IEEE CIS > Publications

IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks -- Information for Authors

Scope

The IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks (TNN) is currently published bimonthly. Starting from January 2008, TNN will be published monthly. TNN considers technical articles that deal with the theory, design, and applications of neural networks and learning systems. In terms of subtopics, the scope of TNN includes: Mathematical Foundations and Learning Theory, Architectures and Algorithms, Neurodynamics and Attractor Networks, Hybrid and Knowledge-based Networks, Biological Aspects of Neurocomputing, Control and Estimation, Pattern Classification and Clustering, Image Processing and Recognition, Signal Processing and Communications, Applications, Implementations. TNN places special emphasis on the publication of high quality papers dealing with engineering applications of neural networks and learning systems. Furthermore, TNN publishes book reviews of neural network and learning related books.

Types of Contributions

TNN publishes three types of articles:

• Papers (Full Papers)
• Brief Papers
• Comments Papers and Communications

Full Papers are characterized by novel contributions of archival nature in developing theories and/or innovative applications of neural networks and learning systems. The contribution should not be of incremental nature, but must present a well-founded and conclusive treatment of a problem. Well organized survey of literature on topics of current interest may also be considered. Usually a full paper will not exceed 12 pages of formatted text in the IEEE two-column style. However, depending on the content of the manuscript, if it becomes necessary, as judged by the Editor-in-Chief and/or by appropriate Associate Editors, a relaxation may be allowed, but it will not exceed 18 pages, formatted in the IEEE two-column style. Survey papers are excluded from this constraint.

Brief Papers report sufficiently interesting new theories and/or developments on previously published work in neural networks and related areas. For example, brief papers may report an extension of previous results or algorithms, innovative applications of a known approach to interesting problems, brief theoretical results, etc. The contribution should be conclusive and useful. A brief paper must not exceed 6 pages of formatted text in the IEEE two-column style.

Comments Papers and Communications are short articles which may be commenting on an error one has found in, or a significant disagreement one has with, a previously published paper. Typically, a Comments paper is assigned to the same Associate Editor who handled the published paper being commented on. If the Associate Editor who was handling the previously published paper is no longer available, the Editor-in-Chief will assign the Comments paper to another Associate Editor whose expertise closely matches the paper's topic. Comments papers and Communications should comprise a significant contribution of interest to the TNN readership. The authors of the original paper may be invited to submit a rebuttal. A Comments paper should be as concise as possible and must not exceed 3 pages formatted in the IEEE two-column style.

During the review process, submitted manuscripts will NOT be transferred from the Full Paper category to the Brief Paper category after submission/review. It would be the responsibility of authors to decide the category of their manuscript at the time of submission. If a manuscript is reviewed as a Paper and at the end of the review process, Reviewers/Associate Editor/EIC find it not suitable as a full Paper but is a potential candidate for a Brief Paper, then the manuscript has to be resubmitted as a Brief Paper after revision, if authors desire to do so. Review management for Papers and Brief Papers is under the direction of an Associate Editor, who will normally solicit four reviews and wait for at least three responses before a decision is reached. To avoid delay in processing your paper, please follow closely these guidelines.

Submission of Manuscripts

To avoid delay in processing your paper, please follow closely the following guidelines. Submission and review of new manuscripts is now done through Manuscript Central, the IEEE's on-line submission and review system. Please log on to mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tnn and follow the directions to create an account (if a first time user) and to submit your manuscript. If the manuscript is printable (all font embedded), it will be entered into the review process. You will be able to check on the status of your manuscript during the review process.

The resubmission of revised paper that were originally not submitted through the Manuscript Central system, should be sent directly to the Editor-in-Chief or the Letters Editor, according to the instructions given to the authors at the time of the review decision. Once a paper or brief paper or comments paper is submitted through the TNN Manuscript Central webpage, then all subsequent revisions will also be submitted through Manuscript Central.

This IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks is primarily devoted to archival reports of work that have not been-in the main-published elsewhere. Specifically, conference records and book chapters that have been published are not acceptable unless and until they have been significantly enhanced. In special circumstances or on exceptional occasions, the Editor-in-Chief may deem a contribution noteworthy enough to be exempted from this policy. Authors will be asked to confirm that the work being submitted has not been published elsewhere nor is it currently under review by another publication. If either of these conditions is not met or is subsequently violated, the article will be disqualified from possible publication in TNN.

Plagiarism in any form will be considered a serious breach of professional conduct with potentially severe ethical and legal consequences as defined in the IEEE PSPB operational manual, which can downloaded from:
http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/publications/PSPB/opsmanual.pdf

Professional Editing Services

Sometimes TNN receives submissions that suffer from poor English usage and readability. Such manuscripts often get rejected because of extremely poor readability. Authors, at their own cost, may now take the help of SPi Publisher Services for pre-submission professional editing services. An author willing to get assistance with English grammar and usage prior to submitting their manuscript for review or during the review process can go directly to http://www.prof-editing.com/ieee/ to submit a manuscript for copy editing. The SPi copy editors edit for grammar, usage, organization, and clarity, querying potentially substantive revisions as necessary. Cost estimates are available immediately on line. Edited manuscripts are expected to be returned to the author within two weeks of submission.

Style for Manuscript

The IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks follows the format standards of the IEEE. The IEEE Transactions, Journals, and Letters Information for Authors booklet can be downloaded from:
http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/publications/authors/transjnl/auinfo07.pdf.

Here are some of the general guidelines. A list of keywords and an abstract (described below) are required for all manuscripts submitted to this journal. When submitting a new article through the Manuscript Central system, you may choose your own keywords related to the submitted manuscript. For the review process, the submitted manuscript can be in either one of the following two formats:

• double-spaced, single-column, 12 point font format.
• Singled-spaced, double column, standard IEEE published format.

All pages should be numbered. Provide an abstract of reasonable length that is an informative summary of the paper, including any important results found or conclusions drawn. Authors are encouraged to put detailed derivations in appendixes. Except in unusual cases, manuscripts over 35 pages (for full papers), 18 pages (for short papers) and 8 pages (for letters) typed double spaced in single column mode with 1 inch margin on all sides, 12 point font, including figures, appendices, etc., will not be accepted for review.

Page Charges

After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the author's company or institution will be requested to pay a charge of $110 per printed page to cover part of the cost of publication. Page charges for this TRANSACTIONS, like those for journals of other professional societies, are not obligatory nor is their payment a prerequisite for publication. The author will receive 100 free reprints without covers if the page charge is honored.

Copyright

It is the policy of the IEEE to own copyright to the technical contributions it publishes. To comply with the IEEE copyright policy, authors are required to sign the IEEE Copyright Transfer Form before publication in either the print or electronic medium. The form is provided upon approval of the manuscript. Authors must submit a signed copy of this form with their final manuscripts (after a manuscript is accepted for publication).

Submission of Final Manuscript

Page Numbers: Number all pages, including illustrations (which should be grouped at the end), in a single series, with no omitted numbers. Figures should be identified with the figure number and author's name at the bottom or on the back; keep the information in the margin, off the body of the figure.

References and Captions: Put references on a separate page and provide them in IEEE style. Figure captions should also be on a separate page. Do not include captions on the illustrations themselves. Figure captions should be sufficiently clear so that the figures can be understood without detailed reference to the accompanying text. Axes of graphs should have self-explanatory labels, not just symbols.

Illustrations and Photos: All figures will be printed in black and white, unless specifically requested. The color figures involve some cost to be born by the authors. The exact amount depends on the number of color figures (the total cost includes a flat fee plus a fee per figure). However, authors can use color figures keeping in mind that in IEEE Xplore these will appear in color but on the print copy it will be in black and white. Therefore, while referring to the figures in the text, authors should not refer to color, but some other attributes of the figures. Letters should be large enough to be readily legible when the figures are reduced to two or one-column width - as much as 4:1 reduction from the original.

Electronic Form for Final Printing: For the final printed production of the manuscript, the author will need to provide a diskette, a zip disk, or a CD and two paper copies of the peer approved version. Please be certain that changes made to your paper version are incorporated into your electronic and hard copy version. Note the operating system (WINDOWS, MAC, UNIX, etc.) and the software used on the label of the disk. Check that your files are complete including abstract, text, references, footnotes, biographies, and figures captions.

IEEE can process most commercial software programs, but not page layout programs. Do not send postscript files. The preferred programs are TeX, LaTeX, and WORD (use standard macros). An IEEE LaTeX style file can be obtained by e-mail at help@ep.ieee.org. A more complete IEEE Authors Electronic Guide can be obtained by e-mail at help@ep.ieee.org, by fax at (+1 732) 562 0545 or by visiting the IEEE website with Tools for Authors.