TCAD Paper Submission Instructions

The IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems (TCAD) is published monthly. Manuscripts considered for publication should focus on algorithms, methods, techniques, and tools for the automated design of integrated circuits and systems, and on related areas. Submitted papers may be of a survey or research nature. Research papers must present original contributions and must show significant new material over descriptions or derivations available elsewhere. Both survey papers and special issues are allowed only by invitation.

The IEEE must of necessity assume that material submitted for publication is available for general dissemination. It is the responsibility of the Author, not the IEEE, to determine whether disclosure of their material requires the prior consent of other parties and if so, to obtain it.

Submissions should follow IEEE author policies:

A. Process for Submission of a Manuscript

Only electronic submissions will be considered. Papers should be submitted at https://ieee.atyponrex.com/journal/tcad

B. Style for Submission of Manuscript

  1. All manuscripts must be formatted using the IEEE two-column format. Style templates can be found at http://www.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org. (Minimum font size is 10 pt).
  2. The maximum number of pages allowed for submissions is:
    • Regular Papers: 14 pages
    • Submitted papers that are not compliant with either the style format or the allowed page lengths will be returned to the Author.
  3. The manuscript should include an informative 100- to 250-word abstract, at the head of the manuscript, which will appear with the paper. Index terms and 4-to-8 keywords describing the manuscript are also required.
  4. References should appear in a separate bibliography section at the end of the paper, with items referred to by numerals in square brackets, e.g., [12]. In either case, references should be complete and in IEEE style.
    • Style for papers: Author, first initial(s) followed by last name, title, volume, including page numbers, month, and year.
    • Style for books: Author, title, location and publisher, year, chapter or page numbers (if desired).
  5. Guideline for final manuscript preparation: Detailed instructions for preparation of the final manuscript is in the Author guidelines for final manuscript preparation.

C. Graphical Abstract

This journal accepts graphical abstracts and they must be peer-reviewed. For more information about graphical abstracts and their specifications, please visit the following link: http://www.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/

D. Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

All IEEE journals require an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) for all authors. 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. Authors who do not have an ORCID in their ScholarOne user account will be prompted to provide one during submission.

E. Disclosure of Previous Submissions

Authors should disclose versions of this paper that were already peer-reviewed for publications in other journals and conferences within the past two years, immaterial of the outcome.

If an earlier version of this paper was rejected by a different publication or conference, the cover letter should provide information on how reviewer and editor comments from that review were handled. This can also include remarks that point out disagreements of the author's viewpoint with review comments from other publications.

If an earlier version of the paper has been accepted for conference/workshop publication or has already appeared in a conference/workshop proceeding, both the paper itself and the cover letter should identify the previous publication and clearly identify the substantive improvement over the earlier conference/workshop version.

The material in this submission should be at least 30% different in content from any prior accepted/published version, but it is up to the review process to determine whether the additional contributions are substantive. Examples of substantive enhancements include modifications/enhancements to algorithms, improvements in evaluation methodology, new insights from additional benchmarks. Examples of additional content that does not contribute to the 30% requirement include (but is not limited to): an expanded literature review or a broadening of the introductory or background material usually does not count towards the 30% requirement.

Concurrent submissions of any kind (journal, conference, workshop) to this Journal are not allowed and no extensions of any previously published journal version will be accepted.

If a submission has no previous peer-reviewed versions, it should clearly state this in the cover letter.

F. Policy on Self-Plagiarism

IEEE Publications has long indicated that verbatim copying another's work (plagiarism) is unacceptable author conduct. Moreover, the IEEE Board of Directors approved in November 2002 a new policy on Duplicate Publication and Self-Plagiarism. This policy is included in the IEEE Policies document, precisely in Sections 6.4.1B(f) and 6.4.1B(h). These two sections are indicated next:

  • (f) Plagiarism is unacceptable. The verbatim copying or reuse of one's own research) as indicated in paragraph "h" below) is considered another form of plagiarism or self-plagiarism; it is unacceptable.
  • (h) Except as indicated in Section 6.3.4 (Multiple Publication of Original Technical Material in IEEE Periodicals), authors should only submit original work that has neither appeared elsewhere for publication nor which is under review for another refereed publication. If authors have used their own previously published work(s) as a basis for a new submission, they are required as indicated above to cite the previous work(s) and very briefly indicate how the new submission offers substantial novel contributions beyond those of the previously published work(s).

As a result, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS will carefully monitor possible self-plagiarism conducts. As a result, it will not accept for review manuscripts where a significant portion of the text is a verbatim copy of the text already published in previous works. In particular, as general requirements:

  • The submission material shall not have more than 40% total text overlap percentage with prior accepted/published versions of the work.
  • The authors need to include both in their cover page of the submission material and in the text of the manuscript (e.g., related work section) a clear and concise statement about the contribution of the submitted paper with respect to each of their prior relevant works. The manuscript's statement must refer to the appropriate citation(s) of the authors' previous work(s).

G. Policy for Generative AI Tools Use in Manuscripts

  • IEEE guidelines allow the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in papers submitted to IEEE publications to improve the initial text written by authors in order to enhance readability and clarity. In that case, IEEE emphasizes that AI outputs shall not be cited or considered as sources of ideas or content but rather as tools used in the research process.
  • Consequently, the authors of a TCAD submission must include in the acknowledgments section a disclose of whether and how they used content generated by AI (including but not limited to text, figures, images, and code). That statement shall describe the tool used and briefly explain the specific content or sections generated in the article.
  • Omitting the inclusion of generated AI content in the acknowledgments section of a paper will deem the paper to be desk rejected and not enter the TCAD peer review process. The decision can also be made after a formal peer review process if the generative AI content is identified by the TCAD Editorial Board during the review process.

H. Desk Reject Criterion

The Editorial Board may desk reject submissions without further review. Grounds for desk rejection include:

  • Lack of required section on generative AI use.
  • Submission of survey paper without invitation from the EIC.
  • Submission is out of TCAD scope.
  • Submission includes inadequate review of prior related work.
  • Submission includes insufficient comparison to state-of-the-art.
  • Submission includes insufficient new results over prior publication.

I. Review Process

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS publishes only peer-reviewed papers. The Editor will assign each submitted manuscript to an Associate Editor, who will rely on anonymous reviews to decide on the acceptance of the paper, on mandatory modifications, and on the publication in full or short form. If you have any potential conflicts of interest with an Associate Editor, please identify this in your cover letter. The Author is responsible for checking the galley proofs prior to publication.

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. Each published article was reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers using a single-anonymous 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.

J. Open Access

This publication is a hybrid journal, allowing either Traditional manuscript submission or Open Access (author-pays OA) manuscript submission. Upon submission, if you choose to have your manuscript be an Open Access article, you commit to paying a $2800 OA fee if your manuscript is accepted for publication in order to enable unrestricted public access. Any other applicable charges (such as over-length page charge and/or charge for the use of color in the print format) will be billed separately once the manuscript formatting is complete but prior to the publication. If you would like your manuscript to be a Traditional submission, your article will be available to qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore. No OA payment is required for Traditional submission.

  • IEEE Members receive a 5% discount.
  • IEEE Society Members receive a 20% discount.
  • Discounts cannot be combined.
  • Discounts do not apply to undergraduate and graduate students.

Corresponding authors from low-income countries (as classified by the World Bank) are eligible for discounts on article processing charges. For more information, please visit the IEEE Author Center or Learn more about the program.

K. Page Charges

After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the Author’s institution will be approached with a request to pay a voluntary charge of $110 per page to cover part of the cost of publication. If the voluntary page charge is not honored, IEEE will charge a mandatory page charge of $175 per page for each page in excess of 9. Detailed instructions will accompany the page proofs. The color charge fee structure has been simplified to a flat $275 per printed color figure.

L. Copyright

It is the policy of the IEEE to own the copyright to the technical contributions it publishes. To comply with IEEE copyright policy, Authors are required to sign an IEEE Copyright Transfer Form before publication in either the print or electronic medium. Authors must submit a signed copy of this form with their manuscript.