Guest Editor Kit

PROPOSING A FEATURE TOPIC

Submit a one- to three-page proposal to the Editor-in-Chief describing the significance, direction, and anticipated feature article content and contributors of articles for the Feature Topic.

The proposal should contain the following sections:

• The subject
• Purpose, significance, and a general description of the Feature Topic
• Guest Editors and their short biographies
• Proposed articles (provisional titles, potential authors, scope of the articles)
• Proposed schedule (manuscripts due, acceptance notification, final revised manuscripts due, manuscripts to publisher)
• Identify the qualified expert(s) who can contribute one comprehensive survey paper on the topic.

The proposal may contain additional information (i.e., a list of potential reviewers, etc.)

Note: The proposal is reviewed by the Technical Editors, with a consolidated recommendation from the Editor-in-Chief, 4–6 weeks from the date of submission.

Continue to identify a full slate of 3 to 6 feature articles and authors for a Feature Topic, and obtain authors commitment to scheduled availability of draft papers.

ISSUE MANAGEMENT

Arrange a timely review by at least 3 experts in each feature article subject area. The comprehensive survey paper for a Special Issue can be invited, but must be reviewed just as other papers with the final decision made by both the Guest Editors and Editor-in-Chief. Candidate authors for this paper must be so informed. The page limit can be relaxed with the approval of the Editor-in-Chief. The IEEE Wireless Communications Paper Review Form is available online for printing locally. Please notify the reviewers about the style requirements for IEEE Wireless Communications, as well as about the fact that the reviewed article(s) belong(s) to a larger entity containing several articles on a common subject. Please supply the reviewers with a copy of the accepted Feature Topic/Special Issue proposal.

Please ensure that all articles comply with the style, length, and timeliness guidelines. Articles not in compliance risk being rejected.

GUEST EDITORIAL GUIDELINES

Guest Editors should prepare a Guest Editorial (800 words maximum) that mentions each paper in order of appearance and includes IEEE-style biographies for each Guest Editor (75 words maximum). The Guest Editorial should address the significance, impact, practical usefulness, and future directions of the topic. Perhaps most important, it should convey the Guest Editors' enthusiasm to the readers. An editorial which does little more than describe each feature article will not be acceptable.

Guest Editorials should be emailed in plain text to the publications office, along with color photographs of each Guest Editor. Digital photographs should be in .tif format with at least 300 dpi resolution.

STYLE AND FORMAT GUIDELINES FOR PAPERS

• Articles should be tutorial in nature and should be written in a style comprehensible to readers outside the specialty of the article. However, papers presenting original contributions will also be considered, as long as the presentation is accessible and the paper length is kept within the appropriate limits. Papers presenting detailed contributions should rather be submitted to some other journal (e.g., IEEE Transactions).
• Articles may be edited for clarity and grammatical accuracy, and will be copyedited according to the magazine's style.
• Mathematical equations should not be used. In justified cases up to three simple equations could be allowed, provided you have the consent of the Guest Editor. The inclusion of more than three equations requires permission from the Editor-in-Chief.
• References should be included only to guide readers to more information on the topic; the reference list should not include every available souce. A limit of 15 references is recommended. The inclusion of more than 15 references requires permission from the Editor-in-Chief. References to Web pages should be checked immediately for accessibility before submitting material to the Production Staff.
• Articles should not exceed 4500 words.
• Figures and tables should be limited to a combined total of six.

TIMELINE

• Final manuscripts due: The 15th of the month, 2 months prior to issue date. For example, all materials for an article in the August issue are due by June 15th.
• Guest Editorials/Departments due: The 1st of the following month, 1 month prior to issue date. For example, all Guest Editorials and departments in the August issue are due by July 1st.
• Page proofs sent to contact author: 4 weeks prior to issue date.
• Page proofs back to department: 3 weeks prior to issue date.

SUBMISSION OF ACCEPTED MATERIALS

Please instruct authors to read the Author Guidelines page to determine what they need to send the Production Staff prior to the deadline.

CONTACTS

Please view the Production Staff List for contact information.