The IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems The Information for Authors


The information described herein is subject to change without prior notification. [Last Revised on August 15, 2023]

1. General Guidelines


The IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems covers the following topics, excepting those related to military research and development (see "Appendix D. Editorial Subject Indexes of The Four IEICE Transactions" for more a detailed list).

-Fundamentals of Information Systems
-Computer System
-Software System
-Software Engineering
-Data Engineering, Web Information Systems
-Information Network
-Dependable Computing
-Artificial Intelligence, Data Mining
-Human-computer Interaction
-Office Information Systems, e-Business Modeling
-Educational Technology
-Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology
-Pattern Recognition
-Speech and Hearing
-Image Processing and Video Processing
-Image Recognition, Computer Vision
-Computer Graphics
-Multimedia Pattern Processing
-Natural Language Processing
-Biocybernetics, Neurocomputing
-Biological Engineering
-Music Information Processing
-Kansei Information Processing, Affective Information Processing

1.1 Type of manuscript

PAPER: Includes reports on research, developments, and examinations in the specific fields shown in the category list, as detailed below, the contents of which may advance the development of science and industry:
(1) Reports on new theories, experiments with new content, or extensions of and supplements to conventional theories and experiments.
(2) Reports on developments in measurement technology and various applied technologies.
(3) Reports on the planning, design, manufacture, testing, or operation of facilities, machinery, parts, materials, and others.
(4) Reports on the development of systems or software, and other systems (referred to as Papers on system development)
(5) Reports on the development of datasets (referred to as Papers on datasets)
(6) Presentation of new methods, suggestion of new aspects, ideas, systematization, software, or any new findings regarding the above (1) to (5).

LETTER: Includes the following in terms of range and content, as such as those described for PAPER.
(6) Reports on research for meriting prompt announcement.
(7) Written discussions presenting opinions on articles published in the Transactions.
(8) Critical opinions conceived in relation to research.
The Transactions is a medium where authors can provide and exchange new topics easily and in a timely manner in either form described above. It is the perfect way for readers to acquire new knowledge and information on these topics, actively exchange questions, opinions, etc., and enlighten each other.

SURVEY PAPER: Includes the following, targeting the same range and content as those in the PAPER. Also, SURVEY PAPER shall refer to more than fifty documents encompassing all the documents necessary for a specific field, and not including particular documents.
(9) 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.
(10) 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 the classification of existing documents, provide overviews of the field, evaluate the latest trends and cover other areas in that field.
(11) 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 readers with high-level assessments of the field, while systematically presenting existing research from a set perspective.
(12) Reports that describe developments and results that a researcher or a research group has continuously provided for a certain period with respect to a specific research theme and its spread in the research field. In short, introductions that summarize the history of research of a theme by a researcher or a research group and their impact on academic society and the real world. Currently, only invited papers are accepted.

1.2 Recommendation for non-members to join the IEICE

If there are non-members among the authors, we recommend that the authors take this opportunity to join the IEICE. For detailed information on the IEICE Membership Application, go here. If all authors are non-members, the article processing charge for non-members will be applied, except for invited papers. Also note that OMDP (Overseas Membership Development Program in Section 5.2) is inapplicable if all authors are non-members.

1.3 Originality of manuscript

1.3.1 Copyright compliance

(1) Comply with the IEICE Provisions on Copyright.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) 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

If a submitted material satisfies either condition (1) or (2) below and at least one author fulfills these conditions, the IEICE will consider the material submission to be a "DUPLICATE SUBMISSION" even if it does not violate "1.3.1 Copyright Compliance".
In this case, the IEICE will apply a strict penalty to the author(s) of the submitted material. The IEICE does not consider the written language, but is concerned about the similarity of semantic content.

(1) Material submitted to the IEICE is identical or extremely similar to material that has already appeared or is under review in any journal or elsewhere.
(2) Material submitted to any journal or elsewhere is identical or extremely similar to material that has already appeared or is under review in the IEICE.

Here, "under review" means the state from its submission to one of publication, rejection, or withdrawal. Notwithstanding the above, a submission will not be treated as a duplicate submission if such material falling under the above conditions satisfies at least one of (a) to (f).

(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, the author's own home page or the like

Note that refereed materials among (a) to (f) above must be cited in the submitted material as footnotes or references.

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": Any manuscript that had appeared in "Information Technology Letters" in or before 2007 will not be 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 being a duplicate submission to any other journal, the IEICE Editorial Committee has the right to investigate the situation by exchanging information with the Editorial board of the journal concerned. 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 as well as 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 IEICE transactions and journal for a term of one year or less.
(3) Notification to the Editorial board of the journal concerned about the duplicate submission.
(4) Publication of a notice announcing the cancelation of the paper (or letter) as well as 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 must be exercised when submitting a manuscript bearing personal data such as photographs or names to the transactions. If necessary, written permission must be obtained from the individual(s) concerned.

1.6 Open Access Publishing

All papers published after January 2008 are open to all reader in the world through J-Stage.
Note that this rule may be changed without notice.

1.7 Ethical considerations in research involving human participants

The author(s) must obtain approval from the ethics committee or the equivalent organization within the author's institution for research related to living organisms or the life activity of the participants. However, if the authors in the group belong to different institutions, it is sufficient to obtain approval from at least one of the institutions.

1.8 Authorship

IEICE considers individuals who made substantial contributions, such as the conception or design of the research, the acquisition or analysis of data, and the implementation of experiments, to the completion of the submitted paper, including letter, and who agreed to the content of the paper to be authors. The assignment of authorship to persons other than the above, or the exclusion of persons who should be authors, is a fraudulent act and is strictly prohibited.


2. Process for Initial Submission of a Manuscript


Each submitted manuscript is categorized as either a "PAPER", a "LETTER" or a "SURVEY PAPER". When submitting a manuscript to a Regular Section, the author(s) must register their submission using the "Manuscript Registration Form" provided on our web page. Manuscript Registration Form for Initial Submission


STEP 1:
Register Basic Information, and STEP 2: Register Detailed Information

First, the author(s) must fully assent to IEICE's policy. Then, the following information must be provided.

1. Target journal (IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems)/Section (Regular Section/Special Section)
2. Title of the manuscript
3. Personal information on each author: name, affiliation, membership status, and membership number
4. Detailed information on the corresponding author: affiliation, department, tel./fax number, and e-mail address
5. Type of manuscript (Paper/Letter/Survey Paper).
6. Research field (Editorial Subject Index) chosen from the list in Appendix D.
7. Summary and keyword(s)
8. The Manuscript ID of the previously submitted manuscript if a re-submission.


STEP 3:
Submit Manuscript

Upload a PDF file (limit: 10 MB) for review and editable electronic files (limit: 10 MB per file) for publishing in accordance with the instructions. If the file size exceeds the limit, please contact the IEICE Transactions Section.

The article processing charge will be calculated in accordance with the format (LaTeX or Word) of the electronic source files. Electronic source files using the IEICE LaTeX style file will have a lower article processing charge for the author(s) than those using the Word format. Because the author(s) cannot alter the files once a "Receipt of Manuscript" e-mail is sent, using the IEICE LaTeX style file at the time of submission is recommended to those author(s) who desire a lower article processing charge.


STEP 4:
Copyright Transfer and Article Processing Charge Agreement

The author(s) must agree to the "Copyright Transfer and Article Processing Charge Agreement" by clicking the checkbox on the "Manuscript Registration Form."

After we receive your manuscript, a "Receipt of Manuscript" will be sent to you by e-mail within one week. Please use your Reference Number specified in the "Receipt of Manuscript" if you want to know the review status of your manuscript or when asking questions concerning it. If you have difficulty submitting your manuscript via our web site or you do not receive the "Receipt of Manuscript," please contact the IEICE Transactions Section.

The IEICE Transactions Section:
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 Information and Systems:  trans-d@ieice.org


3. Manuscript Style Specifications


3.1 Length of manuscript

The standard number of pages is 8 for a PAPER and 2 for a LETTER. The maximum number of pages for the initial submission of a LETTER is 4. One page has approximately 900 words. The article processing charge is considerably higher for extra pages, as shown in Appendix B. Authors may not divide a longer manuscript into several shorter manuscripts to reduce the article processing charge.


3.2 Manuscript style

A manuscript must contain the following elements in the order specified below. If there are no figures, photographs or tables, (11) do not apply.

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 LETTER)
5.
Keywords (4-5 keywords)
6.
Body of the manuscript
7.
Acknowledgments, if any
8.
Reference list
9.
Appendix, if any
10.
Photograph and biography of each author (not necessary for a LETTER)
11.
List of captions for 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.
NOTE: The format may not be modified (line spacing, font size, etc.).

(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 article processing charge will be 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 article processing charge will be higher if you use the MS-Word template file.

All contents described in 3.2 have to be included in the file.



3.4 When using IEICE LaTeX style file

Submit a PDF file of the manuscript created by converting the manuscript prepared using the IEICE LaTeX style (ver. 1.5 for PLaTeX2E recommended) to PDF. This PDF file will be referred to in the preparation of the final published version. In the case of a manuscript submitted after a conditional acceptance, the revised parts must 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, must be output as they are. In the case of diagrams that cannot be thus imported into the text, enter the diagram number at the appropriate point in the text, along with the caption, leaving 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 the LaTex source file 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 must be attached.
(d) The minimum line width 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 the line width numerically, do not use the smallest line width.



3.5 When using MS-Word Template file

Submit a PDF file of the manuscript created by converting the manuscript prepared using the MS-Word template to PDF. This PDF file will be referred to in the preparation of the final published version. In the case of a manuscript submitted after a conditional acceptance, the revised parts must not be highlighted in the PDF file of the manuscript to be included in the editable electronic files. In the 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 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 must be saved in their respective special formats.
(c) Save photographs in EPS format. In the 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. Moreover, 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 the preparation of your manuscript, remember that the minimum line width 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 the line width numerically, do not use the smallest 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, photographs and tables must be neat.
4. Color figures, color photographs, and color tables can be included in the manuscript.
5. Electronically produced figures and photographs must 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 must have a width of 8 cm if they are to occupy one column and a width of 16 cm if they are to occupy 2 columns.
7. Printed characters in figures and tables must be 7-point size (minimum) in the final publication.


3.7 References


3.7.1 Style for references

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

Journal papers
[1] H. Rice, A. C. Wine, and B. D. Grain, "Diffusion of impurities during epitaxy," IEICE Trans. Fundamentals, vol.E103-D, no.3, pp.284-290, 2020.

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, https://www.ieice.org/eng/about/explanation_table3.html, accessed Aug. 3. 2009.


3.7.2 Articles with digital object identifier (DOI)

If an article has a DOI, its iinclusion in the citation is recommended.

Example
[6] I. Yamagami and J. Yamashita, "Pattern Recognition with Gaussian Mixture Models," IEICE Trans. Inf. & Syst., vol. E62-D, no. 1, pp. 20-27, Jan. 2014. DOI:10.1587/transinf.2014EDP0001


3.7.3 Citation of references

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


3.8 Multimedia files

The author(s) can also submit multimedia file(s) for the review process. The multimedia file(s) are also published online, if the paper is accepted. No extra charge is required for the multimedia file(s). Currently, the following video and audio files can be submitted.
- mpeg1
- mp4
- wav
- mp3


If the reviewer(s) cannot play the submitted files owing to video/audio format error or other problems, the author(s) must resubmit the file(s) after appropriately encoding the file(s).


The multimedia file(s) must be submitted with other electronic files (limit: 10 MB per file); see Section 2., for details.


3.9 Dataset files

When submitting Papers on datasets, the author(s) must show dataset file(s) for the review process. However, the submission of dataset file(s) in the zipped format is prohibited. The URL of a website where dataset file(s) can be downloaded must be described in a README file. The README file must be submitted with other electronic files as a zipped file (limit: 10 MB per file). If the reviewer(s) cannot check the dataset file(s) owing to video/audio format error or other problems, the author(s) must reupload the file(s) after appropriately encoding the file(s).
The README file will also be published online if the paper is accepted. All information about the dataset must be described in the README file. A sample README file is shown below. Copy and paste the sample and appropriately edit it. Note that [Title / Author], [URL of dataset], [Term of Validity], [Copyright holder(s)], and [Contact Point] must be provided and [Terms and Use 1 and 2] must not be edited, while other terms and conditions can be added and edited by the author(s).


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Title / Author]

Title of the manuscript:
Author(s):
Affiliation(s):
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[URL of Dataset]

URL:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Term of Validity]

The author(s) pledge that the dataset(s) are available at the above URL until at least one year after the publication date. Must the URL be changed before this term of validity, the author(s) must report the new URL to the IEICE Transactions Section. If this pledge is violated, the paper will be withdrawn by IEICE.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Copyright holder(s)]

Copyright holder(s):
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Contact Point]
Name:
Affiliation:
Address:
Phone:
FAX:
E-mail:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Terms of Use]

All copyrights to the Data are owned by the copyright holder(s) stated in the space for names of copyright holder(s). Users may reproduce and use the Data freely in accordance with the following terms and conditions.

1) No guarantee of a certain functionality or objective is made for the Data. Accordingly, Users shall consent to the use of the Data under their own responsibility.

2) The Data is provided to Users free of charge, and neither copyright holder(s) nor the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers assume any obligation to guarantee for direct or indirect loss or loss due to the ripple effect, damage to data and programs, or other intangible property rights, loss of profits through use or unrealized profits arising from use of the Data.

3) All persons who are not copyright holder(s) of the Data are prohibited from publishing the Data without permission.

4) The Data can be used for Research Purposes only and for no other purpose.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Galley Proofs


About 10 weeks prior to 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.
The manuscript will not be published if the authors do not comply with the editorial directions of the Editorial Committee.



5. Article Processing Charge


5.1 Article processing charge

Upon acceptance for publication, all authors, including authors of invited papers, are required to pay the article processing charge to partially cover the cost of publication. Peer review of your manuscript is provided as a service. Authors should note that the manuscript will be withheld from publication, including "Advance Publication", until the payment is completed. If the payment cannot be confirmed within one year, the manuscript will be handled as a rejection and the IEICE Transactions will not accept any manuscript written by any of the authors for one year or less as a penalty. For the Special Section, the period of payment will be shortened.

For sustainable open access publishing of the IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems on J-STAGE, Advance Publication articles will also be made available on J-STAGE, and access to it will be extended to non-members from the November 2024 issue. Accordingly, the article processing charge for each page of papers published from the November 2024 issue will be 1,100 yen higher than before.

The article processing charge will be calculated on the basis of the format (LaTeX or Word) of the electronic source files. The use of the IEICE LaTeX style file incurs a lower article processing charge than the use of the Word format. Because files cannot be replaced after a "Receipt of Manuscript" e-mail is sent to the author, using the IEICE LaTeX style file at the time of submission is recommended to authors who desire a lower article processing charge.

Article processing charge for a standard-length (eight-page) Paper
For manuscripts prepared using the provided IEICE LaTeX style file: 110,220 yen
For manuscripts prepared using the MS-Word template file: 157,080 yen

NOTE: As shown in the Tables for Article Processing Charge (Appendix B), the article processing charges increase sharply for papers that exceed the standard length.

Detailed information on article processing charge is given in Appendix B. Please note that if all authors are non-members, the article processing charge for non-members will apply.


5.2 Overseas Membership Development Program (OMDP) (manuscripts submitted from April 1, 2019)

As part of our effort to support IEICE Overseas Members residing in Asia (except Republic of Korea, Taiwan, China and Singapore), Africa, Central America, and South America, the Overseas Membership Development Program (OMDP) provides a discount on article processing charge. For details on eligibility for each membership grade, please refer to Provisions of Overseas Membership Development ProgramiOMDP).
If the first author of a manuscript meets the requirements of the OMDP, the article processing charges (up to 8 pages for PAPER and 4 pages for LETTER) will be reduced by 60% at the author's request. Furthermore, if the first author is an Overseas Student Member, the article processing charges (up to 8 pages for PAPER and 4 pages for LETTER) will be reduced by 80%. For each page in excess of 8 pages for PAPER and 4 pages for LETTER, full payment of the article processing charges is requested. Any authors who wish to apply for the discount must submit a written request to the OMDP. The discount will only be considered for manuscripts of which the electoronic version 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 article processing charges for all pages will be requested.


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 must register the action with the IEICE, and the original manuscript must 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 must be submitted at the time of initial submission to the IEICE Transactions Section 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 must be prepared with the understanding of the above rules.

(2) When citations from other publications are made, the following must be noted.
(a) Attention must be paid to the copyright of references to be cited.
(b) When figures, tables, and photographs in other books and journals are cited, obtain permission from the authors and publishers holding their copyrights prior to their use.
For details, refer to the IEICE Provisions on Copyright.

7. Review Process


7.1 Review criteria

1. Originality
The author of a manuscript, when another manuscript has priority, shall be obliged to refer to this fact.
Papers on system development and Papers on datasets, even when integrating preexisting technologies, shall be considered for originality from the following viewpoints.
1) Innovativeness in combination (only for Papers on system development),
2) Innovativeness in system/dataset, and
3) Innovativeness in knowledge available from the system/dataset developed.
Papers on datasets shall be considered to be original even if the dataset has been publicly available.

2. Practicality
Manuscripts shall be evaluated as effective when their contents are interesting to readers and their achievements contribute in some way to developing science and technology.
The points of the consideration are the importance of the subject dealt with therein and how far the achievements reported in the manuscript may contribute to the solution of a problem.
It is often the case with Papers on system development that the evaluation of a similar system has not been announced or, even if announced, is difficult to accomplish under common conditions with the developed system. In this case, when a manuscript describes a system such that it is recognized to be totally or partially superior to other similar systems, the manuscript shall be evaluated as effective.
Papers on datasets shall be considered to be practical if the dataset is 1) useful to many researchers or 2) difficult to develop even if it is useful to only a limited number of researchers. To demonstrate the practicality, the manuscript is expected to include contains the experimental results of preexisting/original method(s) using the dataset.

3. Reliability
It shall be the responsibility of the author to ensure the reliability of the manuscript, and his/her sincere efforts towards such responsibility will, as a matter of course ensure reliability.
It shall not be required to describe every calculation and experiment in detail for the evaluation of the reliability of a manuscript.
The following additional considerations shall be necessary.
1) Whether important documents are referred to and evaluated fairly without exception.
2) Whether sufficient comparisons and evaluations with conventional technologies and their results are made, leading to a correct conclusion.
3) Whether sufficient efforts are made using theories, experiments, and simulations to support the conclusion (however, sufficient support may not be required for a manuscript with superior ideas, depending on the field of concern).
4) Whether the conditions used in experiments, etc., are clearly described.
Papers on datasets shall be considered to be unreliable if the dataset has incorrect annotation or similar errors.


7.2 Decision to accept for publication

Taking the judgments of the reviewers into consideration, the Editorial Committee will make one of the following decisions regarding PAPERS and LETTERS.

1. Acceptance:
The manuscript is accepted if it meets the overall criteria described in Section 7.1 and is judged to be of interest to the readers of IEICE Transactions.

2. Conditional acceptance:
The manuscript is conditionally accepted if it, 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 below) that fails to satisfy the conditions will be rejected.

* Revised manuscript submission
A revised manuscript must 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: When revising the manuscript, be aware of the following.
* When the authors make any additions or corrections, the section(s) must be marked so that the Reviewer can clearly identify the changes made.
* As a rule, no change in the list of authors is 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 submitting the revision. When requesting to modify the list of authors, be sure to state that fact in the "Reply Letter". Moreover, prepare a new Copyright Transfer and Article Processing Charge Agreement and submit it to the IEICE Transactions Section in the form of a scanned PDF file or by 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 manuscript is rejected if it does not meet the overall criteria described in Section 7.1 and would require major revisions with excessive editing, or if the subject matter is outside for the scope of IEICE Transactions.


7.3 Resubmission

For manuscripts receiving rejection notices or conditional acceptance notices but are withdrawn at the authors' discretion, a 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 such a manuscript. Upon resubmission, the authors are encouraged to provide the previous paper ID number and a "Reply Letter" to expedite the review process.

7.4 Request for reconsideration

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

(a) Written requests 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 must be recognized as being appropriate, the rejected manuscript shall be reconsidered.
(c) The procedures for 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 Withdrawal of submission

Authors should not withdraw their submitted papers because withdrawal wastes the voluntary efforts of the associate editor and reviewers. However, the withdrawal of a submitted paper will be accepted if the authors can present unavoidable reasons. Authors must follow the procedures shown below when they withdraw their submitted papers.

1. Authors must send a request to withdraw letter by e-mail as an attached scanned PDF file or by FAX to the IEICE Transactions Section before the notification of acceptance for publication. The request to withdraw letter must include the following information.

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

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

2. After the paper is accepted for publication, withdrawal is not permitted, in principle. The authors must pay the article processing charges even when withdrawal is permitted.

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

4. The date of the withdrawal will be given in the notice of permission to withdraw.

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 not be permitted and the authors will be penalized accordingly.

7.6 Expiration of acceptance

If a manuscript is not ready for publication 12 months after the date of acceptance, the acceptance decision will no longer be valid and the manuscript shall be deemed to have been withdrawn by the author(s).


8. Advance Publication

Accepted papers will be published online on the web site of Transactions Online immediately after the payment is completed. Please note that advance publication articles have not been proofread. These articles will be replaced by the finalized versions after proofreading. The date of advance publication is the date of publication of the article.
To cite an advance publication article, the DOI of the article should be used, which is a unique identifier for each article and does not change after its official publication. Although the volume, number and pages are assigned to the article after its official publication, it is recommended that the DOI also be indicated.

Style for listing cited advance publication articles:
[1] I. Yamagami and J. Yamashita, "Pattern Recognition with Gaussian Mixture Models," IEICE Trans. Inf. & Syst., Jan. 2014. DOI:10.1587/transinf.2014EDP0001

Style for listing cited articles after official publication:
The same as that for advance publication articles, or,
[2] I. Yamagami and J. Yamashita, "Pattern Recognition with Gaussian Mixture Models," IEICE Trans. Inf. & Syst., vol.E62-D, no.1, pp.20-27, Jan. 2014. DOI:10.1587/transinf.2014EDP0001


9. Multilingual translation and limited-time open access trial

Papers published after April 2024 will be machine translated into multiple languages when they are published in IEICE Transaction Online. However, advanced publication papers will not be translated into multiple languages. In addition, these papers will be available on open access for a certain period of time.
Authors may be asked to confirm or correct the translation results into their native language after publication.
Click here for more information about the multilingual translation and limited-time open access trial.