne.

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Finding qualified reviewers is a major challenge. This process takes time and can make it difficult to meet the publication’s deadlines and stay on schedule. GEs are strongly encouraged to solicit reviewer commitments from a large, diverse, and broad pool of qualified individuals who reflect the international community. Securing commitments from prospective reviewers before submissions arrive can be key to ensuring the SI stays on schedule. Remind reviewers of the focus you’ve set and the importance of their feedback and timely submission of comments.

GEs who have identified qualified individuals who are willing to review may send a complete contact list to the peer review administrator, who may be able to identify the corresponding ScholarOne accounts or indicate those individuals who do not yet have an account. Please indicate whether you have already confirmed their willingness to review in the allotted time (about three weeks).

Note that GEs may not serve as reviewers for submissions to their SI. Similarly, authors who submit to the SI may not act as reviewers.

All articles must be reviewed by three independent and non-conflicted reviewers. If the GEs are having difficulty obtaining a third review, they should discuss options with the EIC. IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (PDF) Section 8.2.2.A.1 states, “At no time should an article be accepted or published in an archival journal without prior review of the complete article by two or more referees who are conversant with the pertinent subject area, at least two of which are independent of persons involved in the decision process for acceptance.”

Please read the following sections:

• Assigning Reviewers
• Reviewer Reminders
• Reviewer Assessment

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Once the required reviews are complete, you will be prompted to make a recommendation in ScholarOne. Please read our guide for making recommendations here. When making recommendations, GEs should take into account the SI’s scope and available pages.

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Typically, GEs submit their SI proposal at least 12 months prior to the cover date. For an overview of the SI timeline for submission, review, revision, and production, please see our peer review schedule guide here. For IEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society GEs, click here.

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The guest editors’ introduction (GEI) should discuss the SI topic and present recent results, future directions, and important trends and their implications. The GEI should show the reader why this topic is important and timely. It could include an overview to introduce concepts and terminology, enabling readers unfamiliar with the topic to better understand the articles.

GEIs should give a short introduction to each paper in the SI. Papers should be referenced in the order they are to appear in the publication. The GEI should not summarize the articles, but instead explain how they relate to the topic and to each other to motivate the reader to read them.

To protect the identity of the reviewers, no reviewers lists will be published as part of the SI. However, GEs are encouraged to acknowledge the general contributions of the reviewers in the GEI, and a complete list of all publication reviewers will be published annually.

Magazine GEIs should be 1,000 to 2,500 words, and journal GEIs should be no more than two pages, including GE biographies and photographs. Author templates are available in the IEEE Template Selector. Biographies should be moderate in length, otherwise they will be edited. GEIs must include each GE’s complete and current affiliation and contact information. GEIs should not include references unless absolutely necessary, and even then they should be limited to a maximum of four.

Send your GEI to the EIC directly unless instructed otherwise. GEIs must be submitted in an editable format, such as a Word document. GEs are responsible for reviewing the galley proof of their editorial and communicating any corrections to IEEE staff.

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