IEEE SOFTWARE GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS December, 1983 Audience IEEE Software is a publication of the IEEE Computer Society. Its readers specify, design, document, test, use, maintain, purchase, engineer, sell, teach, research, and manage the production of software or systems that include software. This readership uses IEEE Software to learn about tools, techniques, concepts, and current research and development activities to aid them in understanding software and software related issues in greater depth. Content IEEE Software emphasizes current practice and experience together with promising new ideas that are likely to be used in the near term. It is directed to the practice of the software profession. We welcome papers on topics across the software spectrum. Sample topics are: Data engineering and database software Programming environments Languages and language related issues Knowledge based and decision support systems Program and system debugging and testing Distributed, network, and parallel systems Education of software professionals Design, development, and programming methodologies Algorithms, their analysis and pragmatics Performance measurement and evaluation Program and system reliability, security, and Verification Software related social and legal issues Human factors and software metrics Articles describing how software is developed in specific companies, laboratories, and university environments, as well as articles describing new tools to aid in the software and system development process, are welcome. The intent is to provide the reader with information on advances in software technology, specifics on novel features and applications contrasts in designing and programming in the large versus designing and programming in the small, discussions of limitations and failures, and an awareness of the trends in this rapidly evolving area. Tutorials, survey articles, standards, guided tours through descriptions of projects, designs, or algorithms and case studies are also encouraged. Originality All manuscripts submitted for publication should be original. Articles published in other magazines or journals will not be considered for publication in IEEE Software. However, papers published in conference proceedings will be considered if they are of importance or contain interesting new results. If a manuscript has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere, such information must be included in the submission cover letter. The authors are responsible for securing all necessary clearances. Standards for content and writing style All maunscripts considered for publication must pass a refereeing process consistent with that of articles submitted to an archival publication. However, the style of presentation is somewhat different. The articles should be written in a concise, clear, and organized manner, much the same as the lively , narrative style of articles appearing in our sister publication, Computer. Every effort should be made to assist the reader in understanding the concepts presented in the text. Thus the use of examples, diagrams, figures, and photographs that aid in this process is encouraged. If there are terms or concepts that may not be understood by the majority of the readers of your article, you should consider submitting independent clarifications of these terms and concepts, preferably with examples. These would be published in "break-out" boxes within the text of the article. Readers familiar with the concepts would pass over the boxes, while those who need clarification would stop and read their contents. The article should be accompanied by a list of keywords from Computing Reviews' classification system identifying the key areas of article content. Length While there is no absolute rectriction, feature articles normally run two to eight magazine pages in length. This is roughly 2000-8000 words, or seven to 30 double-spaced, typewritten, 8 1/2 by 11-inch pages with 1 1/2" margins. This includes all text, illustrations, break-out box material, and reference and bibliographic entries. Illustrations Photocopies of illustrations should be submitted for the initial manuscript review rather than originals. The originals are to be submitted with the final accepted version of the article. Originals for illustrations should be clear and easily reproducible. Line drawings should be in India ink on drafting cloth, paper, or board. Use 8 1/2 by 11 inch sized sheets, if possible, to simplify the handling of the manuscript. Photographs should be submitted as color transparencies, slides, or prints, or as black-and-white glossies. Prints should be of good contrast and graduation and be at least 3" by 5". Halftones, machine-made graphs, computer printouts, and original artwork that meets our graphics standards will be reproduced from your originals. All other illustrative material will probably be reworked before publication. All illustrations must be numbered, cited in the text, and have captions. Graphs should show only the coordinate axes, or at most the major grid lines, to avoid a dense, hard-to-read graph. All lettering should be large enough to permit legible reduction of the figure to column width perhaps as much as 4:1. If you elect to prepare your own camera-ready art, our figure callouts are typeset in 8-point Helios bold condensed, all caps. References and bibliography References substantiating points made in the text or citing previous or important work are listed in a separate section at the end of the article. Citations in the text are accomplished by means of Arabic superscripts, e.g., 5 Smith References are numbered in order of citation. A reference to an article should be complete with all authors' names, title of the article, name of the publication, and inclusive page numbers. A referenced book should be complete with the authors' names, title of the book, publisher, place of publication, year of publication, and specific chapters or pages cited. For example: 1. I. Watson and J. Gurd, "A Practical Data Flow Computer," Computer, Vol. 15, No. 2, Feb. 1982, pp. 51-57. 2. L. A. Brown and K. P. Birman, "A Local Network Based on the UNIX Operating System," IEEE Trans. Software Engineering, Vol. SE-8, No. 2, Mar. 1982, pp. 137-146. 3. J. M. Holland, K. C. Tai, and M. L. VanName, "An ADA Relational Database Interface Using Absract Data Types," Proc. Compsac 81, Nov. 18-20, 1981, pp. 163-170. 4. D. P. Siewiorek, C. G. Bell, and A. Newell, Computer Structures: Principles and Examples, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1982, Ch. 28, pp. 459-469. In general, the references should be accessible to the public, such as articles in standard journals and open conference proceedings. Internal technical reports and theses should be avoided unless they are easily obtained. If such documents must be referenced, state the source and address from which they may be requested. All references in the References Section at the end of the article must be cited in the text of the article. It is often useful to give the reader a more complete compendium of sources on the subject. Thus, a Bibliography Section can be included immediately following the References Section. The entries in the Bibliography Section are listed in alphabetical order, by primary author's name. The format for such a reference is the same as for a cited reference except the bibliographic entries appear with the first author's names in reverse order, e.g., Voelcker, H. V., and A. A. Requicha, "Geometric Modeling of Mechanical Parts and Processes," Computer, Vol. 10, No. 2, Dec. 1977, pp. 48-47. Except for unusual circumstances that clearly justify the use of many reference or bibliographic entries, the total number of such entries should not exceed ten. This restriction is set because IEEE Software is not a journal where the reader needs in-depth referencing to previous and related work. You should be selective about your reference and bibliographic entries to assist the reader in understanding the material and obtaining other views on the issues discussed. Biographical sketch and photograph Articles should be accompanied by a photograph and biographical sketch of each author. The photographs should be good quality black-and-white glossies at least 3 inches by 5 inches. The biographical sketch should be limited to 75 words, and the information should be in the following order: current positions and technical interests, prior professional experience and other important activities, professional affiliations, awards, education, and address. See a recent issue of IEEE Software for examples. Manuscript submissions, refereeing, acceptance and editing To submit an anrticle other thann one intended for an specianl issue, six complete copies should be sent to: Bruce D. Shriver Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Software Computer Science Department Post Office Box 44330 University of Southwestern Louisiana Lafayette, LA 70504 His phone number is (318) 231-6606. Manuscripts for special issues should be sent to their guest editors. For articles with several authors, the cover letter should state which author should receive correspondence from IEEE Software. Authors may request in the submission letter that the manuscript be refereed in an anonymous manner (i.e., all names and affiliations withheld from the referees). Normally the review process will not exceed four months. You will be advised of the outcome of the refereeing process by the Editor-in-Chief after it has been completed. If your article is accepted for publcation, you will be asked to supply two copies of the final revised draft, including original artwork plus the biographical sketches and photos to the Editor-in-Chief. The final draft must be submitted in double spaced typewritten form. The final editing of the manuscript will be a collaborative process in which IEEE Software staff editors and the authors work together to achieve a concise, well-worded article. In addition, the authors will be asked to execute a release transferring copyright to IEEE, excepting certain key rights retained by the author. No paper will be published until its completed copyright form has been received by the Editor-in-Chief. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon 16 Jan 84 09:31:38-PST From: Dennis Allison Subject: IEEE Software Stuff To: gsb@MIT-MC.ARPA You might add a pointer to the various editorial board members to the end of the guidelines with their net addresses. They are csl.allison@su-sierra,boehm@eclb,eckhouse@digital,mckeeman@wang-inst, parnas@nrl-css,shaw@cmu,shriver@usl Thanks for putting it up. -dra ------- [Corrections: shriver.usl@Rand-Relay digital and wang-inst are not in our host table, and cmu is ambiguous. Possibly these are meant as csnet site names. Am checking in this. --gsb]