Frequently Asked Questions - Technical Co-Sponsorship

A Glossary of Terms (Clarification of Application Jargon)

Acronym - a short nickname for the conference in the following format: ABC 2011, which is used to refer to the conference during the application review, and in online postings. This should ideally be 10 characters or less, not including the year of the event.

CFP – Call For Papers to be submitted and reviewed for inclusion into conference proceedings.

Financial sponsor - a non-profit or not-for-profit organization that assumes a share of the financial and legal risk for the conference, and stands to collect the surplus produced by the conference.

For-profits ( for-profit organizations) - commercial organizations that operate as businesses whose primary directives include creating profit which is expended as those businesses choose, including distribution to shareholders and owners. These companies are permitted to contribute or donate fixed sums, supplies, space, or other donations to an IEEE-sponsored conference, however they are not permitted to have a financial stake or share in the event if it is to receive any level of sponsorship from IEEE or its operating units. That is, for-profits may not collect any surplus of an IEEE event in return for their gifts.

Logo - graphic representation, or emblem of an organization. These include trademarks, trade names, copyrighted symbols or specialized fonts used to represent a company or organization, and imply, by their appearance, explicit permission for such use.

Non-profits (non-profit or not-for-profit organizations) - these are organizations which are established to further a social cause, such as education, government, charity, or professional enrichment, and which do not distribute surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead use earnings to help pursue their missions or organizational goals. In most countries, these types of organizations are exempt from taxes on income or property.

TC (Technical Committee) - ComSoc’s technical committees define and implement the technical directions of the Society. These committees play a major role in determining which events (conferences, workshops, etc.) are technically co-sponsored by ComSoc.

TCS (Technical Co-sponsorship) - Technical co-sponsorship by ComSoc indicates that the event is financially sponsored by a not-for-profit organization, the technical scope of the event is within the society’s field of interest, and at least 3 ComSoc Technical Committee members have a direct and substantial involvement in the organization and development of the technical program. ComSoc has no financial involvement in these events.

TPC (Technical Program Committee) - the group of conference organizers which is responsible for developing the technical content for the conference.

There is a detailed review (made up of several steps) that is conducted by both ComSoc volunteers and staff to ensure all aspects of ComSoc’s and IEEE’s sponsorship requirements are addressed. Meetings are held regularly to review active applications and a website has been created to facilitate the endorsement process by our 31 Technical Committees. We strive to move each application through the process as quickly as possible.

Yes. When completing the TCS application, in the section “Full Title of Conference,” enter the complete title starting with the year and ending with the conference acronym in parenthesis [e.g., 2007 Conference on Something (COS)]. Titles must be consistent from year to year. Even slight modifications can necessitate the issuance of a new Library of Congress Catalog Number for the conference proceedings, and will also result in discontinuity of indexing and grouping of sequential conference titles [e.g., for conferences in a series] in IEEE Xplore and other digital indices.

It is not appropriate to make reference to organizations, agreements, or parties, nor to imply relationships, before all parties have consented to such relationships or agreements. The application shall become a memorandum of understanding (MOU) once it is signed by all parties. An application is considered an affidavit upon submission, thus all statements contained therein must be absolutely true. ComSoc’s review of the application is based on the assumption that all information provided is true and verified, and if it is found to be otherwise, a sponsorship can be rescinded, and other action may also be taken. IEEE Policy 10.1.4, in part, states: Co-sponsored conferences shall not use the IEEE name or Master Brand in their web sites, publications, or promotions before the MoU is executed.

The conference website is another valuable tool for ComSoc volunteers as they review your application. The information provided regarding keynote speaker topics, registration options, committee members, etc., gives additional insight into the overall planning for the conference.

The Call for Papers provides the best insight into the technical scope, content, and design of your technical program. ComSoc volunteers review your application, and the better understanding they have of your program, the better they are able to evaluate the merit of endorsing your conference.

ComSoc keeps a reference library of events we sponsor, for archival purposes.

ComSoc may use this opt-in attendee list to make contact from time to time concerning similar ComSoc conferences, technical products, and services, or to ask opinions.

ComSoc technically co-sponsors conferences in order to provide our members more opportunities to attend quality events. The proceedings from these quality events, when published in IEEE Xplore, enrich our offerings as a professional organization.

This should be a fairly detailed description of the paper review process, which serves to document, and to help reviewers appraise, the technical rigor of the conference. Please consider the following questions when answering:

1. What is the structure of the conference’s Technical Program Committee (the committee that oversees the selection of presentations for the conference)? How many members are there? What is the role of each member?
2. What materials are reviewed? Abstracts, supporting material, abbreviated manuscripts, complete manuscripts, a combination of these materials?
3. What are the criteria used by your reviewers to evaluate submissions and how are these criteria transmitted to the reviewers?
4. How is the reviewer’s evaluation transmitted to the Technical Program Committee?
5. If reviewers have conflicting opinions about a submission, how is a decision rendered? Who has final approval for acceptance? Is there a single person who speaks to the overall quality of all submissions accepted by the conference?
6. What is the estimated number of submissions to this event? What is the targeted acceptance/rejection rate? How large of a deviation from this target is allowed?
7. How do you handle the review of submissions where there is a conflict of interest (e.g., a submission from a member of the Technical Program Committee or someone from their institution)?
8. Does the conference communicate with authors to ensure they plan to present their papers at the conference and will have quality presentation materials? What is your policy for non presented papers?

To have maximum benefit to our membership, and for the benefit of the conference, ComSoc requires that applications be submitted at least 3 months prior to the CFP deadline, so that if approval is granted, there will be sufficient time to announce the TCS of ComSoc to prospective authors, and to include the conference in ComSoc’s listings in time for our membership to be able to submit papers to the newly approved conference. We understand that CFP deadlines are sometimes delayed, and ask to be notified when this happens, to update the review information, and, if appropriate, the listing information on an approved conference.

The financial sponsors are responsible for the conference, and the conference organizing committee operates at the financial sponsor’s behest. In addition, the signature “On Behalf of the Conference” is to be made by someone who is authorized to do so by the financial sponsor(s). Therefore, the financial sponsors are an integral part of this Memorandum of Understanding.

A non-profit or not-for-profit organization that assumes a share of the financial and legal risk for the conference, and that stands to collect the surplus produced by the conference, may be named the financial sponsor. Per IEEE Policy 10.1.2, IEEE organizational units engaged in conference sponsorship [ie. ComSoc] may not enter into any type of sponsorship arrangement with a ”For Profit” organization. Non-compliance with the provisions of this approval policy may result in denial of approvals for subsequent events. ”For Profit” organizations can, however, provide donations, as indicated in Policy 10.1.23 which states: Financial support by industry of IEEE meetings and events shall be encouraged and shall be structured to the extent possible such that the financial support is received tax-free by IEEE.

This is the Xplore Delivery Assurance Fee which ComSoc is collecting as a result of a new IEEE policy that went into effect 1 January 2011. This $500 deposit is required before we proceed with processing of this application for one of two reasons: 1. The application indicates the IEEE will not be the owner of the copyright for the conference proceedings, or 2. Previous conferences in the series have not delivered their proceedings to IEEE within the 30-day deadline after the conference. This fee will be refunded after the timely (within 30 days of end of conference) delivery of the conference proceedings to IEEE Xplore. If the application is not approved, or if the technical co-sponsorship MOU is terminated before the conference takes place, this fee will also be refunded

ComSoc volunteers, with ComSoc staff assistance, manage the TCS application process. This fee is assessed to defray a small portion of the overall administrative costs associated with the process (e.g., staff time, website programming, etc.). The fee is non-refundable because regardless of whether an application is approved or not, a full review is necessary and administrative costs are incurred.

In order for ComSoc to grant technical co-sponsorship, at least one of our Technical Committees must endorse the conference. The endorsement helps to ensure that the technical program falls within the TC’s scope, that there is a quality, independent peer review process for paper selection, and that at least three TC members will be directly and substantially involved in the activities of the Technical Program Committee. In order to identify the TC members who will serve on your TPC, a dialogue with the TC Chair is necessary. That conversation will garner the support of the TC which will be demonstrated by 3 of their members serving on the TPC. During the formal review of this application, the TC Chair(s) will be given the opportunity to officially endorse the conference based on this interaction with the Conference Organizing Committee.

A formal approval email message will be sent to the organizer(s) who submitted the application. Upon receipt of this message, organizers should post the IEEE and ComSoc names/logos to their conference materials (website, CFP, flyers, etc.), and fulfill additional requirements of IEEE as instructed in this email (eg. completion of IEEE Conference Info Schedule for listing in IEEE’s conference directories, and completion of IEEE Pubs form to initiate the process of proceedings publication in IEEE XPLORE®).

Submitted applications must contain a signature in order to be considered complete, and serve as an affidavit, or attestation, that the request to process the application is being made on behalf of the conference, and that information supplied is verified. Upon approval, the application document is counter-signed by authorized representatives of ComSoc, and IEEE Conference Services, and the application becomes the official Memorandum of Understanding amongst these parties.

The individual who signs the application should be a member of the conference organizing committee who is authorized by the financial sponsor(s) to commit the organizing committee members and the financial sponsor(s) to the Terms of Agreement.