Information for Authors

‌The Editorial Board will pre-screen all submissions and remove from further consideration those that, in its opinion, do not meet one or more requirements that include, but are not limited to: areas of interest to our readership; quality and clarity of the presentation; novelty; significance of contribution. In all cases where a submission does not pass the pre-screening stage, it will promptly be returned to the authors.

REVIEW PROCESS

‌The articles in this journal are peer reviewed in accordance with the requirements set forth in the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (sections 8.2.1.C & 8.2.2.A).

Each published article is reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers using a single-anonymous peer review process, where the identities of the reviewers are not known to the authors, but the reviewers know the identities of the authors. Articles are screened for plagiarism before acceptance.

Corresponding authors from low-income countries are eligible for waived or reduced open access APCs.

You must submit:

1. Manuscript file: This file should be in a double-column format, in the IEEE Transactions 10-point font and no more than 12 pages in length including all figures, tables, references and author biographies. If LaTex is used, use the line \documentclass[10pt,twocolumn,twoside] — See the IEEE Transactions templates for details and style files. As of 2018, TCNS has switched to the Alternate Transactions Articles template and authors are encouraged to use it. Submissions using the standard Transactions Articles template will continue to be accepted as there are is no page length difference between the two templates.

2. Supplementary material(s): These are to be one of two cases:

  1. The final conference version if the paper is an expansion of a prior conference publication.
  2. The complementary part of any two-part paper. (e.g., Part I should have Part II as supplementary material and vice versa.)

Your paper will be returned to you, if your manuscript does not conform to the IEEE Alternate Transactions template and/or the required SPL material is not included with submission.

All submitted manuscripts should be as concise as possible. Authors may submit up to 12 pages in length (in the double-column format) structured as follows: main paper up to 10 pages and an appendix up to 2 pages which can contain proofs and/or examples. The entire manuscript should be up to a maximum of 12 pages and submitted as a single pdf file. Papers that exceed 12 pages in length in the double-column format will not be considered.

New IEEE policy for manuscript submission. An ORCID is required.
  1. TCNS, like all IEEE journals, requires an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) for all authors. ORCID is a persistent unique identifier for researchers and functions similarly to an article’s Digital Object Identifier (DOI). The author will need a registered ORCID in order to submit a manuscript through the submission site CONES or review a proof in this journal.
  2. The CONES landing page has instructions on how to associate your ORCID with your CONES PIN.

‌Submission of a manuscript signifies that it has neither been copyrighted nor published, submitted, or accepted for publication elsewhere. IEEE policy requires that authors, when using their own previously published or submitted material as a basis for a new submission, they must “cite the previous work(s) and very clearly indicate how the new submission differs from the previously published work(s).” [IEEE Publications Operations Manual, Section 8.2.4F.] Full details on IEEE publication policies are provided in Section 8 of the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual.

If a submitted manuscript has been published or has been accepted for publication in the Proceedings of an IEEE conference, it may be considered for publication if evidence is provided that it adds value relative to its conference version (for example, it contains detailed proofs omitted from the conference version, new material, and/or additional numerical results). This ensures consistency with the policy stated in the previous paragraph.

If, at its time of submission, a manuscript has also been submitted for publication in the Proceedings of an IEEE conference, it will be considered for publication in the Transactions with the understanding that, should it be found publishable in both venues, evidence will be provided that its final version adds value relative to its conference version, as explained in the previous paragraph.

In either of the above cases, the conference version must be uploaded as supplementary material.

‌Papers should cite the most relevant related work and avoid excessive citations to the work of the authors or others. In particular, self-citations should be kept to an appropriate minimum (no more than five). The connection of each reference to the paper should be apparent from the text. The Editorial Board reserves the right to reject papers that it considers violate the above policy and include citations for the purpose of influencing bibliometric indices.

‌‌All prospective authors must submit their manuscripts electronically. Only PDF files are accepted. Your pdf file should be submitted as follows: Please go to the TCNS submission site: CONES and follow the instructions to upload your pdf file. You will be given the option to upload additional files (e.g., supporting material with your manuscript), as well as a cover message.

Authors outside the USA: Please make sure that your postscript or pdf files can be printed out correctly on standard US paper size (8 1/2 x 11”). For example, with dvips, use the option “-t letter”.

‌It is the policy of the IEEE to own the copyright to the technical contributions it publishes on behalf of the interests of the IEEE, its authors, and their employers, and to facilitate the appropriate reuse of this material by others. To comply with the United States Copyright Law, authors are required to sign a digital version of the IEEE Copyright Form upon acceptance of the manuscript. Authors will automatically be redirected to the eCF (electronic Copyright Form) after they have submitted the final files. The eCF makes signing a publishing agreement easy. The form will determine which agreement meets your needs and enable you to complete it on-screen.

Questions can directed to [email protected] .

  1. ‌The First page must contain:
    1. Title of Paper (without Symbols);
    2. Author(s) and affiliation(s);
    3. Abstract (not exceeding 300 words);
    4. For each author: complete mailing address, telephone number, and electronic mail (e-mail) address;
    5. Preferred address for correspondence and return of proofs; and
    6. Footnotes (if desired) containing acknowledgement of financial or other support.

    ‌TCNS accepts graphical abstracts and they must be peer reviewed. For more information about graphical abstracts and their specifications, visit the IEEE Author Center.

    ‌TCNS accepts computer code associated with an article (e.g., implementing algorithms) which can be submitted with the final accepted manuscript. The code can be accessed and run by readers of the article through the IEEE Xplore. An outline of this feature and the functionality it offers is described in this Code Ocean Outline. Additional information and instructions are at the Code Ocean website.

    ‌Authors of articles reporting on research involving human subjects or animals shall confirm upon submission of an article to the Editor whether or not an approval was obtained from a relevant Review Board (or equivalent local/regional review). If such an approval was obtained, the original source and reference shall be provided to the Editor at the time of submission and shall appear in the article. For further information on IEEE policy, please visit the IEEE Author Center at:

    This publication is a hybrid journal, allowing either Traditional manuscript submission or Open Access (author-pays OA) manuscript submission. By selection “YES” to the Open Access question in the submission webpage, you commit to pay the discounted $2,495 OA fee if your manuscript is accepted for publication in order to enable unrestricted public access. Any other applicable charges (such as the over-length page charges and/or charge for the use of color in the print format) will be billed separately once the manuscript formatting is complete but prior to publication. If you select Traditional submission, your article will be available to qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore. No OA fee is required for Traditional submission.

    ‌Final versions of papers accepted for publication should be submitted in the IEEE Transactions 10-point font, double-column format, and should not exceed 12 pages including all figures, illustrations, and author(s) bios. Any paper that exceeds 10 pages is subject to overlength charges.