IEEE Photonics Technology Letters

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.

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. 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.

PTL allows for three revision cycles. Should your manuscript require more than three revisions, it may be rejected, but you are welcome to resubmit so you can fully address all reviewer concerns.

Once accepted, your paper will be placed on-line in the IEEE Xplore Early Access 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 ) 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 as part of the initial submission check.

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

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. The author will need a registered ORCID in order to submit a manuscript or review a proof in an IEEE journal. 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.

All authors should utilize the Preparation of Papers for IEEE TRANSACTIONS and JOURNALS

IEEE Author Center

Mandatory Copyright Form

IEEExplore for PTL

IEEE Publications Recommender

IEEE Rightslink for Authors to request IEEE Copyright Permission 

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 the IEEE Author Center to learn more. Please note these services are fee-based and do not guarantee acceptance.

Please note that submissions that are hard to understand due to poor English will be immediately rejected.

All PTL manuscripts have to be original and to be the author’s own body of work. Please check the following links for more information: IEEE Plagiarism Guidelines

All members of the IEEE are eligible for membership in the Society and may receive a print subscription to the PTL journal upon payment of the annual Society membership fee of $34.00, plus an annual subscription fee of $75.00. Electronic access to PTL on IEEE Explore is included with Society membership. Member copies of Transactions/Journals are for personal use only.