I am not sure if my paper is within TMI's scope, can I send the manuscript to the Editorial Office or EiC for a quick check?

It is the TMI's policy to only consider manuscripts submitted via ScholarOne Manuscripts. Do not send the manuscript to the Editorial Office or EiC. As described in the peer review and decision process, after the admin checklist or AE assignment stage, a manuscript may be forwarded to the EiC to determine if peer review is necessary. If the paper is outside the scope of TMI, it will be returned to the author with a decision of 'immediate reject: submit to another journal' within two weeks.

Do I have to use IEEE transaction style for my submission?

The author is only required to prepare the final files for publication using IEEE transaction style. The original submission, resubmission, and revision can be prepared using any style the author chooses. However, we recommend the author to prepare the manuscript using LaTeX with IEEE style due to its advantages listed in tools and tips.

How do I know if the paper is less than 8 pages so it won't incur overlength charges?

Whether the author will be charged for overlength paper is determined by the length of paper appears in the printed journal. We recommend the author to prepare the manuscript using IEEE style so the paper length is more manageable. Please note that the paper length will change because 1) the author needs to change the content based on suggestions from reviewers and AE, 2) the IEEE transactions department will add footnotes containing author list and submission dates to the paper during the final typesetting.

Can I upload videos for peer review?

Yes. An uploaded file whose 'file designation' is 'supporting document' can be accessed by the reviewers. Providing a link to videos or other files reside on the author's personal or institutional website is not recommended.

Do I need to upload separate files for figures?

The author is only required to do so for the final files for publication.

Can I use color figures?

Yes. Publishing color figures in the online version of TMI is free. All figures in the printed version is black-and-white by default. The author can choose to publish color figure in the printed journal by paying extra color page charges. We recommend to choose the colors used in figures carefully so they appear as intended in both color and black-and-white versions. After a paper is accepted with no revision, the author will be asked to fill in a form regarding the color figures. The author will be contacted by the IEEE transactions department regarding the exact amount. The IEEE website lists the basic charges for color figures.

How can I make sure the graphics I submit are high quality?

Check IEEE Guidelines and IEEE graphics FAQ for more information. Note that the guidelines only apply to final file submission. For manuscripts submitted for peer review, TMI only require the figures to be readable and contains all the information the author wants to convey. However, we still recommend the author to prepare figures with high quality for peer review submissions because it helps the review process and also can expedite final file preparation if the paper is accepted.

Can I make changes to a submitted paper?

It depends on the current status of the paper and the type of changes the author wants to make. Please contact the Editorial Office and specify the reason for changes in detail. Do not send the revised manuscript to the Editorial Office.

How can I withdraw a submitted paper?

The author cannot withdraw the manuscript via his/her ScholarOne Manuscripts. Please contact the Editorial Office and request the paper to be withdrawn from TMI.

What is the current status of my submission?

It is against TMI policy to reveal the status of a paper under review. After the AE is assigned and before a decision is made, the status of a paper in the author's ScholarOne Manuscripts is always shown as 'with associate editor'.

After the final file submission, everything is exported out of the ScholarOne Manuscripts and the IEEE transaction department handles the typesetting and preparation of publication. Because the Editorial Office only has access to ScholarOne Manuscripts, we cannot track the status of a paper after final file submission.

I uploaded the final files of my accepted paper but haven't heard anything ever since. When will it be published?

As mentioned above, the Editorial Office cannot track status after final file submission. However, within four to six weeks after the final files are uploaded, your paper will appear on IEEE Xplore as one of the many forthcoming papers of TMI. The 'ahead of print' version of the paper will also appear on PubMed.

Please note that only after a paper is scheduled to be published in the next issue of TMI, the IEEE staff editor will contact the author regrading proof reading.

Why the peer review takes so long for my paper?

Most of the submissions to TMI are highly technical papers and reviewing them is time-consuming in general. We are doing our best to shorten the review process. However, it is not an easy task. To give you some insights about some of the difficulties we are facing, check out a piece written by one of our AEs, Dr. Bram van Ginneken, telling his life as AE of TMI.

I have a ScholarOne Manuscripts account but the submitting author created another for me, can I merge these accounts?

The Editorial Office can merge duplicate ScholarOne Manuscripts accounts. Send us an e-mail with full name of the account holder and e-mail addresses associated with duplicate accounts and which is the primary e-mail address that you want to use. The review and submission history of all accounts will also be merged together.

My paper is rejected and I think the decision is unfair or the reviews are seriously in error, can I rebut the decision by contacting EiC or AE?

It is against TMI policy to discuss the contents of reviews outside of ScholarOne Manuscripts. The EiC, AE and the Editorial Office cannot discuss the correctness of the review unless the manuscript is resubmitted to TMI.

The author always have the right to resubmit a rejected paper. However, when resubmission has been discouraged, the author will either have to show convincingly &mdash in the response-to-reviewers and in the revised version of the paper &mdash that the reviews were seriously in error, or that the reviews have given the author insights that have improved the paper significantly. Just dealing with the comments of the reviewers will generally not be sufficient for reconsideration, because the decision to reject a paper with no further consideration implies that we do not expect that a resubmission could reach the level of TMI publications even if the given points of critique are dealt with.

Please be aware that a positive wording of reviewer comments does not necessarily imply a positive judgment. Quite often, reviewers present a more negative judgment and more outspoken arguments to reject the paper in the confidential comments to the editors than in the comments to the authors.

My paper is not in PubMed, can I upload it to PubMed?

IEEE has an agreement with NIH that allows papers published in IEEE TMI to be uploaded to PubMed. In the future (IEEE is working on that but we don't know when) the uploading process will be automated, but for now the authors can upload their papers manually. However, we recommend the authors upload the final electronic version (the one appears on IEEE Xplore) after the paper has appeared in a published issue of TMI such that the PDF file uploaded will contain correct page numbers. Please DO NOT upload any paper that is only available on IEEE Xplore as a forthcoming paper because it contains no real page numbers is different from the final published version.

How can I obtain permission to reuse figures or tables of my published paper?

You have to obtain such permission from IEEE Intellectual Property Rights Office, please visit http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/rights/reqperm.html for more information.

The online (IEEE Xplore) version of my paper published in an old issue of TMI has bad quality, what can I do about it?

The old issues of IEEE transactions and journals were scanned to pdf file to be put on IEEE Xplore. The scan parameters were often set to maximize the clarity of text but not the images, especially those in TMI that are very important for the readers to understand the paper. IEEE is aware of the problem but don't have the resources to have all the old issues of TMI rescanned. However, you can report such problem to IEEE via IEEE Xplore technical support. If possible, IEEE will have the paper re-scanned. In addition, if you have a scanned pdf file with good image quality, you can also contact IEEE to see if it is possible to replace the current online version with the your author-provided pdf.