Author Guide for ReView Submissions - IET Hybrid Journals

In partnership with Wiley, the IET have taken the decision to convert its hybrid journals from a library/subscriber pays model to an author-pays Open Access (OA) model effective from the 2021 volume, which is now in effect for all new submissions to the journals.

All of the IET journals have migrated to a new electronic peer-review management system using ScholarOne which is now open for all new submissions. Authors of new submissions should follow the ScholarOne Author Guide available here.

Any papers that have been submitted to the journal prior to the system migration will continue to run in ReView and authors of these submissions should continue to use the Author Guide on this page or one of the specific journal author guides below:

• Author Guide for ReView Submissions - IET Power Electronics
• Author Guide for ReView Submissions -Micro & Nano Letters

If you are uncertain of which Author Guide to refer to, please contact [email protected]

1. Contact information
2. Manuscript submission
3. Multiple submission
4. Cover letter
5. Manuscript presentation
6. Publication options
7. Colour reproduction
8. After acceptance
9. Copyright and Open Access Licence
10. Pre-submission editing services

1. Contact information

1.1. If you cannot find the information you are looking for on this page, please contact the journal's editorial assistant by following the Editorial Contact link on the relevant journal homepage. For general enquiries please contact [email protected].
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2. Manuscript submission

2.1. There is no charge for submitting to our journals.

We have become aware of fraudulent emails appearing to be from the IET requesting payment. The IET only uses @theiet.org or emails generated from our submission system come from [email protected]. We do not use Gmail, Hotmail, Protonmail, 163.com or any other email domains to contact authors. Please do not transfer any funds for submission. If you have any questions or believe you are being contacted regarding payment for submission please contact the IET at [email protected].

2.2. We use River Valley’s ReView as our manuscript submission and peer review site. Please follow the “Submit your paper” link on each journal’s home page to ensure you submit your paper to the correct manuscript submission and peer review site. Original papers should be submitted as a single PDF or Word file that includes all figures and tables.

2.3. If the paper is intended for a specific special issue, please make this clear when uploading your paper.

2.3.1. Revised papers should be submitted in their source file format (.doc, docx or .tex files for text and .eps, .jpeg, .tif or .pdf files for figures). If your paper has been prepared using LaTeX, please also upload a single .pdf file of the paper together with the LaTeX source file and the figures.

2.4. All papers are pre-screened to ensure that only the most significant are sent for review. Please ensure that your manuscript satisfies the following points:

2.4.1. Originality: is the work scientifically rigorous, accurate and novel? Does the work contain significant additional material to that already published? Has its value been demonstrated?

2.4.2. Please be aware that all submissions to IET publications will now go through Ithenticate’s CrossCheck software which is a multi-publisher initiative to screen published and submitted content for originality. We use CrossCheck to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Click here to find out more about CrossCheck.

2.4.3. Our policy is to reject manuscripts found to contain duplication of previously published work. For further information please see the IET Policy in Relation to Plagiarism, Infringement of Copyright and Infringement of Moral Rights and Submission to Multiple Publications .

2.4.4. Motivation: does the problem considered have a sound motivation? Does the paper clearly demonstrate the scientific interest of the results?

2.4.5. Referencing: has reference been made to the most recent and most appropriate work? Is the present work set in the context of the previous work?

2.4.6. Clarity: is the English clear and well written? Poorly written English may obscure the scientific merit of your paper. Are the ideas expressed clearly and concisely? Are the concepts understandable?

2.4.7. Please note that IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution does not accept papers in multiple parts (submissions entitled ‘Part I’, ‘Part II’, etc.). All papers submitted should be self-standing and not reliant on any other publication.

2.5. Manuscript submission - further information for IET Circuits, Devices & Systems

2.5.1. Please note that we are not able to consider any previously rejected papers in IET Circuits, Devices & Systems, and any such papers submitted for consideration to this journal will be automatically rejected.

2.6. Manuscript submission - further information for IET Control Theory & Applications

2.6.1. IET Control Theory & Applications publishes both 'Brief' and 'Regular' papers:

2.6.2. Regular Papers - detailed discussions involving new research, applications or developments.

2.6.3. Brief Papers - brief presentations of new technical concepts and developments.

2.6.4. The distinction between regular papers and brief papers is not one of quality, but of nature. Normally, a brief paper will have one main point to make, which can be done succinctly and clearly, whereas a regular paper will be a more detailed and in-depth treatment of a problem area.

2.6.5. Due to changes in our typesetting workflow, we have changed our submission templates to a double column format to ensure high quality and streamlined typesetting of our authors' papers, subject to acceptance. Please ensure that you adhere to the formatting instructions laid out in either the Word version here or the Latex version here when submitting for review.

2.7 Manuscript submission - further information for IET Computer Vision

2.7.1 The authors of all submitted papers are required to include a cover sheet with answers to the questions and requirements listed below:

• What is the theoretical foundation of your work?
• Please provide a brief outline of the main contributions of your paper.
• What is the closest work to that reported in your manuscript and the differences with that work?
• Please confirm your paper includes a substantial review of the state of the art and includes comparative evaluation of your work against one or more other works, preferably on a publicly available dataset.
• Please confirm that this submission is your original work.

2.8. Manuscript submission - further information for IET Systems Biology

2.8.1. For papers that contain a mathematical model (described in ordinary differential equations), IET Systems Biology offers the opportunity for specialist refereeing of such articles plus online publication of live versions of the models for accepted manuscripts.

2.8.2. In parallel to their manuscript file, authors are requested to submit their model description either in SBML format or as an ASCII text file. If a text file is used then reaction stoichiometries, rate equations, parameter values and initial conditions, i.e. everything that is needed to program the model, must be specified following the instructions given at http://jjj.biochem.sun.ac.za/journals/ietsysbiol/submit.html. The model file should be sent as an email attachment to Prof. Jacky Snoep at: [email protected] and cc'd to: [email protected], quoting the manuscript ID number. At this stage the model will be converted into a replica that can be run over the Internet only by the reviewers of the paper. If the paper is accepted for publication in IET Systems Biology, the model will subsequently be made freely accessible online.

2.8.3. Authors have the option to upload supplementary material as part of their submission. Supplementary material most often consists of data, figures and tables and if a paper is accepted for publication, then the supplementary files will be published alongside the online version. Supplementary material will be published as it stands when it is submitted to us and so authors should ensure that the content is formatted properly in the files uploaded. It is important that authors only mark supplementary data as such when uploading files. The main paper, previous conference papers, cover letter etc. should be marked as ‘Main Document’. For further information on the acceptable file types, please click here.
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3. Multiple submission

3.1. Your manuscript must not be under consideration for any other publication while it is being considered by the IET. Please read the IET Policy in Relation to Plagiarism, Infringement of Copyright and Infringement of Moral Rights and Submission to Multiple Publications carefully, or contact the relevant editorial assistant if you are in any doubt.

3.2. If your manuscript has been considered and rejected by any other publication, it is imperative that this is stated in the cover letter.
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4. Cover Letter

4.1. Cover letters are required for all submissions.

4.2. Cover letters must include a statement of originality and confirmation that this paper has not been submitted to any other journals.

4.3. If your manuscript has previously been submitted to this or any other journal (including other IET journals) and subsequently rejected, you must provide copies of all correspondence involving the earlier submission including the final decision letter. You must also include an additional document detailing how you have improved your paper from the previous rejected version. Please upload this document alongside both your submitted manuscript file and your cover letter. Failure to do so may cause delays or interruptions to paper processing and will result in the rejection of your manuscript.

4.4. If your manuscript was previously a conference paper please attach the paper and details of how the manuscript has been expanded.
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5. Manuscript presentation

5.1. Submission template: we have recently updated our submission templates to a double column format. For our Microsoft Word submission template, please download the file here. For our LaTeX template, please download the zipped file here; these templates contains specific information regarding the formatting, layout and policies for submissions to IET Research Journals. Additional information regarding submissions can also be found in the following subsections.

5.2. Length: original research articles, case studies and brief papers submitted to IET Research Journals should conform to a maximum length of 12 pages when formatted using our double column template provided in section 5.1. Review articles, which summarise current research in a particular area, have a maximum length limit of 18 pages. Comment papers, that critique already published papers, should be no more than 4 pages in length. These guidelines include all content such as the abstract, figures, references and the appendices.

5.3. Format: papers must be typed in a font size no smaller than 10 pt and should be in standardised fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial. All pages should be numbered. 

5.4. Language, spelling and grammar: all papers must be written in UK English. If English is not your first language, you should ask an English-speaking colleague to proofread your paper. Papers that fail to meet basic standards of literacy are likely to be unsubmitted by the Editorial Office.

5.5. Author affiliations: these should immediately follow the title. For multiple-authored articles, list the full names of all the authors, followed by the full postal and email addresses, using identifiers to link an author with an address where necessary. If an author's present address is different from the address at which the work was carried out, this should be given as a footnote. All co-authors must be listed on the manuscript submission and peer review site as part of the submission process.

5.6. Abstract: this should be informative and suitable for direct inclusion in abstracting services as a self-contained article. It should not exceed 200 words. It should indicate the general scope and also state the main results obtained, methods used, the value of the work and the conclusions drawn. No figure numbers, table numbers, references or displayed mathematical expressions should be included. The abstract should be included in both the manuscript submission and peer review site submission steps and in the submitted paper.

5.7. Figures and figure captions

5.7.1. Figures will be reproduced exactly as supplied, with no redrawing or relabelling. It is therefore imperative that the supplied figures are of the highest possible quality. The preferred format is encapsulated postscript (.eps) for line figures and .tif for halftone figures with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch).

5.7.2. Each figure should be explicitly referred to in numerical order and should be embedded within the text at the appropriate point.

5.7.3. A maximum of four subfigures will be allowed per figure.

5.7.4. Colour figures may be used online at the request of the author (see Colour Reproduction section below).

5.8. Tables

5.8.1. Tables should be referred to explicitly in the text. Tables should be referred to in numerical order.

5.9. Mathematics and equations

5.9.1. When writing mathematics, avoid confusion between characters that could be mistaken for one another, e.g. the letter 'l' and the figure one.

5.9.2. Equations should be capable of fitting into a two-column print format.

5.9.3. Vectors and matrices should be in bold italic and variables in italic.

5.9.4. If your paper contains superscripts or subscripts, take special care to ensure that the positioning of the characters is unambiguous.

5.9.5. Exponential expressions should be written using superscript notation, i.e. 5x10³ not 5E03. A multiplication sign should be used, not a dot.

5.9.6. Refer to equations using round brackets, e.g. (1)

5.10. Footnotes

Please be aware that it is the IET house style not to include footnotes in the text. If footnotes are included in a paper they will be moved into the main body of text during the typesetting. 

5.11. References

5.11.1. You should number your references sequentially through the text, and each reference should be individually numbered and enclosed in square brackets (e.g. [1]).

5.11.2. Please ensure that all references in the reference list are cited in the text and vice versa. Failure to do so may cause delays in the production of your article.

5.11.3. Please also ensure that you provide as much information as possible to allow the reader to locate the article concerned. This is particularly important for articles appearing in conferences, workshops and books that may not appear in journal databases.

5.11.4. Do not include references for papers that have been submitted and not accepted for publication. Papers that have been accepted for publication are allowed as long as all information is provided.

5.11.5. Please provide all author name(s) and initials, title of the paper, date published, title of the journal or book, volume number, editors (if any), and finally the page range. For books and conferences, the town of publication and publisher (in parentheses) should also be given.

5.11.6. If the number of authors on a reference is greater than 6 please list the first 3 authors followed by et al.

5.11.7. An average research paper should reference between 20 and 30 works, the bulk of which should be recently published (i.e. within the last 5 years) leading-edge articles in the field, preferably from top journals or conferences. You should compare your own findings to this recent research and demonstrate how your work improves on it in order to demonstrate that your work shows a significant advance over the state of the art - a pre-requisite for publication in IET Research Journals.

5.12. Examples of the ways in which references should be cited are given below:

Journal article

• Smith, T., Jones, M.: 'The title of the paper', IET Syst. Biol., 2007, 1, (2), pp. 1–7
• Borwn, L., Thomas, H., James, C., et al.:'The title of the paper, IET Communications, 2012, 6, (5), pp 125-138

Conference paper

• Jones, L., Brown, D.: 'The title of the conference paper'. Proc. Int. Conf. Systems Biology, Stockholm, Sweden, May 2006, pp. 1–7

Book, book chapter and manual

• Hodges, A., Smith, N.: 'The title of the book chapter', in Brown, S. (Ed.): 'Handbook of Systems Biology' (IEE Press, London, 2004, 1st edn.), pp. 1– 7
• Harrison, E.A., and Abbott, C.: 'The title of the book' (XYZ Press, New York, 2005, 2nd edn. 2006)

Report

• IET., 'Report Title' (Publisher, 2013), pp. 1-5

Patent

• Brown, F.: 'The title of the patent (if available)'. British Patent 123456, July 2004
• Smith, D., Hodges, J.: British Patent Application 98765, 1925

Thesis

• Abbott, N.L.: 'The title of the thesis'. PhD thesis, XYZ University, 2005

Standard

• BS1234: 'The title of the standard', 2006

Website

• 'Research Journals', http://www.theiet.org/resources/journals/research/index.cfm, accessed April 2006

5.13. Appendices and supplementary material

Additional material, e.g. mathematical derivations, that may interrupt the flow of your paper's argument should form a separate Appendix section. Do not, however, use appendices to lengthen your article unnecessarily. If the material can be found in another work, cite this work rather than reproduce it.
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6. Publication options

6.1. Two Publication Options

The IET's hybrid journals offer authors a choice of publication options. Firstly, there is the standard Subscription Access option where authors assign copyright to the publisher. We are now also offering an Open Access option under one of four Creative Commons Licences, with the author retaining copyright for their work. If you choose to publish your paper Open Access please be aware that there is an Article Processing Charge (APC) of $2,000 USD. IET Cyber-Physical Systems: Theory and Applications is a fully open access journal with APCs waived in 2018.

6.2. Subscription Access Option

6.2.1. There is no charge to authors for this option which requires assignment of copyright to the Publisher. The published paper will be made available to subscribers.

6.3. Open Access Option

6.3.1. The IET Research Journals now offer authors the option of publishing their paper Open Access using a Creative Commons Licence (see Copyright and Open Access Licence section). If this licence type is chosen, upon acceptance of the paper, the authors will be required to pay the Article Processing Charge (APC) of $2,000 USD. The paper is then freely available to all with permitted reuse depending on licence type.

6.4. Payment for Open Access

6.4.1. The IET has partnered with Copyright Clearance Center, Rightslink who will facilitate the fee collection process. Once your paper is accepted for publication you will be contacted by Rightslink with instructions on how to pay your fees. All fees must be paid within 3 weeks of acceptance; failure to pay your fees in a timely fashion may result in your being debarred from publishing Open Access with the IET.

6.4.2. IET members are eligible for a 15% discount on their fees. The IET also offers fee waivers for researchers in developing countries, determined using the criteria* set by Research4Life, which provides free or low-cost access to scientific journals, books and databases for scientists, practitioners, students and faculty in the developing world. Researchers in other territories who can demonstrate a genuine need will also be considered for waivers. They should contact the Editorial Office once their paper has been accepted to make their appeal.

6.4.3. The choice of publication is made after acceptance and will not affect the peer review process or decision to publish.
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7. Colour reproduction

7.1. Colour reproduction is only available online at the request of the author.

7.2. If you would like your paper to appear in colour in the online version, please contact the Editorial Office once you have received your proof for corrections.

7.3. When you supply source files at the submission of a revised paper, please ensure that your figures are appropriate for print in black and white as well as online in colour.

7.4. Colour online is a free service.
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8. After acceptance

8.1. Publishing on acceptance

Once we have received the licence form and your paper is ready to move into production it will be published on our Digital Library platform as part of our publishing on acceptance service.

The paper that is published at this stage will be an exact copy of the paper submitted for the last round of review. In order to ensure that the published version of the paper is an acceptable standard, you may wish to upload a clean version of your paper without your response to previous reviewer comments. Also, the title and author names will be based on your manuscript submission and peer review site submission questions and accounts; please make sure these are up-to-date before completing the submission of your paper.

Please be aware that changes cannot be made to the published accepted version of your paper at any stage. The accepted version will be replaced on the Digital Library with the typeset e-First version upon completion of production of your article.

8.2. Proof correction

8.2.1. You will receive an email with your typeset proof attached for correction purposes. We ask you to return your corrections within 3 working days of receiving the email. Note that your paper will be published online in advance of printed publication and it is therefore in your interest to return your corrections to us as soon as possible. Major revisions, e.g. rewriting of whole sections, or the addition of figures, are not permitted at this stage. Also, changes with regards to authors or co-authors (additions or removals) cannot be made after the paper has been accepted.

8.2.2. Do not supply an original manuscript, an updated manuscript nor an edited proof at the corrections stage. Corrections should be indicated in list form by giving the precise location of each correction (page and line number). This should be limited to 1 A4 page.

8.2.3. We will send out two chase emails, one to the corresponding author and one to all authors. If we do not receive corrections within this time, due to a tight production schedule, your paper will be published as it stands. No changes or erratum will be made after this.

8.2.4. You will not be able to view the final proof after your corrections have been submitted.

8.3 E-First

The IET have now introduced an e-First publication service for our authors and readers where, once papers are ready for publication, they will appear online on the IET Digital Library (https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals) in advance of print publication.

E-First articles that have not yet been published in a print issue should be cited in this format:

Wu, Y., Liu, W.: 'Title of paper', IET Wirel. Sens. Syst., 2014, doi:10.1049/iet-wss.2013.0065 

8.4. Complimentary copies

When all corrections have been made, we will send the corresponding author a PDF copy of their paper. No further changes can be made after this time. Please note that this is subject to the terms and conditions of our author self-archiving policy.
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9. Copyright and Open Access Licence

9.1. Right to publish

An author submitting a paper should ensure that he or she has the right to publish the paper and that it contains nothing defamatory. The IET will assume that all co-authors have agreed to the submission of any paper received.

9.2. Copyright form for subscription access

Authors who choose to publish through the subscription access model will be required to fill in the online copyright form in the manuscript submission and peer review site. The submitting author should sign on behalf of all co-authors.

Unless the paper is either 'United Kingdom Crown copyright' or 'a work of the US Government and in the Public Domain', the Bylaws of the IET require that copyright should belong to the IET.

9.3. Open Access: Creative Commons Licences

Authors who choose to publish their papers Open Access in the IET Research Journals will be asked to sign a Creative Commons Licence as opposed to a copyright form. All Creative Commons Licence types will incur an Article Processing Charge (APC) of $2,000 USD. These licences allow the author to retain the copyright to their work. As we offer a number of different licence options for authors, it is advised that authors take some time to consider which licence they would like to use when they submit their paper so as not to delay the publication of the paper on acceptance. Authors whose work is funded by the Wellcome Trust or Research Councils UK must sign the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY). Other licences available are: Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND), Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) and Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND). For more information on these options, please see below.

Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) This licence lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licences offered, recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licenced materials. (If your work is funded by The Wellcome Trust or Research Councils UK you must use this licence.)
Preview licence

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND) This licence allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.
Preview licence

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) This licence lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don't have to licence their derivative works on the same terms.
Preview licence

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) This licence is the most restrictive licence we offer, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.
Preview licence

9.4 Permissions to reproduce

9.4.1 Where copyright has been assigned to the IET, if you wish to make use of previously published illustrations, diagrams or photographs in your paper, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes, you must obtain the written permission of the Editorial Office.

9.4.2 The IET will not make a charge where the work is being reproduced for non-commercial purposes, e.g. teaching, research presentations, etc.

9.4.3 Charges apply where IET copyrighted material is being reproduced for commercial purposes, e.g. book chapters or review articles.

9.4.4 The source of the material must also be acknowledged in full.

9.4.5 Please note, all authors have to obtain their own permissions for re-used text, figures and tables which do not belong to the IET in their submitted papers.
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10. Pre-submission editing services

The IET has partnered with Editage to provide editorial services to authors submitting to IET Journals. The services will help authors craft well-written manuscripts for submission to the journal of their choice. Prior to submitting your manuscript, you may wish to have it edited for correct use of English, particularly if English is not your first language. This is not compulsory but it may assist the journal editors and reviewers to fully understand the content of your paper.
NB: Use of the Editage service does not guarantee that your manuscript will be sent out for peer review or accepted for publication.

If you would like more information on the language editing facility offered by Editage, an independent editorial service, please visit their IET microsite where you will receive a 15% discount on the services available.

There are a large number of language-editing services available and you would be free to use any of these. Note that authors are liable for all costs associated with language editing and the IET does not accept any responsibility for the level of service provided.