The IEICE Transactions on Communications The Information for Authors

The IEICE has four Societies, each of which publishes their own English Transactions monthly.
Each society has its own Editorial Committee for its English Transactions.

The information described herein is subject to change without prior notification. [Last Revised on 5 November, 2012]

1. General guidelines

1.1 Type of manuscript

PAPER: Includes reports on research, developments, and examinations performed by the Society's members for the specific fields shown in the category list such as detailed below, the contents of which may advance the development of science and industry:
(1) Reports on new theories, experiments with new contents, or extensions of and supplements to conventional theories and experiments.
(2) Reports on development of measurement technology and various applied technologies.
(3) Reports on the planning, design, manufacture, testing, or operation of facilities, machinery, parts, materials, etc.
(4) Presentation of new methods, suggestion of new angles, ideas, systematization, software, or any new facts regarding the above (1) to (3).

WRITTEN DISCUSSION: To submit opinions to articles published in the Transaction:
(5) Articles that aim to raise members' critical intellect through discussion based on an objective view.

[IMPORTANT NOTICE]
Discontinuance of Letter Category IEICE Transactions on Communications

Since June 1, 2012, letter submissions are no longer accepted except letters on "Written discussions to submit opinions to articles published in the Transaction". The potential authors of regular letters should consider submitting to our society's new on-line journal, IEICE Communications Express (ComEX).

SURVEY PAPER: Includes the following, targeting the same range and content as the PAPER:
(6) Reports that reflect a set understanding of the field involved, and effectively respond to inquiries from researchers or other involved parties about the significance of the field. In short, reports that support entries by new researchers, development by on-site researchers and applications by involved parties in that field.
(7) Reports that differ from tutorials (explanatory articles appearing in journals) in that they demand a high caliber of technical knowledge. In short, reports that envision readers as specialists in the field, place their focus on classification of existing documents, provide overviews of the field, evaluate the latest trends and cover other areas in that field.
(8) Reports targeting major and large-scale fields (areas in which numerous readers have an interest) that effectively develop a basic framework or overall image of that field. In short, summary introductions that will hopefully encourage new research and otherwise supply members with high-level assessments of the field, while systematically presenting existing research from a set perspective.

1.2 Eligibility for submission

At least one of the authors must be an IEICE member when the manuscript is submitted for review. Invited papers are an exception. We recommend that authors unaffiliated with IEICE apply for membership. For detailed information on the IEICE Membership Application, refer to here.

1.3 Originality of manuscript

1.3.1 Copyright Compliance

(1) Do not submit content identical or extremely similar to material that has already appeared under the name of another author(s). Do not reproduce copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder.
(2) Even if you are the author(s) of a manuscript, do not submit it if copyright problems exist, for example, if the copyright is held by a body other than the IEICE and cannot be transferred to the IEICE.
(3) In cases deemed to comprise plagiarism, penalties identical to those assessed in the event of duplicate submission shall be applied.


1.3.2 No Duplicate Submissions

Content identical or extremely similar to material that has already appeared or is in submission elsewhere must not be submitted, either by the same author(s) or by a team including any one of them. Notwithstanding the above, a paper will not be treated as a duplicate submission if all such material appearing therein meets both Criteria 1) and 2) below, and if it is appropriately cited (in the footnotes or references).
1) The material in question does not violate "1.3.1 Copyright Compliance"
2) The material in question is one of the following.
a) a patent publication gazette or the like
b) a university undergraduate thesis, master's thesis, doctoral thesis, technical report, etc.
c) the abstracts, proceedings, etc. of a meeting, seminar, or international conference of the IEICE or other academic organization
d) a book, a corporate technical journal or bulletin etc.
e) a newspaper article or the like
f) a preprint server of a highly public nature, an author's own home page or the like

When an author reuses text, figures, tables, photographs, or other graphics from his/her own previously published material, the author shall:
1. clearly indicate all reused material and provide a full reference to the original publication of the material and
2. if the previously published material is used as a basis for a new submission, clearly indicate how the new submission differs from the previously published work(s).

*Regarding Submission to "Information Technology Letters": The manuscript that had appeared in "Information Technology Letters" in or before 2007 is not accepted as it is. "Information Technology Letters" is published by the IEICE Information and Systems Society, IEICE Human Communication Group and Information Processing Society of Japan.

1.4 Counter measures against duplicate submission

If a manuscript is suspected of duplicate submission to any journal, the IEICE Editorial Committee has the right to investigate the situation by exchanging information with the Editorial board of the concerned journal. When the duplicate submission is confirmed by discreet inquiries, the IEICE Editorial Committee will apply the following sanctions against all the authors of the manuscript.
(1) Immediate rejection of the manuscript in question, and also immediate rejection of all other manuscripts under review that include at least one of the authors of the manuscript in question.
(2) Prohibition of any new submissions to all the IEICE transactions and journal for a term of one year or less.
(3) Notification to the Editorial board of the concerned journal about the duplicate submission.
(4) Publication of a notice that announces the cancelation of the paper (or written discussion), as well as the indication of the cancelation on the web site of Transactions Online, in the case that the manuscript has already been published in our transactions.

1.5 Protection of Personal Information

Sufficient care should be exercised when submitting a manuscript bearing personal data such as photographs or names to the transactions. If necessary, written permission should be obtained from the individual concerned.

2. Process for Initial Submission of a Manuscript

2.1 Process for initial submission

 Each submitted manuscript is categorized as either "PAPER" or "WRITTEN DISCUSSION". When submitting a manuscript to a Regular Section, authors should register their submission using the 'Manuscript Registration Form' provided on our web page. Manuscript Registration Form for Initial Submission




STEP 1:Temporary Registration (by the authors)

1. Register the initial information in the Registration Form.

2. Choose either "Submit on the Web" or "by POST".

2-1

In case of "Submit on the Web"

a)
 Upload a PDF file (upper limit:2MB) for review and editable electronic files (upper limit:5MB per one file) for publishing in accordance with the instructions.
The page charges will be calculated from the format (LaTeX or Word) of the electronic source files.The electronic source files using IEICE LaTeX style file cost author the lower page charges than using Word format. Since author can not replace the files after a "Receipt of Manuscript" e-mail is sent to author, using IEICE LaTeX style file in time of submission is recommended to the author who prefers the lower page charges.

b)

After the registration is completed, "Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration" and "Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement" will be up, and "Notification of Completion for Temporary Registration" will be sent to you by E-mail.

c)

Send "Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement" (one copy) and "Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration" (one copy) by postal mail, fax or e-mail.
2-2
 In case of "by POST"
a)
 After the registration is completed, "Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration" and "Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement" will be up, and "Notification of Completion for Temporary Registration" will be sent to you by E-mail.
b)
 Attach "Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement" (one copy),"Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration" (one copy) to the hardcopy of your manuscripts (PAPER: five copies, LETTER: four copies) and CD-R including editable electronic files for publishing.

*Editable electronic files for publishing : They are source files such as LaTeX, dvi, Word, eps, etc of your manuscript. They must include author's photo and biography.

ATTENTION: Please do not forget to send "Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement" and "Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration". We cannot start the review process without them, even if we receive the manuscript.
If the manuscript is being submitted to a Special Section (Special Issue), all the required items should be sent to the address specified in the Call for Papers. For detailed information on each Special Section (Special Issue), refer to the Call for Papers.


STEP 2:Registration (by IEICE)

After we receive "Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement", "Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration ", and Manuscript, "Receipt of Manuscript" will be sent to you by e-mail. Please use your Reference Number specified in "Receipt of Manuscript", if you want to know the review status of your manuscript or when asking questions. The day on which we receive your manuscript with "Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement" and "Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration" is "Manuscript Received" day.

IN CASE you cannot submit a manuscript on our web, all the following required items should be mailed to the IEICE Publishing Office.

1. Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration
1 copy of the Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration, which includes the information specified in Section 1.2, should be provided. An electronic version of the Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration is available from here
        MS-Word version     HTML version

2. A completed Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement
A copy of the form appears in Appendix A. Please review the agreement and be sure to put your sign it to indicate your acceptance.

3. Manuscript including figures and tables (5 copies for PAPER, 4 copies for WRITTEN DISCUSSION)
See Section 2.2 for manuscript style specifications.

4. Electronic data of the manuscript
A PDF file for review and electronic files for publishing by using CD-R of the manuscript must be submitted. The mailing address is :

The IEICE Publishing Office:
The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers
Kikai-Shinko-Kaikan Bldg., 5-8, Shibakoen 3 chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0011 JAPAN,
Tel:+81-3-3433-6692  Fax:+81-3-3433-6616
E-mail:Trans.on Communications:    trans-b@ieice.org If the manuscript is being submitted to a Special Section (Special Issue), all the required items should be sent to the address specified in the Call for Papers. For detailed information on each Special Section (Special Issue), refer to the Call for Papers.


2.2 Initial information

The following information must be provided on a Confirmation Sheet of Manuscript Registration.

1 .
 Title of the manuscript
2 .
 Personal Information on each author
1. Title (Prof., Dr., Mr., Ms., etc,), Name, Membership Status, Membership Number, E-mail address
2. If the author is a student, then the laboratory name should also be included.
3 .
 Detailed Information on the author for correspondence Affiliation, department, address, Tel/Fax number and E-mail address of the author to be contacted.
4 .
 Categorization of the manuscript type
5 .
 Type of Section (Regular Section / Special Section (Special Issue))
6 .
 Category of Transactions (A: Fundamentals / B: Communications / C: Electronics / D: Information and Systems)
7 .
 Manuscript Type (PAPER / WRITTEN DISCUSSION)
8 .
 The Paper ID Number of the previously submitted manuscript if this is a re-submission.
9 .
 Topic of Research Field (Editorial Subject Index) chosen from the list in Appendix D.


3. Manuscript Style Specifications

3.1 Length of manuscript

The standard number of pages is 8 for a PAPER and 2 for a WRITTEN DISCUSSION. The maximum number of pages for the initial submission of a WRITTEN DISCUSSION is 4. One page has approximately 900 words. The page charges are considerably higher for extra pages as shown in Appendix B. Authors are not allowed to divide a longer manuscript into several shorter manuscripts to reduce the page charges.
3.2 Manuscript style

A manuscript must contain the following elements in the order as specified below. If there are no figures, photographs or tables, (11) and (12) can be omitted.

1 .
 Title
2 .
 Name and membership status (member/non-member) of each author
3 .
 Affiliation and correspondence address
4 .
 Summary (about 300 words for a PAPER, 50 words for a WRITTEN DISCUSSION)
5 .
 Keywords (4-5 keywords)
6 .
 Body of the manuscript
7 .
 Acknowledgments, if any
8 .
 Reference list
9 .
 Appendix, if any
10.
 Author photograph and biography of each author (not necessary for a WRITTEN DISCUSSION)
11.
 Captions for all figures, photographs, and tables
12.
 All figures, photographs, or tables


3.3 Manuscript format

Two formats are available for manuscript submissions. Please prepare your manuscript using either
(1) the IEICE LaTeX style file, or
(2) the MS Word template file.

(1) Preparing your manuscript using the IEICE LaTeX style file
The LaTeX style file provided by the IEICE allows you to produce a manuscript virtually identical to the final published version. If you prepare your manuscript using the LaTeX style file, the page charges are lower. Please refer to the description of the style file for details.
(2) Preparing your manuscript using the MS-Word template file
The MS-Word template file provided by the IEICE allows you to produce a manuscript close to the final published version. Please note however that the page charges are higher if you use the MS-Word template file.

Page charges for a standard-length (eight-page) Paper (50 copies)
For manuscripts prepared using the provided IEICE LaTeX style file: 88,410 yen
For manuscripts prepared using the MS-Word template file: 133,140 yen

NOTE: As shown in the Tables for Page Charges (Appendix B), the page charges rise sharply for papers that exceed the standard length.


3.4 When using an IEICE LaTeX style file

A PDF file of the manuscript should be submitted, created by converting the manuscript as prepared using the IEICE LaTeX style file (ver. 1.5 for PLaTeX2E recommended) to PDF format. This PDF file will be referred to in preparation of the final published version. In case of a manuscript submitted after a conditional acceptance, the revisions should not be highlighted in the PDF file of the manuscript to be included in the editable electronic files. Diagrams created in the LaTeX environment, as well as figures produced electronically and then imported into the text in EPS or other format, should be output as they are. In case of diagrams that cannot be thus imported into the text, enter the number of the diagram at the appropriate point in the text, along with the caption, and leave enough space for the diagram; then, in the margin of the PDF file of the manuscript, enter the number of the diagram to be inserted. When submitting the electronic data of the manuscript and accompanying diagrams, please keep the following in mind:
(a) Attach a LaTeX source file that is basically the same as that used to produce the PDF file of the manuscript in (1). There is no need for figures and such imported in EPS format to be deleted from the source. Nonetheless, be sure to attach the EPS file of the relevant figures in order to prevent errors during compilation.
(b) Save figures and photographs in EPS format. No EPS file is required for figures created using LaTeX functions such as the Picture environment, Pictex, and Epic.
(c) Insert tables directly in the source file of the text using the LaTeX table environment. Tables created using other software can be imported into the text in EPS or other format, in which case an EPS file of the relevant tables should be attached.
(d) The minimum width of line for figures and photographs in the final published version is 0.1 mm; please keep the scale ratio in mind when preparing your manuscript. If preparing figures or photographs in an application that does not allow you to adjust line width numerically, do not use the narrowest line width.



3.5 When using an MS-Word Template file

A PDF file of the manuscript should be submitted, created by converting the manuscript as prepared using the MS-Word template file to PDF format. This PDF file will be referred to in preparation of the final published version. In case of a manuscript submitted after a conditional acceptance, the revisions should not be highlighted in the PDF file of the manuscript to be included in the editable electronic files. In case of diagrams that cannot be imported into the text, enter the number of the diagram at the appropriate point in the text and leave enough space for the diagram; then, in the margin of the PDF file of the manuscript, enter the number of the diagram to be inserted. Manuscripts prepared using the MS-Word template file are converted to LaTeX format at the editing company. When preparing the data, therefore, please keep the following in mind:
(a) Save the data with a filename and extension.
(b) Save figures in EPS format, except those created in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, which should be saved in their respective special formats.
(c) Save photographs in EPS format. In case of photographs saved in PICT format, a resolution of around 300 dpi is recommended.
(d) For tables, save just the contents of each table in text file format, deleting information on layout such as lines and borders. Lay out the contents as in the original table.
(e) Save all data for figures, photographs, and tables together in a single folder separate from the file containing the main text. Also, in an appropriately named text file, save the name (version) of the software used to create the figures and photographs, along with the names of the fonts used.
(f) During preparation of your manuscript, remember that the minimum width of line that can be used for figures and photographs in the final published version is 0.1 mm. If using an application that does not allow you to adjust line width numerically, do not use the narrowest line width.



3.6 Style for figures, photographs and tables

1. All figures, photographs, and tables must be original works of the author(s).
2. All figures, photographs and tables must have captions.
3. Figures and tables must be neat.
4. Color figures, color photographs, and color tables can be included in the manuscript. (This is effective as of July 1, 2011.) As a general rule, color figures, photographs and tables appear in color in the online journal, and they appear in black and white in the printed journal (including reprints). Therefore, special attention should be paid to colors, so that they are visible and distinguishable in black and white print. For example, yellow may not be visible in black and white print. However, color publication in the printed journal is also available at extra charge.
5. Electronically produced photos should be saved on appropriate media for the relevant computer environment. Please note that extremely thin lines and half-tone dot meshing will not appear in the final publication.
6. Figures, photographs, and tables should have a width of 8cm if they are to occupy one column and a width of 16cm if they are to occupy 2 columns. In the case of submission of these items in hard copy, they must be the same scale as of the publication.
7. Printed characters in figures and tables must appear in the final publication at 7-point size(minimum).


3.7 References


 3.7.1 Style for references

References should appear in the format given below. In the case that cited references are written by coauthors, family names and given name initials for each must be given. Titles of journal papers must be all lowercase except for the first letters of the first word. Exceptions are also made for abbreviations and proprietary name. The journal names should be abbreviated as shown in Appendix C: Abbreviated Journal Names. Items referenced should be limited to material that is easily accessible by the public at the date of publication.
Since web pages are subject to revision and deletion, citations of URLs should be avoided in so far as possible, except in the case of standard-setting organizations and other bodies that publish documentation on their web page.

Journal papers
[1] W. Rice, A. C. Wine, and B. D. Grain, "Diffusion of impurities during epitaxy," Proc. IEEE, vol.52, no.3, pp.284-290, March 1964.

Books or edited collections
[2] M. G. F. Fuortes, ed., Handbook of Sensory Physiology, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1972.

One section of a book
[3] H. K. Hartline, A. B. Smith, and F. Ratlliff, "Inhibitory interaction in the retina," in Handbook of Sensory Physiology, ed. M. G. F. Fuortes, pp.381-390, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1972.

Conferences
[4] Y. Yamamoto, S. Machida, and K. Igeta, "Micro-cavity semiconductors with enhanced spontaneous emission," Proc. 16th European Conf. on Opt. Commun., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, no.MoF4.6, pp.3-13, Sept. 1990.

Web pages
[5] Copyright Management Committee, "Standards for requesting the use of copyrighted articles etc. published in the Japanese and English IEICE publications (Except the IEICE Technical Report)," Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, http://www.ieice.org/eng/about/explanation_table3.html, accessed Aug. 3. 2009.

3.7.2 Citation of references

 References should be cited by number in brackets, e.g. [12]. Superscript format should not be used.



4. Galley Proofs

In general, a submitted manuscript would be published in the IEICE Transactions three months after acceptance. About 6-7 weeks prior to the publication, authors will be asked only once to proofread the galley proofs. In revising the manuscript, only misprints may be changed. Be aware that we do not accept any change in the authors' names including the order of the listed authors. Our editorial policy does not allow modification in title or authors' names except that authors have the justifiable reason.



5. Page Charges

5.1 Page charges

All authors, including authors of invited papers, are required to pay for the page charges to partially cover the cost of publication. Peer review of your manuscript is provided as a service. Authors are entitled to 50 reprints of their article.
The page charges will be calculated from the format (LaTeX or Word, etc) of the electronic source files. The electronic source files using IEICE LaTeX style file cost author the lower page charges than using Word format. Since author can not replace the files after a "Receipt of Manuscript " e-mail is sent to author, using IEICE LaTeX style file in time of submission is recommended to the author who prefers the lower page charges.

Page charges for a standard-length (eight-page) Paper (50 copies)
For manuscripts prepared using the provided IEICE LaTeX style file: 88,410 yen
For manuscripts prepared using the MS-Word template file: 133,140 yen

NOTE: As shown in the Tables for Page Charges (Appendix B), the page charges rise sharply for papers that exceed the standard length.
Detailed information on page charges is given in Appendix B. An invoice will be sent to author together with the reprints after publication. Detailed instructions on payment methods will accompany the invoice.


5.2 Penalties for failure to pay for page charges

If payment is not completed within one year after publication, we will prohibit all the authors of the unpaid manuscript from submitting any new submissions to the IEICE Transactions. Additionally the already-published manuscript might be cancelled. The prohibition shall continue until the payment is confirmed.
For authors with IEICE membership who paid their membership fees by credit cards: If payment is not completed within one year after publication, we will withdraw the page charges from one of the credit cards. All IEICE members in the authors are subject to this collection.



5.3 Overseas Membership Development Program (OMDP)

As part of our effort to support IEICE Overseas Members residing in Asia (except Republic of Korea, Taiwan, China and Singapore), Africa, Central America & South America, the Overseas Membership Development Program (OMDP) provides a discount on page charges. For details on eligibility for each Membership grade, please refer to our web site: http://www.ieice.org/eng/member/OM-appli.html.
If the first author of a manuscript meets the requirements of the OMDP, the page charges will be reduced by 60% at the authors request. Furthermore, in case that the first author is an Overseas Student Member, the page charges will be reduced by 80%. (For further information, please refer to the table of page charges of the OMDP (http://www.ieice.or.jp/eng/shiori/appb.html). Any authors who wish to apply for the discount should submit a written request to the OMDP.The discount will only be considered for manuscripts of which an electronic version of the manuscript is submitted in the format specified by the IEICE LaTex style file provided by the IEICE. Failure to follow any of the above procedures will disqualify the applicant from receiving the discount, and full payment of the page charges will be requested.
NOTE: Because of the recent rapid economic development of China and Singapore, applications from members of these countries for the IEICE Overseas Membership Development Program(OMDP) are no longer accepted from April 2011. (The discount on page charges by OMDP is not provided to author(s) whose manuscript is submitted after April 1, 2011 (JST).)



6. Copyright

The copyrights of all articles in the Transactions published by the IEICE are automatically transferred to the IEICE. However, the original authors retain the right to copy, translate or modify their own manuscripts.
In cases when a manuscript is translated into another language or when any portion of the manuscript is to be submitted to another publication, authors should register the action with the IEICE, and the original manuscript should be clearly cited in the publications.

(1) When transfer of the copyright of the manuscript to the IEICE is difficult for any of the following exceptional reasons, a report should be submitted at the time of initial submission to the IEICE Publishing Office for further discussion.

(a) Author(s) do not desire to transfer the copyright of an article contributed as a special lecture at a conference.
(b) Contents of an article jointly belong both to the author and to an organization to which the author belongs, and the organization will not permit copyright transfer of the manuscript. Manuscripts should be prepared upon understanding of the above rules.
(2) When citations from other publications are made, the following should be noted.
(a) Attention should be paid to the copyright of references to be cited.
(b) When references to figures, tables, and photos in other books and journals are cited, obtain permission from authors and publishers holding their copyrights prior to their use. For the detail, refer to the IEICE Provisions on Copyright.

7. Review Process

7.1 Review criteria

There are three basic criteria upon which a review is based.

1. Originality: Has/Have the author(s) contributed original work that has added new information or knowledge to previous work?
2. Practicality: Are the results useful from an academic or industrial viewpoint?
3. Reliability: Are the results reliable from the readers' point of view?


7.2 Decision to accept for publication

Based on the judgments of the reviewers, the Editorial Committee will make one of the following decisions regarding PAPERS and WRITTEN DISCUSSIONS.

1. Acceptance:
The decision is made if the manuscript meets the overall criteria described in Section 7.1,and is judged to be of interest to the readers of the IEICE Transactions. There are two cases. The first case is that the manuscript is accepted as it is. The second case is that the manuscript is accepted under the condition that the English of the manuscript should be improved according to the suggestions made by the Associate Editor. The IEICE could provide free services for correcting English grammar for authors who are with non-profit organizations, in which case the authors should contact the IEICE Publishing Office in advance

2. Conditional acceptance:
The decision is made if the manuscript in its present form does not meet the overall criteria described in Section 7.1, but is judged to be capable of meeting them with revision. The conditional acceptance is made only once, and a revised manuscript (described in below) that fails to satisfy the conditions will be rejected.

* Revised manuscript submission
A revised manuscript should be resubmitted within 60 days of the date of acknowledgement of Conditional Acceptance. If the 60 days limit is exceeded, and there are no extenuating circumstances, then the manuscript will be considered as a new submission. The time limit may be shortened for Special Sections (Special Issues). The author(s) must attach an accompanying letter to the Associate Editor indicating how they have revised the manuscript in accordance with the Reviewer's and Associate Editor's comments.
NOTE : In revising the manuscript, be aware of the following.
* When the Authors make any additions or corrections, the section(s) should be marked so that the Reviewer can clearly identify the changes made.
* No change in the list of authors is as a rule permitted. Nonetheless, if in the process of revising a manuscript the need arises to expand or reduce the list of authors or modify the order of their names, a request can be submitted by attaching a written explanation at the time of the revision. When requesting to modify the list of authors, be sure to state that fact in the "Reply Letter". Also, prepare a new Copyright Transfer and Page Charge Agreement and submit it to the IEICE Publishing Office by a scanned PDF file, fax or post. Your request will be accepted if the Editorial Committee deems the reasons cited in the written explanation valid. No change in authorship is permitted once a manuscript has been finally accepted.

3. Rejection:
The decision is made if the manuscript does not meet the overall criteria described in Section 7.1 and requires major revisions with excessive editing, or if the subject matter is not suitable for the scope of the IEICE Transactions.


7.3 Resubmission

For manuscripts receiving rejection notices or of manuscripts receiving conditional acceptance notices but withdrawn at authors' discretion, the revised version of the manuscript may be resubmitted. Authors are required to take the same steps as the initial submission when submitting a revised version of the manuscript. Upon resubmission, the authors are encouraged to provide the previous paper ID number and the "Reply Letter" to expedite the review process.

7.4 Request for Reconsideration

Authors who have received rejection notices may request reconsideration on the part of the Editorial Committee. This shall be done by clearly stating the specific reasons for the request by writing on a separate sheet under the title "Formal Complaint."

(a) Written request shall be accepted for reconsideration. The deadline for submission is within 60 days of the date of the rejection notice. When requesting reconsideration, no amendments or additions to that manuscript shall be accepted.
(b) The Editorial Committee shall carefully study the claims and if they should be recognized as being appropriate, the rejected manuscript shall be reconsidered.
(c) The procedures for the reconsideration of the manuscript shall be in accordance with the normal review procedures.
(d) Requests for reconsideration shall be limited to one request per manuscript.

7.5 Withdraw Submission

Authors should not withdraw their submitted papers because the withdrawal wastes voluntary works devoted by an associate editor and reviewers. But, we accept the withdrawal of a submitted paper if authors have unavoidable reasons. Authors must follow the procedures shown below when they withdraw their submitted papers.

1. Authors must send a withdraw request letter by e-mail with its scanned PDF file or by FAX to the IEICE Publishing Office before the notification of acceptance for publication. The withdraw request letter must include the following information.

(a) Paper number
(b) Paper title
(c) Authors names
(d) Reason why the paper must be withdrawn
(e) Date and signatures of all the authors (or signature of the contact author)

If only the contact author signs the letter, he/she must obtain the agreement of the withdrawal from all the other authors and the letter must include the description that all the other authors agreed the withdrawal.

2. After the paper is accepted for publication, the withdrawal is not permitted in principle. The authors must always pay the page charge even if the withdrawal is permitted.

3. The Editor-in-Chief of the Transactions decides whether the withdrawal is allowable or not. The IEICE Publishing Office will send the authors the decision of the Editor-in-Chief. If the authors don't receive any reply from the IEICE Publishing Office, they must send an inquiry about the withdrawal to the office.

4. The date of the withdrawal is given in the permission.

5. Any request of withdrawal that does not follow the above procedure is treated as invalid.
If illegal submission, e.g., plagiarized or duplicate submission, is found for a paper, the withdrawal of the paper will never be permitted and the authors will be punished based on the rule.