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Guide for Authors – IEEE JOE

(updated 23 July 2025)

Publication Principles

The IEEE-JOE abides by the IEEE publication principles described in IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operation Manual, section 8.2.1 – Publication Principles

http://www.ieee.org/documents/opsmanual.pdf

The Journal publishes only original material that has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Prior publication of an abbreviated or preliminary form of the material in conference proceedings or abstracts shall not preclude publication in the Journal provided such prior publication is disclosed at the time of submission. Concurrent submission to other publications and this Journal is viewed as a serious breach of ethics and will result in immediate rejection of the submission. If a manuscript was previously reviewed and rejected by any other publication, authors must disclose this history at the time of submission. Authors must provide copies of the earlier decision letter as well as a response detailing how the Journal submission has addressed the decision letter issues.

Overview of the Manuscript Submission & Peer Review Process

The process consists of the following steps:

  1. The Corresponding Author submits a manuscript online at https://controls.papercept.net/journals/joe.
  2. The paper is prescreened to ensure that it conforms to the style and format required for review.
  3. An Associate Editor is assigned to oversee the review of the paper.
  4. The Associate Editor will solicit and assign Reviewers for the manuscript.
  5. The Reviewers evaluate the manuscript and return their comments to the Associate Editor.
  6. The Associate Editor evaluates the manuscript with the reviews and makes a recommendation to the Editor-in-Chief.
  7. The Editor-in-Chief finalizes the decision and sends the reviews and publication decision to the Corresponding Author.

Depending on the decision in step 7:

  • If recommended for publication, the Author submits a final version of the manuscript;
  • If revisions are required, the Author submits a revised manuscript which goes back to step 4, depending on the extent of the revisions.
  • If the paper is not suitable for publication in the Journal, no further action required.

Manuscript Preparation

Careful manuscript preparation is a crucial part of the publication process. Authors without extensive experience in writing journal manuscripts in English are advised to consult a specialized professional editing service, or a colleague with strong technical English language skills for help editing their manuscripts. Poorly written or prepared manuscripts will be returned to the authors without review.

  • Style:
    Manuscripts must be written in English using a clear and concise style, free of colloquialisms. The Journal conforms to usage prescribed by the Chicago Manual of Style. The Journal reserves the right to adjust a paper’s style to conform to IEEE Publication standards.

  • Format and Length:
    Manuscripts submitted for review should be double-spaced in a single column, with 12 pt. font. Page and line numbers are required. The length should be appropriate to the topic, there is no specific limit. For guidance, LaTeX and MS Word IEEE style files can be downloaded from https://template-selector.ieee.org/secure/templateSelector/format?publicationTypeId=1&titleId=17&articleId=3. When using these templates, please modify the formatting to double spaced in a single column, with page and line numbers, and remove text in the document header.

  • Units:
    The Journal uses the International System of Units (SI units). Refer to the units list provided in Appendix I of the Information for Authors document available as a link in the IEEE Author Center mentioned above.

  • Abbreviations and Acronyms:
    Abbreviations must be fully spelled out on first appearance in the abstract and in the text of the manuscript. Acronyms should be avoided whenever possible, otherwise they must be fully spelled out on first appearance.

  • Title:
    The manuscript must contain a title and a short running title.

  • Authorship:
    (IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operation Manual, section 8.2.1)
    Each author or co-author of a manuscript bears full responsibility for its contents and availability for general dissemination. Affiliations and full postal addresses must be given for all co- authors.

    Authorship and co-authorship should be based on a substantial intellectual contribution. It is assumed that all authors have had a significant role in the creation of a manuscript that bears their names. Therefore, the list of authors on an article serves multiple purposes; it indicates who is responsible for the work and to whom questions regarding the work should be addressed. Moreover, the credit implied by authorship is often used as a measure of the contributors’ productivity when they are evaluated for employment, promotions, grants, and prizes.

    The IEEE affirms that authorship credit must be reserved for individuals who have met each of the following conditions:
    • Made a significant intellectual contribution to the theoretical development, system or experimental design, prototype development, and/or the analysis and interpretation of data associated with the work contained in the manuscript;
    • Contributed to drafting the article or reviewing and/or revising it for intellectual content; and
    • Approved the final version of the manuscript as accepted for publication, including references.

  • ORCID:
    All IEEE journals require an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) for all authors. An ORCID will be requested for each author during the manuscript submission process. 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 this journal. For more information about ORCID please refer to:
    https://support.orcid.org/hc/en-us/categories/360000663174

  • Abstract Preparation:
    The abstract must be a concise yet comprehensive reflection of what is in your submission. In particular:
    • The abstract must be self-contained, without abbreviations, footnotes, or references. It should be a microcosm of the full article.
    • The abstract must be between 150-250 words. Over-length abstracts will be returned for editing.
    • The abstract must be written as one paragraph and should not contain displayed mathematical equations or tabular material.
    • The abstract should include three or four different keywords or phrases, as this will help readers to find it. It is important to avoid over-repetition of such phrases as this can result in a page being rejected by search engines.
    • Ensure that your abstract reads well and is grammatically correct.
    • To enhance the appearance of an article on IEEE Xplore, a graphical abstract may be displayed along with the traditional text abstract. A graphical abstract, if submitted, should provide a clear, visual summary of the article’s findings by means of an image, animation, video, or audio clip. The graphical abstract is considered a part of the technical content of the article and must be provided for peer review during the article submission process.
      For more information about graphical abstracts, refer to https://journals.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-journal-article/prepare-supplementary-materials/#graphicalabstract.

  • Keywords:
    Three to five subject keywords suitable for indexing must be provided.

  • Text:
    The main text should be organized in consecutively numbered sections, and must contain at least an introduction, a development, and a conclusion. Tables, figures, equations and citations must be numbered consecutively in their order of appearance in the text.

    Tables and figures should be embedded in the text for ease of review. Do not provide individual files for tables and figures until requested to do so.

  • Acknowledgments:
    An optional acknowledgments section may be included in the manuscript ahead of the references.

  • References:
    A numbered list of references must be provided at the end of the manuscript. The list should be arranged in the order of citation in the text, not in alphabetical order.

  • Video and Multimedia material:
    For information on producing videos, or preparing multimedia material for a manuscript, refer to https://journals.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/create-your-ieee-article/prepare-supplementary-materials/.


If your submission includes work that has been presented previously OR has been rejected from another publication, please note the following JOE requirements –

  1. If the submission includes results/data/figures taken from other published/pending manuscripts: 
    • In your cover letter, identify any results/data/figures taken from other published/pending manuscripts and explain why this submission does not constitute dual publication.
  2. If the submission is an expanded conference paper:  
    • Per JOE policy, the maximum overlap allowed is around 30-33%. 
    • In your cover letter, explain how the manuscript expands on the previous paper.  
    • Upload a copy of the conference paper as a Supplemental Materials file. 
  3. If the submission was previously reviewed and rejected by any other publication:  
    • In your cover letter, disclose this history and explain how the submission has addressed previous decision letter comments.  
    • Upload a copy of the previous decision letter. 

Post Submission
  • After successfully submitting the paper, you will receive an acknowledgment by e-mail.
  • The Corresponding Author can check the status of a submitted manuscript by logging on to https://controls.papercept.net/journals/joe.
  • About three to four months after the submission of your review-ready manuscript you will receive a notification about the publication decision. Please do not contact the journal requesting a detailed status update until after this time has passed.

Peer Review

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 –

http://www.ieee.org/documents/opsmanual.pdf.

Each published article was reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers using a single-blind 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 will be screened for plagiarism before acceptance.

Plagiarism

(IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operation Manual, section 8.2)

If a manuscript is substantially similar to any previous journal submission by any of the authors, its history and some explanation must be provided to the Editors at the time of submission. If a manuscript was previously reviewed and rejected by the IEEE-JOE or a different journal, the authors shall provide to their Associate Editor copies of all correspondence involving the earlier submission and explain why they wish to submit it for publication in the IEEE-JOE. The authors of a manuscript found to have been plagiarized from others or to contain a crossover of more than 25% with another journal manuscript by any of the authors will incur sanctions.

Sanctions for the above-noted infractions may range from immediate rejection of the manuscript in question, to prohibition against all the authors for any new submissions, either individually or in combination with the authors of the plagiarizing manuscript, as well as in combination with new coauthors, to ALL the Society’s publications (journals, conferences, workshops). The prohibition shall continue for at least two years from notice of suspension.

Each new submission will be screened for plagiarism prior to review.

Copyright

The IEEE owns the copyright to the technical material it publishes; thus authors are required to fill out an online IEEE copyright transfer form during the manuscript submission process. With this online IEEE copyright transfer form, authors certify that the material they submit for publication is available for general dissemination. It is the full responsibility of the authors, not the IEEE, to determine whether proprietary or classified restrictions of any kind apply to the material they submit, and to obtain prior consent from other parties when required. For additional information see: https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/copyright-faqs.html

Open Access

This publication is a hybrid journal, allowing either Traditional manuscript submission or Open Access (OA) manuscript submission. Upon submission, if you choose to have your manuscript be an Open Access article in order to enable unrestricted public access, you commit to immediately pay the US$2,645 OA fee, plus applicable taxes. If you would like your manuscript to be a Traditional submission, your article will be available to qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore. Immediate payment is not required for Traditional submission.

For any questions regarding IEEE’s Open Access policy, please refer to IEEE Frequently Asked Questions on Open Access: https://open.ieee.org/index.php/about-ieee-open-access/faqs/

Accepted Manuscripts: Submitting Final Files 

Please note: for JOE accepted papers processed via https://joe.msubmit.net/ (those with submissions originally received prior to March 4 2025), refer to the instructions you received by email and submit your final files via https://joe.msubmit.net/.

For JOE papers processed via https://controls.papercept.net/, please follow the instructions below. 

STEP ONE: 

Review your accepted manuscript carefully, using the checklist below. The extra time you take to follow the Checklist will result in a higher quality publication and a faster turnaround from IEEE Publication Services.

Manuscript Checklist: 

  1. Verify all equations.
    • Check for proper use of mathematical symbols (look for missing brackets!).
    • Notation should be unambiguous.  
    • All terms and unconventional symbols should be defined in the text.  
  2. Verify all figures.
    • All lettering and symbols in the figure or its axes must have a point size of at least 8 at the specified publication size.
    • All axes should be labeled, with the appropriate SI units.
    • Legends should not cover plotted data.
    • Geographic coordinates should be properly labeled on maps.
  3. Verify the references. 
    • Is each reference complete? (e.g. page numbers, volume, year of publication)  
    • When citing books, indicate relevant page numbers or chapter.   
    • Per IEEE Publication Principles (Section 8.2.1), changes to your manuscript after acceptance are limited to the editing of references included in the accepted manuscript. Additional sources should not be added.  
  4. Verify the text.
    • Proofread the text carefully.
    • Are all acronyms defined when first mentioned?  
  5. Manuscripts with multiple authors:
    • Have all the authors read and approved the present text?   
    • Is a photo and biography of each author included? 

                  NOTE: Ensuring that your manuscript does NOT contain any of the following issues can help speed up the production stage of a paper by 1-2 weeks:  

                  • Legends covering plotted data,  
                  • Plots without dimensions (units) of variables provided,
                  • Misspelled figure labels, and  
                  • Cut and paste paste errors in mathematical equations (e.g., missing brackets).


                  STEP TWO:

                  Format your final manuscript source file in LaTeX or Word, using the IEEE templates that are available at https://template-selector.ieee.org/secure/templateSelector/format?publicationTypeId=1&titleId=17&articleId=3.  


                  STEP THREE:

                  Log into your PaperPlaza Author Workspace at https://controls.papercept.net/journals/joe/scripts/login.pl. Click “Submit final version” next to the accepted paper. Only the corresponding author of the paper has this link active. 


                  Complete the Required Actions listed on the Final Submission page. You may leave this page, log out and return to this page later to continue. The steps can be completed in any order. Click “Save” at the bottom of each page before returning to the main final submission page.

                  1. Finalize the title and author list.  
                    Note: authors may reorder the author list or reassign the corresponding author, but the addition or removal of authors is not permitted.

                  2. Transfer copyright to IEEE  
                    Important: after completing the procedure at the IEEE Copyright site, you must follow this instruction on the Congratulations page: “Click on the Return button below to return to the Originating Site.”  
                    If you do not do this then you will need to log in again at the JOE Submission and Review Management System. 

                    Read this if you are not authorized to transfer copyright yourself: 
                    If you are not authorized to transfer the copyright of this publication yourself but need another person in your organization to do this then please access the IEEE Copyright Wizard by clicking on the Continue button below and supply the correct answers to its questions. It will ask you for the details of the person who needs to be approached. 

                    As soon as this other person has completed the procedure Journal of Oceanic Engineering Submission and Review Management System will be automatically updated and you will be able to complete the submission. 

                    Read this if copyright was transferred but the submission system does not seem to know: 
                    If you believe that copyright of your paper has been transferred but Journal of Oceanic Engineering Submission and Review Management System does not seem to be aware of this then you may do one of the following to correct this.

                    If you just returned from the IEEE Copyright transfer server, then click once or twice on Refresh.

                    If you referred the IEEE eCopyright server to someone else to transfer the copyright for your submission then please wait until this person has completed the transfer 

                    Contact the IEEE JOE Editorial Office at journal@ieeeoes.org with a request to update the copyright settings for your paper. Attach a copy of the copyright agreement that you received from IEEE.

                    For any problem related to the IEEE eCopyright server, including requests for a copy of the copyright agreement if you mislaid it or did not receive it, contact IEEE at ecopyright@ieee.org.

                  1. Complete the submission metadata
                    Open Access option: 
                    This publication is a hybrid journal, allowing either traditional manuscript submission or Open Access (author-pays OA) manuscript submission. By selecting “Yes” to the Open Access question below, you commit to pay the $2,645 USD APC if your manuscript is accepted for publication in order to enable unrestricted public access. 
                    Many institutions offer assistance for open access funding. Check the IEEE Open institutional partners page to see if yours is one.
                    If you select traditional submission, your article will be available to all qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore. No OA payment is required for traditional submission. 
                    For any questions regarding IEEE’s Open Access policy, please refer to the document An FAQ on IEEE Open Access.

                  1. Human and animal research disclosure 
                    To review the IEEE policy on human and animal research, see the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual.

                  1. Code Ocean option
                    Code Ocean is a cloud-based computational reproducibility platform, integrated with IEEE Xplore, that enables IEEE authors to publish their executable code associated with research articles. Code may be uploaded at submission, revision or after acceptance of the article.
                    Sign up/login to Code Ocean
                    Upload and submit the code associated with your article: 
                    Code Ocean will verify the code is operational and help with any issues.
                    Your executable code will be published on Code Ocean and available to share.
                    Your code will also be assigned a DOI for proper attribution and increase its discoverability.
                    Once the article is published, a tab featuring your code will be added to the article page on IEEE Xplore.
                    For more information, see their FAQs.

                  1. Option to Submit Your Data via IEEE DataPort.
                    IEEE authors may upload up to 2TB of data related to their article to IEEE DataPort at no cost (or at low cost if the article must be Open Access).
                    Once your data is uploaded to DataPort, a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) will be provided immediately. The IEEE DataPort DOI should be entered in the DOI field below and should be included in your main manuscript file. Providing data with your article can strengthen your submission and make your research more easily reproducible. You can upload your data files at any time (before, during or after the publication process).
                    The About IEEE Dataport page provides instructions and answers to commonly asked questions. Use this link to access IEEE DataPort.

                  1. Upload the final version of the manuscript.
                    Upload a PDF of the final, accepted manuscript in double-column, single-spaced format and with embedded inline figures and tables, to be used by the IEEE Publications Editor. This file is essential because it is the standard against which all typesetting and copy editing will be checked. Therefore, please make sure your pdf is as accurate and correct as possible.

                  1. Upload the Source files of your final paper in a single zipped archive file that includes the following files:
                    1. Article source file(s): 
                      LaTeX or MS-Word file of the final manuscript text, double column, single spaced format with embedded inline figures and tables, prepared using the templates available at https://template-selector.ieee.org/secure/templateSelector/format?publicationTypeId=1&titleId=17&articleId=3.
                      Please include all authors’ names and affiliations on the first page.
                    2. Figure files: 
                      • EPS or TIFF format 
                      • Please give each figure file the same name as it has in your manuscript text, e.g. fig.1, fig.2a, fig.2b, fig.2c, fig.3  
                      • Figure files may be color, or black & white, or a mix of both.   
                      • If your figures contain fonts, ensure that they are legible at A4 size printing of the paper. Type size should appear approximately 8-10 pts when viewed on A4 size paper. 
                    3. A short biography for each author. All author bios can be combined into a single document.
                    4. A source file photo (JPEG, EPS, TIFF) for each author. Please provide a separate file for each author, and label it with the author’s name. 
                    5. A file containing a current email address for each author. 

                  Upload any Multimedia Attachment (this step is present only if the accepted paper had already a multimedia attachment.) Your Multimedia Attachment should contain all the multimedia files (e.g., data, videos, etc.) as well as the ReadMe.txt and Summary.txt files in text format, all in a single zipped archive file. 

                  Note for authors:
                  You may also wish to further the impact and visibility of your work by writing an accompanying short layman-language interpretation for your Journal article. For this, you may consider submitting a short article to the science communication magazine of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering society, Earthzine (www.earthzine.org). Earthzine will not do a technical peer review of your plain-language article as it is tagged to your paper, but the blog may undergo a quick copyediting review to make it easier to read/accessible to a general audience. For more information, see https://earthzine.org/about/how-to-submit/  

                   

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