Submission Policies

Learn about IEEE’s policies and guidelines for submission and peer review.

IEEE Submission Policies

Authors must understand and abide by IEEE’s submission policies.

1. Policy on Multiple Submissions and Prior Publication

IEEE policy requires that authors should only submit original work that has neither appeared elsewhere for publication, nor is under review for another refereed publication.

This means that authors must disclose all prior publication(s) and current submissions when submitting an article. Section 8.2.4.F of the IEEE PSPB Operations Manual provides guidelines for handling reported cases of authors who have submitted the same article to two or more publications, or who have not properly cited the reuse of their previously published work in newly submitted articles.

1.1 Prior Publication

The guidelines recognize that it is common in technical publishing for material to be presented at various stages of its evolution. As one example, this can take the form of publishing early ideas in a workshop, more developed work in a conference, and fully developed contributions as journal or transactions articles. This publication process is an important means of scientific communication. The editor of a publication may choose to re-publish existing material for a variety of reasons, including promoting wider distribution and serving readers by aggregating special material in a single publication. This practice continues to be recognized and accepted by the IEEE. At the same time, the IEEE requires that this evolutionary process be fully referenced by the author.

Authors submitting articles must disclose whether there are prior publications, e.g., conference articles, by the authors that are similar, whether published or submitted. They must also include information that very clearly states how the new submission differs from the previously published work(s). Such articles should be cited in the submitted article.

1.2 Multiple Submissions

“Multiple submissions” is defined as a given article being concurrently under active consideration by two or more publications. It is at the discretion of each IEEE Organization Unit whether or not to allow multiple submissions. Authors shall inform editors of multiple submissions of articles.

2. Policy on Plagiarism

The IEEE PSPB Operations manual in Section 8.2.1, describes plagiarism in the following way: “IEEE defines plagiarism as the use of someone else’s prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicitly acknowledging the original author and source. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable and is considered a serious breach of professional conduct, with potentially severe ethical and legal consequences. Section 8.2.4.D provides detailed guidelines for a) handling allegations of plagiarism, b) applying appropriate corrective actions when findings of plagiarism have been reached, and c) referencing previously published material.”

The guidelines in Section 8.2.4 of the PSPB Operations Manual also describe a method for investigating an allegation of plagiarism. Section 8.2.4 states: “In considering the allegation, the responsible person shall appoint an independent ad-hoc committee of experts in the topic to confidentially investigate and make a recommendation on the allegation to the responsible person.

Additional information is available at:

• The PSPB Operations Manual
• Identifying Plagiarism
• Investigating Possible Misconduct

3. Policy on Electronic Posting

Authors submitting manuscripts for review should be aware of the IEEE policy on “Electronic Information Dissemination”. The policy applies to authors who post part or all of a submitted manuscript on a Web site. The policy is found in the IEEE Publications Services and Products Board (PSPB) Operations Manual, in Sections 8.1.9A and 8.1.9B, as follows:

A. Copyright Notice

The following copyright notice must be displayed on the initial screen displaying IEEE-copyrighted material electronically:

“© 20xx IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, collecting new collected works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.”

B. Electronic Reprints

Upon submitting an article to the IEEE for review and possible publication, the author must add the following notice to the first screen of any of his/her previously posted electronic preprint versions of this paper:

“This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible.”

When IEEE accepts the work for publication, the author must add the IEEE copyright notice shown in Section 8.1.9A to any previously posted versions of the particular paper submitted and provide IEEE with the electronic address (URL, ftp address, etc.) of the primary electronic posting.

When IEEE publishes the work, the author must replace the previous electronic version of the accepted paper with either (1) the full citation to the IEEE work or the pdf of the final accepted manuscript, including the IEEE copyright notice and full citation. Note that the author cannot post the final IEEE version, but can post the final submitted version of the accepted paper.

Research on Human and Animal Subjects

Excerpted from the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) Operations Manual, sections 8.1.1.E. Also see section 8.2.1.B.6.

Authors of articles reporting on research involving human subjects or animals, including but extending beyond medical research, shall include a statement in the article that the research was performed under the oversight of an institutional review board or equivalent local/regional body, including the official name of the IRB/ethics committee, or include an explanation as to why such a review was not conducted. For research involving human subjects, authors shall also report that consent from the human subjects in the research was obtained or explain why consent was not obtained.

Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Generated Text

The use of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in a paper (including but not limited to text, figures, images, and code) shall be disclosed in the acknowledgments section of any paper submitted to an IEEE publication. The AI system used shall be identified, and specific sections of the paper that use AI-generated content shall be identified and accompanied by a brief explanation regarding the level at which the AI system was used to generate the content.

The use of AI systems for editing and grammar enhancement is common practice and, as such, is generally outside the intent of the above policy. In this case, disclosure as noted above is recommended.

Recycling Text

A paper submitted for publication to IEEE should be original work submitted to a single IEEE publication. The paper should not have been published previously and should not be concurrently under consideration for publication elsewhere. The IEEE assumes that material submitted to its publications and information products is properly available for general dissemination for the readership of those publications and products. It is the responsibility of the authors, not the IEEE, to determine if disclosure of their material requires the prior consent of other parties. If prior consent is required, then authors must obtain permission prior to article submission.

Recycling of material in a new document happens when the material in the new document is identical, or substantively equivalent in both form and content, to that of the source. At times, it may be necessary for authors to recycle portions of their own previously published work or to include another author’s material.

When an author recycles text, charts, photographs, or other graphics from his/her own previously published material, the author shall:

1. Adhere to all copyright policies, clearly indicate all recycled material and provide a full reference to the original publication of the material (see also IEEE PSPB Operations Manual, Subsection 8.2.4.G).
2. If the previously published or submitted material is used as a basis for a new submission, clearly indicate how the new submission differs from the previously published work(s).

Conflict of Interest

Conflicts of interest, whether actual, perceived, or potential, must be avoided. IEEE defines a conflict of interest as any situation, transaction, or relationship in which someone’s decisions or actions could materially affect that individual’s professional, personal, financial, or business concerns. A potential conflict of interest occurs when an individual might have a conflict of interest based on his or her responsibility to IEEE. A perceived conflict of interest happens when a third party might reasonably conclude that an individual’s private interests could improperly influence the performance of his or her responsibility to IEEE. Examples of conflicts of interest include: 

• A reviewer evaluates an article written by an author with whom the reviewer frequently collaborates on research projects.
• An editor makes a decision on an article which discusses a product in which the editor has a financial stake.

Reviewers and editors who have a conflict of interest should recuse themselves from the peer review process for that article.

IEEE Compliance With Sanction Laws

As a global organization, IEEE must comply with the laws and regulations of the countries in which it operates, including, but not limited to, the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK), and United States (US). Among these applicable laws are sanction laws, which prevent IEEE from providing certain types of services to, or transacting business with, sanctioned, excluded, and/or designated countries, regions, entities, or individuals. Current sanction laws relevant to IEEE focus primarily on two areas:  

• Comprehensive Sanctions, also called Geographic Sanctions, are country-based economic sanctions that prohibit virtually all activity and transactions involving a certain country. Comprehensive sanctions can also apply to a region within a country.
• List-Based Sanctions target specific persons, entities, and organizations regardless of geographic location, rather than an entire nation, region, or regime. List-based sanctions prohibit transactions with Specially Designated Nationals (“SDN”) and those on the Blocked Persons List.

Compliance With Rules Governing Comprehensive Sanctions

Comprehensive sanctions currently apply to the following countries and regions: Iran, Cuba, Syria, and North Korea, as well as Crimea, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), and the Luhansk People’s Republics (LNR). IEEE may be legally prohibited from undertaking certain collaborations and/or transactions with these countries and regions.

Publishing and Distribution

Under US law, an exemption allows IEEE to publish, sell, and distribute journal, book, and other content to customers located in the countries and regions subject to comprehensive sanctions.

Publishing Services

The US has issued Publishing General Licenses for Iran, Cuba, and Syria. As a result, IEEE may provide publishing services such as peer review, book editing, and marketing services to authors in these countries provided that the authors are:

• Not designated as SDNs
• Publishing in their personal capacity (i.e., not on behalf of the government or an SDN entity)
• Employed by an academic or research institution (even if the institution is controlled by the government) so long as the institution itself is not owned by and/or designated under a program without a Publishing General License

Note that the comprehensive sanctions imposed on North Korea, Crimea, and the DNR and LNR do not include Publishing General Licenses and, therefore, IEEE cannot provide peer review, editing, or other publishing services to authors in those locations.

Compliance With Rules Governing SDNs

Several countries maintain lists of restricted individuals and entities, known as SDNs, with whom it is illegal to conduct business. All authors and other project collaborators should ensure that they meet the criteria to publish under the rules governing SDNs.

Compliance With Rules Governing Regulated Information

In addition, IEEE is required to comply with rules governing the publication of sensitive information (e.g., military, defense-related), known as Regulated Information, that is governed by export control laws. This prohibition on publishing Regulated Information is:

• Narrowly related to information required for the design, manufacture, and operation of military and defense-related items that are governed by export control laws
• Further narrowed by an exception for the publication of general science, math, and engineering principles commonly taught in academic institutions or information that is already in the public domain

Authors must ensure that their submissions do not contain information prohibited from publication by export control or other laws.