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IEEE Photonics Journal

The Society’s Open Access journal providing rapid publication of top-quality peer-reviewed papers at the forefront of photonics research.

IEEE Photonics Journal Cover

IEEE Photonics Journal is an online-only rapid publication archival journal of top quality research at the forefront of photonics. Photonics integrates quantum electronics and optics to accelerate progress in the generation of novel photon sources and in their utilization in emerging applications at the micro and nano scales spanning from the far-infrared/THz to the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

7.6 weeks

Time to Publication

2.1

Impact Factor

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OPEN CALLS FOR PAPERS

Information on current calls for papers for IEEE Photonics Society journals. 

SPECIAL ISSUES

Further information on selected and published IEEE Photonics Society special issues.

Description

IEEE Photonics Journal is an open access, online-only rapid publication archival journal of top-quality research at the forefront of photonics. Contributions addressing issues ranging from fundamental understanding to emerging technologies and applications are within the scope of the Journal.

IEEE Photonics Journal is published online only. This platform offers capabilities to enhance published articles; all articles are published in color. Authors have the opportunity to submit supplemental material which may include but is not limited to: multimedia presentations, simulations, webinars, etc. Authors can also store their data in IEEE DataPort, and receive a DOI for their dataset https://ieee-dataport.org. In their final form, all articles contain a cover page with a “Graphic Abstract.”

The journal offers a thorough review process that is a signature of IEEE Publications. Upon acceptance papers receive a Digital Object Identifier and are published in the Early Access section on IEEE Xplore https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/. At this stage, papers are fully citable. The final published version of the papers is copy edited by IEEE to ensure higher production quality.

Breakthroughs in the generation of light and its control and utilization have given rise to the field of Photonics; a rapidly expanding area of science and technology with major technological and economic impacts. Photonics integrates quantum electronics and optics to accelerate progress in the generation of novel photon sources and in their utilization in emerging applications at the micro- and nano-scales spanning from the far-infrared/THz to the x-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

We welcome original contributions addressing issues ranging from fundamental understanding to emerging technologies and applications:

  • Photon sources from far infrared to x-rays
  • Photonics materials and engineered photonic structures
  • Integrated optics and optoelectronic
  • Ultrafast, attosecond, high field and short wavelength photonics
  • Biophotonics including DNA photonics
  • Nano-photonics
  • Magneto-photonics
  • Fundamentals of light propagation and interaction; nonlinear effects
  • Optical data storage
  • Fiber optics and optical communications devices, systems, and technologies
  • Solar Cells
  • Micro Opto Electro Mechanical Systems (MOEMS)
  • Microwave photonics
  • Optical sensors

Technical Areas

Area 1: Optical Networks and Systems, Senior Editor: Ben Puttnam, Junior Editor: Andrea Sgambelluri

Optical core, metro, access, and data center networks; fiber optics links; free-space communications; underwater communications; optical cryptography.

Area 2: Fiber Optics Devices and Subsystems, Senior Editor: Fan Zhang, Junior Editor: Yang Du

Optical sources, devices, and subsystems for fiber communications; multimode and multicore fibers; optical frequency combs; amplifiers; multiplexers; interconnects; modulators; switches.

Area 3: Light Sources, Senior Editor: Paul Crump, Junior Editor: Xin Wang

Lasers; coherent optical sources; LED; OLED; QLED; lightning; incoherent optical sources; semiconductor lasers; visual perception.

Area 4: Detection, Sensing, and Energy, Senior Editor: Young Min Song, Junior Editor: Zunaid Omair

Optical detectors; sensors; solar cells; display technology; photovoltaics; thermophotovoltaics; vision; colors; visual optics; environmental optics; photonics measurements; energy optics (solar concentrators, daylighting design, solar fuels); measurement for industrial inspection.

Area 5: Integrated Systems, Circuits and Devices: Design, Fabrication and Materials, Senior Editor: Sylwester Latkowski, Junior Editor, 

Integrated photonics systems; waveguides; integrated photonic devices; ring resonators; filters; multiplexers; liquid crystals; photonics manufacturing.

Area 6: Plasmonics and Metamaterials, Senior Editor: Jacob Khurgin, Junior Editor: Haifeng Hu

Micro photonics; nanophotonics; metamaterials; plasmonics; mid-Infrared and THz photonics; acoustic metamaterials; optomechanics; 2D material plasmonics and metasurfaces; nanowires; quantum dots; micro and nanoantennas; photonic bandgap structures.

Area 7: Biophotonics and Medical Optics, Senior Editor: Qiyin Fang

Biomedical optics, spectroscopy and microscopy; diffuse tomography; tissue imaging; nanoscopy; optical coherent tomography; bioimaging; optical biophysics; photophysics; photochemistry; biosensors; optical manipulation and molecular probes, imaging and drug delivery; photonics and the brain.

Area 8: Computational Photonics, Senior Editor: Jose Azana, Junior Editor: Maria del Rosario Fernandez Ruiz

Fourier optics; statistical optics; coherence; signal and image processing; microwave photonics; electromagnetics; artificial vision; lidar; computational imaging; diffractive optics.

Area 9: Propagation, Imaging, and Spectroscopy, Senior Editor: Stefan Stanciu, Junior Editor: Roxana Totu

Microscopy (diffraction-limited and super-resolution techniques); spectroscopy (UV/VIS, infrared, THz); nanoscopy; adaptive optics; holography; scattering; diffraction; gratings; physical optics; diffuse optics; polarization, luminescence, fluorescence, vibrational, nonlinear, photoacoustic, plasmonic and multimodal imaging; image processing and analysis (restoration, classification, and augmentation); methods for inspection, characterization, and imaging; photonics for arts, architecture, and archaeology.

Area 10: Quantum Photonics, Senior Editor: Niels Gregersen, Junior Editor: Jun Liu

Quantum sources and detection; single-photon emission and detection; entanglement; integrated quantum optics; quantum cryptography; quantum computation; quantum simulation.

Area 11: Nonlinear Photonics and Novel Optical Phenomena, Senior Editor: Michelle Sander, Junior Editor: Huanyu Song

Nonlinear photonics and phenomena; Terahertz; ultrahigh field and ultrafast photonics; nonlinear pulse propagation and interaction; high power systems; X-rays and plasma; attosecond science; high precision metrology and frequency comb technology; magnetophotonics; acoustophotonics; photoacoustic effects.

Area: 12 Optical Data Science and Machine Intelligence in Photonics, Senior Editor: Salah Obayya, Junior Editor: Jingxi Li

Machine learning-based solutions to inverse problems in optics; machine learning for life sciences imaging and microscopy; inverse design; materials for optical neural networks; photonic reservoir computing; photonic hardware accelerators; co-design of photonic systems and downstream algorithms; machine learning for ultrafast optics, for photonic material discovery and for optical storage.

Information for Authors

Starting July 2021, papers are published in the IEEE two-column format. A template is available to guide Authors in the preparation of the manuscript and in estimating the total number of pages. Click here for the IEEE Template Selector

Manuscripts are submitted in *PDF or in Microsoft Word form for review, and in LaTex for later processing by IEEE publications. Authors can submit supplemental multimedia files, such as animation, movies, data sets, sound files, and other forms of enhanced, multi-media content. Authors are encouraged to use high-quality color graphics. In addition, Authors can store their data in IEEE DataPort https://ieee-dataport.org.

The Journal uses a ‘Graphic Abstract’ as the cover page, and Authors are required to submit one piece of artwork or identify a figure in the paper that best describes the results of their work. 

The use of artificial intelligence (AI)–generated text in an article shall be disclosed in the acknowledgments section of any paper submitted to an IEEE Conference or Periodical. The sections of the paper that use AI-generated text shall have a citation to the AI system used to generate the text.

IEEE Tools for Authors offers a reference validation tool to check the format and completeness of references. Analyze your article’s LaTeX files prior to submission to avoid delays in publishing. The IEEE LaTeX Analyzer will identify potential setbacks such as incomplete files or different versions of LaTeX. The use of these tools simplifies the copy-editing process which in turn reflects into a faster time-to-publication. 

English language editing services can help refine the language of your article and reduce the risk of rejection without review. IEEE Authors are eligible for discounts at several language editing services; visit IEEE Author Center to learn more. Please note these services are fee-based and do not guarantee acceptance.

All IEEE Journals require 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). ORCIDs enable accurate attribution and improved discoverability of an Author’s published work. Researchers can sign up for an ORCID for free via an easy registration process on orcid.org. Learn more at http://orcid.org/content/about-orcid or in a video at https://vimeo.com/97150912. Authors who do not have an ORCID in their ScholarOne user account will be prompted to provide one during submission.

Author submissions are done through the IEEE Author Portal. Click here to the IEEE Author Portal

The login and password for IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE/Optic Publishing Group Journal of Light Wave Technology, or IEEE Journal of Display Technologies will also work on the IEEE Photonics Journal IEEE Author Portal site. 

Submissions are reviewed by the Editorial Office for completeness and language proficiency. Submissions that are deficient will be sent back to the Authors. Articles are screened for plagiarism before being sent for review. 

During the submission process, Authors select one of the 12 Technical Areas that best identifies the subject of their paper, and the manuscript is assigned to the corresponding Senior Editor (SE).

Authors are encouraged to suggest an Associate Editor (AE) to handle the review process. The Editor in Chief (EiC) will consider this suggestion, however, he/she reserves the option to use other AEs based on their loads. The file of the AE’s names and their area of expertise is available in the IEEE Author Portal https://ieee.atyponrex.com/journal/pj-ieee in the ‘Instructions and Forms’ tab. 

Upon submission, your manuscript will be checked for formal template compliance before the Senior Editor examines the paper for scope compliance, language proficiency, as well as basic technical content and novelty. Out-of-scope papers, as well as papers of insufficient technical content or quality, may be immediately rejected upon consultation within the Editorial Board. Additional information on the journal scope and topic categories can be found here https://ieeephotonics.org/publications/photonics-journal/.

After passing these initial editorial steps, the Senior Editor assigns your manuscript to an Associate Editor who is an expert in the respective paper’s topic area. Authors also have the opportunity to suggest a preferred Associate Editor (or to exclude certain Associate Editors as “non-preferred”) upon submission. We will always honor non-preferred Associate Editor selections if these are based on clear precedence that could lead to a potentially biased review process. (The mere fact that an Associate Editor may also be a competitor working in the exact same field as your paper is not a reason for exclusion.) We will try to honor preferred Associate Editor choices, but only if your preferences make technical sense and if the current Associate Editor workload permits the assignment.

The Associate Editor selects a minimum of two reviewers who are experts in the field of your paper. Authors can track the status of their submission at any time through their Author Portal. Please note that all technical work performed in this paper handling process, including all work performed by the Editor-in-Chief, the Senior Editors, the Associate Editors, and the Reviewers, is based on volunteers. While we constantly strive to keep reviewing times to a minimum, we place strong emphasis on technical quality. The average turn-around time (from submission to decision) is currently about 77 days.

PJ allows for one revision cycle. Should your manuscript require more than one revision, it may be rejected, but you are encouraged to resubmit so you can fully address all reviewer concerns.

Once accepted, your paper will be placed on-line in the queue for the journal within 2-3 days. At that point it can be fully referenced using the digital object identifier (DOI), even if it hasn’t yet appeared in a printed issue.

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 (https://pspb.ieee.org/images/files/files/opsmanual.pdf, section 8.2.2). Each published article is reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers using a single-anonymous process, where the identities of the reviewers are not known to the authors, but the reviewers know the identities of the authors. Articles will be screened for plagiarism before acceptance.

Appeals must be directed to the EiC, in the form of a letter that clearly explains the rationale for the appeal. The submitted documentation should also include a copy of the rejection letter and of the reviews. The IEEE appeal process calls for the establishment of an independent group of evaluators that will review the Authors’ rebuttal, the decision of the AE, and the Reviewers comments. The process takes on average 6-8 weeks. Once the EiC has reached a decision, it will be communicated to the authors by email.

Publishing within IEEE is governed by Principles of Scholarly publishing developed in 2007 and found at:
http://www.ieee.org/web/publications/rights/PublishingPrinciples.html

IEEE Statement on the Appropriate use of Bibliometrics:
https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/bibliometrics-statement.html

Editorial Board

IEEE Photonics Journal Editor-in-Chief

Jian Wang 
Huazhong University of Science & Technology
Wuhan, China

Senior Editors

Jose Azana, INRS-EMT, Canada

Paul Crump, Ferdinand-Braun Institute for Hoechstfrequenztechnik, Germany

Qiyin Fang, McMaster University, Canada

Niels Gregersen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Jacob Khurgin, John Hopkins University, USA

Sylwester Latkowski, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands

Salah Obayya, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Egypt

Benjamin Puttnam, Dokuritsu Gyosei Hojin Joho Tsushin Kenkyu Kiko, Japan

Michelle Y. Sander, Boston University, USA

Young Min Song, Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology, Korea

Stefan Stanciu, University of “Politehnica” of Bucharest, Romania

Fan Zhang, Peking University, China

Associate Editors

Nicola Andriolli, CNR IEIIT, Italy

Amir Arbabi, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

Marco Bellini, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy

Francesco Bertazzi, Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Paolo Bianchini, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy

Thomas Bocklitz, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Germany

Luigi Bonacina, Universite’ de Geneve, Switzerland

Ahmed Bukhamseen, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia

Chi Wai Chow, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

Caterina Ciminelli, Politecnico di Bari, Italy

Giulio Cossu, Scuola Superiore Sant‘Anna, Italy

Fei Ding, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Lu Ding, Institute of Materials Research & Engineering, Singapore

Hery S. Djie, Lumentum LLC, USA

Dror Fixler, Bar Ilan University, Israel

Lan Fu, Australian National University, Australia

Songnian Fu, Guangdong University of Technology, China

Fei Gao, ShanghaiTech University, China

Haoshuo Chen, Nokia Bell Labs, USA

Hao Huang, Lumentum Operations LLC, USA

Satoshi Ishii, Busshitsu Zairyo Kenkyu Kiko Kokusai Nanoarchitectonics Kenkyu Kyoten, Japan

Zhensheng Jia, Cable Television Laboratories, USA

Antonio Jurado-Navas, University of Malaga, Spain

Mukesh Kumar, Indian Institute of Technology, India

Jiun-Haw Lee, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

Yan Li, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Peter Liu, State University of NY at Buffalo, USA

Muhammad Qasim Mehmood, Information Technology University (ITU) of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

MD. Jarez Miah, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh

S.M.Abdur Razzak, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh

Anurag Sharma, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India

Chao Shen, Fudan University, China

Lei Shi, Fudan University, China

Zachary Smith, University of Science and Technology of China, China

Jingbo Sun, Tsinghua University, China

Eduward Tangdiongga, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

Alberto Tibaldi, IEIIT-CNR, Italy

Georgios Veronis, Louisiana State University, USA

Luca Vincetti, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy

Yating Wan, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

Shang Wang, Stevens Institute of Technology, USA

Hai Xiao, Clemson University, USA

Shumin Xiao, Harbin Institute of Technology, China

He-Xiu Xu, Air Force Engineering University, China

Yu Yao, Arizona State University, USA

Shu-Chi Yeh, University of Rochester Medical Center, USA

Changyuan Yu, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Alessandro Zavatta, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy

Jinwei Zeng, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China

Junwen Zhang, Fudan University, China

Lin Zhang, Tianjin University, China

Xiaobei Zhang, Shanghai University, China

Chao Zhou, Washington University in Saint Louis, USA

Xian Zhou, University of Science and Technology Beijing and Beijing, China

Xinxing Zhou, Hunan Normal University, China

Yeyu Zhu, Lumentum Operations LLC, USA

Junior Editors

Jing Du, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China

Xin Wang, Southeast University, China

Zunaid Omair, Standford University, USA

Haifeng Hu, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, China

Maria Fernandez-Ruiz, Universidad de Alala, Spain

Roxana Totu, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania

Jingxi Li, University of California Los Angeles, USA

Andrea Sgambelluri, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy

Huanyu Song, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, USA

Yang Du, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Germany

Jun Liu, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Publication Office

Publications Coordinator

Yvette Charles
IEEE Photonics Society
445 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, NJ 08854-1331, USA
Phone: +1 732 981 3457
Email: y.charles@ieee.org

Publications Portfolio Manager

Laura A. Lander
IEEE Photonics Society
445 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
Phone: +1 732 465 6479
Email: l.lander@ieee.org

Open Access

Open Access Rights Management
All open access articles will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

CC BY allows authors to retain the copyright of their article and permit a very broad range of reuse. Under CC BY, reuse for commercial purposes or to create derivative works is permitted, and authors are responsible for protecting their content from possible abuses such as infringement and plagiarism.

Publishing open access requires payment of an open access article processing charge (APC).

Article Processing Charge (APC): US$2075

IEEE Photonics Journal is a fully Open Access Journal, compliant with funder mandates, including Plan S.

For papers submitted in 2025, the APC is US$2075 plus applicable local taxes. 

The following discounts apply:
  • IEEE Members receive a 5% discount.
  • IEEE Society Members receive a 20% discount.

Discounts do not apply to undergraduate and graduate students. These discounts cannot be combined.

Photonics Journal has a waiver policy for authors from low-income countries. Corresponding authors from low-income countries (as classified by the World Bank) are eligible for a 100% waiver on APCs. Corresponding authors from lower-middle-income countries are also eligible for a discount on APCs ranging from 25% to 50% based on the GDP of the country of the corresponding author. 

For additional information, please visit Basic Information About Open Access (OA)  

author center

Resources and tools to help you write, prepare, and share your research work more effectively.

open access

Open AccessFor detailed information, visit Basic Information About Open Access (OA). 

IEEE Xplore

Delivering full-text access to the world’s highest quality technical literature in engineering and technology.