Information for Authors

SUBMIT A PAPER Feedback to Editor-In-Chief

Information for Authors

Paper Quality Criteria

Note that the editor-in-chief and topic editors pre-screen manuscripts immediately after they are submitted and before they are transmitted to referees for evaluation. The purpose of such pre-screening is to verify that the manuscript adheres to minimum criteria set forth by IEEE, as well as by the IEEE MTT Society, and the Transactions editor-in-chief. Typical pre-screening measures include the following:

  1. The author(s) have followed the IEEE guidelines for style;
  2. The author(s) have not obviously violated IEEE policies;
  3. The article is comprehensible and meets acceptable standards of English;
  4. The subject and contents of the article meet the scope of the periodical or a specific issue. In this case, the article should be of interest to the THz-community. The IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology publishes original results relevant to the 300 GHz – 10 THz frequency bandwidth. Articles outside this band are considered of interest if the authors include a clear argument on how their results will impact the THz science and technology field.
  5. The article meets a minimum criterion for technical substance established for the periodical, in this case:
    • New and original articles describing significant work and/or ideas not found elsewhere in the literature;
    • The Transactions does not accept incremental submissions. All related previous work by the authors must be referenced, even if it was presented in conference;
    • Theory, measurements, and simulations should be supported by careful comparisons. The T-TST requires at least one different mean of validation, such as numerical simulations for theoretical results, or measurements for simulated results.

Authors should put their work in a context and citing relevant work by others. For instance, authors should cite the most recent papers when comparing performance or characteristics to prior papers. Hence, discuss relevant publications in the introduction and distinguish the new results you present in your current manuscript from those found in previous publications. While there is not a specific criterion that must be met, such as 60% new technical material, the reviewers are asked to determine if the paper provides “sufficient new technical material to justify a new paper” when compared to all previously published papers. This standard must be met by all papers, including papers that are submitted to conference special issues. Please note that the general view is that multiple part papers should be avoided. A paper (or each part) needs to meet all the criteria above, including validation, and stand on its own. Points of attention related to contents:

  • Authors must ensure that their method section includes adequate experimental and characterization data necessary for others in the field to reproduce their work. Please note that it is also possible to supplement your article with multimedia materials.
  • A photograph of any component must be included or measurement set-up in the case of papers on characterization techniques.
  • All papers describing components should include a table that compares the performance to components in the literature.
  • Whenever possible, theory and corresponding experimental results should be printed on the same graph for easy comparison.
  • You should include essential information in the caption. If the figure is repeated or is similar to figures that have appeared elsewhere, please add “From [X].”, “After [X].”, or “Data from [X].” to figure captions, as appropriate, where X refers to the prior publication.
  • Never use acronyms in the title or abstract of your paper and use acronyms sparingly. Avoid jargon – not necessary leaving out technical terms but make sure your language is as clear as possible.
  • Please do not use the same title for your conference and TTST submission.
  • Each reference cited must have a complete list of authors (no et al.), complete titles, first and last pages numbers, month and year. In addition, authors are required to include the Digital Object Identifier (DOI).

Article Template

Format your article for submission by using the Transactions article template, located at http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/use-authoring-tools-and-ieee-article-templates/ieee-article-templates/templates-for-transactions/. Word and LaTeX versions are available.

Article Submission

  1. Format your article for submission by using the IEEE Transactions article template. The minimum page length for this publication and regular paper is 4 pages, excluding the authors’ photos and biographies. Short papers of three pages or less should be submitted as THz Letters. The article template can be used to estimate your article’s number of formatted pages, but the final count will be calculated by IEEE Publishing Operations after article acceptance.
  2. Submit your article text in PDF format. Visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/create-the-text-of-your-article/ for information on writing the abstract, using equations in your article, publishing author names in native languages, and more.
  3. Submit your figures individually in PS, EPS, PDF, PNG, or TIF format. Visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/create-graphics-for-your-article/ for information on resolution, size requirements, file naming conventions, and more.
  4. For information on submitting supplementary material such as graphical abstracts, multimedia, or datasets, visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/prepare-supplementary-materials-for-your-article/.

When you are ready to submit your manuscript for the first time, please follow these steps:

  1. All articles must be submitted via the IEEE Author Portal from August 7th 2023. Author login credentials on ScholarOne will not grant you access to the IEEE Author Portal; please use your IEEE Account instead. Creating an IEEE Account is easy if you happen to need one. Your IEEE Account will also be used for all production-related processes, creating a more streamlined author experience from the point of peer review all the way through to the publication of your article in IEEE Xplore.
  2. Select the type of paper:
  • Regular Paper: the minimum paper length is 4 pages, excluding the authors’ photos and biographies.
  • Letters Paper:  the THz Letters length is normally three pages (two-column template) and should not exceed 5 pages including references. The THz letters do not include author’s photos and biographies.
  • Special Issue Paper: details for submission are provided by guest-editors.
  • Invited Paper: Only by invitation from Editor-in-Chief.
  1. Upload your manuscript in Word or Latex. The system will automatically identified the abstract, title and list of authors. You can edit this pre-filled information in the next steps.
  2. You may provide figures separately if they aren’t embedded in your Main Document.
  3. Upload a statement detailing how your submission differs from the earlier publication(s) together with the relevant publications.
  4. You may upload related supplementary material
  5. You may upload a cover letter for the editorial board
  6. Answer all additional questions

Article Review Process

The articles in this journal are peer reviewed in accordance with the requirements set forth in the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (https://pspb.ieee.org/images/files/files/opsmanual.pdf). Each  published article was reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers using an anonymous peer review process, where the identities of the reviewers are not known to the authors, but the reviewers know the identities of the authors.

You will be notified via email when the editorial board makes a decision with the reviewers’ inputs. The different decisions regarding your paper that you may receive are the following:

  • Accept– the manuscript meets the IEEE T-TST criterion for technical substance and no changes are needed.
  • Minor Revision– the manuscript meets the IEEE T-TST criterion for technical substance and will be most likely accepted after 1-2 rounds, but requires minor changes in terms of format and/or content. The authors are asked to complete those changes in two weeks’ time frame.
  • Major Revision– there are doubts if the manuscript the IEEE T-TST criterion for technical substance. A rejection can still happen in the coming round. The manuscript requires major changes in terms of format and/or content. The authors are asked to complete those changes in one month’s time frame.
  • Reject & Resubmit – the manuscript does not meet the IEEE T-TST criterion for technical substance in its current form. The reviewer’s pointed to major issues that require a longer time frame for the authors to be addressed (3 months). A rejection can still happen in case of resubmission.
  • Reject– the manuscript does not meet the IEEE T-TST criterion for technical substance.

When you received our decision email, please prepare a reviewed manuscript and an author’s response. You should respond to the all comments made by the reviewer(s). Your responses should be implemented in the revised manuscript version and argued in the author’s response letter.

For authors that submitted their papers before August 7th 2023, please continue using our ScholarOne page, https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ieee-thz, for all the steps related to the review process of your paper.

Copyright

It is the policy of the IEEE to own the copyright to the technical contributions it publishes on behalf of the interests of the IEEE, its authors, and their employers, and to facilitate the appropriate reuse of this material by others. To comply with the U.S. copyright law, authors are required to sign an IEEE Copyright Form before publication. Visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/choose-a-publishing-agreement/about-the-ieee-copyright-form/ for more information.

Share Your Code and Data

Increase the impact of your work by sharing your code and data for others to view, build upon, and reuse. IEEE works with Code Ocean, a cloud-based computational reproducibility platform, to make your code discoverable. IEEE DataPort, an online data repository of datasets and data analysis tools, makes your datasets discoverable. Visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/use-authoring-tools-and-ieee-article-templates/about-managing-your-data/ for more information.

English Language Editing Services

English language editing services can help refine the language of your article and reduce the risk of rejection without review. IEEE authors are eligible for a 10% discount at American Journal Experts; visit http://www.aje.com/go/ieee/ to learn more. Please note these services are fee-based and do not guarantee acceptance.

IEEE Policy on AI

The use of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in an article (including but not limited to text, figures, images, and code) shall be disclosed in the acknowledgments section of any article submitted to an IEEE publication. The AI system used shall be identified, and specific sections of the article 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.

Ethics

All IEEE authors are expected to adhere to IEEE’s publishing ethics, including the definition of authorship, the appropriate citation of sources, the accurate reporting of data, and the publishing of original research. Visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/publish-with-ieee/publishing-ethics/ to learn more. All articles submitted for publication should be original and not under consideration elsewhere. If your article is based on a previous publication such as a conference proceeding, cite the original publication and clearly indicate how the articles differ. We will consider papers that are related to material published in conference digests only if the paper is substantially expanded. Please upload PDF files of the previous papers where indicated. Contact the editor-in-chief with any questions on publishing ethics.

IEEE Author Tools

Preparing your article for submission is easy with IEEE Author Tools. Tools are available to help you find the right publication for your research, validate your LaTeX files, and verify your reference list. Visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/use-authoring-tools-and-ieee-article-templates/about-ieee-author-tools/ for more information.

Open Access

The IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology publication is a hybrid journal, allowing either traditional article submission or open access (author-pays OA) article submission. Upon submission, if you choose to have your article be an open access article, you commit to paying an open access fee if your article is accepted for publication in order to enable unrestricted public access. Visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/choose-a-publishing-agreement/open-access-rights-management/open-access-article-processing-charges/ for more information on open access fees. No OA payment is required for traditional submission. The published article will be available to qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore®.

ORCID

All IEEE journals require an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) for all authors. ORCID is a persistent unique identifier for researchers and functions similarly to an article’s Digital Object Identifier (DOI). You will need a registered ORCID to submit an article or review a proof in this journal. Learn more about ORCID at http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/use-authoring-tools-and-ieee-article-templates/about-orcid/ and sign up for an ORCID at  https://orcid.org/register.

Post-Acceptance

If your article is accepted for publication, you will receive emailed instructions regarding your next steps. You may be asked to upload final production-ready files. Shortly after final files are uploaded, you will receive your article proofs for final review, along with instructions on how to review your proofs and submit any corrections. Please note that major changes to your article, including the list of references, are not permitted after the article is accepted for publication. Please contact the editor-in-chief if you have any doubts about whether a modification you wish to make is appropriate.

Article Processing Charges

Upon acceptance of an article for publication, you or your institution will be asked to pay certain page charges if necessary. A mandatory overlength page charge of $200 per page applies to manuscripts in excess of 8 pages.

There is the option for publishing Open Access when submitting the manuscript. In this case, an open-access cost is $2,695 ( $2,495 for articles submitted in 2024) will be billed if the paper is accepted for publication under this format. Some discounts are possible:

  • IEEE Members receive a 5% discount
  • IEEE Society Members receive a 20% discount
  • Discounts cannot be combined
  • Discounts do not apply to undergraduate and graduate students
  • Information about IEEE’s Low and Lower-middle Income Country Program is available 
  • Some institutions offer assistance for open access funding. Check our institutional partners list to see if yours is one.

Visit http://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/your-role-in-article-production/potential-article-processing-charges/ for more information regarding article processing charges for overlength page charges, color printing, or open access.

Details on any applicable charges and how to pay them will accompany your article proofs after the submission of your final file