◈ Quick Overview

PIER Journals are a family of journals supported by the PhotonIcs and Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), which has become a major symposium in the area related to photonics and electromagnetics. The scope includes all aspects of electromagnetic theory plus its wide-ranging applications. Hence, it includes topics motivated by mathematics, sciences as well as topics inspired by advanced technologies.

The main PIER journal primarily publishes high quality and high impact articles on hot topics. PIER B publishes comprehensive and tutorial review articles. PIER C publishes papers on circuits, wireless communications, and other topics related electromagnetics technologies. PIER M publishes papers on methods and measurements of electromagnetics, and related topics. PIER Letters publishes succinct original articles on the frontiers of electromagnetics, and related math and science papers.

All PIER journals are using the same manuscript track and review system.  When online submitting the manuscript, the author is requested to select target journal, main PIER or not.

• If the author only wants to publish with main PIER, the editors will make a quick decision of acceptance or rejection after review process.
• If the author agrees to publish with PIER B, C, M and Letters, after review/revision and typeset process, the editors will make the final decision to schedule accepted papers into specific journals based on considerations of topical relevance, page lengths, review inputs, time constraint for publication, and etc..

Each journal has its different minimum and maximum page limits. The overlength page charge is USD 100 for each journal page in excess of the page limit. Authors are strongly advised to pay attention to the page limits and publication charge before submitting the manuscripts. The following table gives a quick overview of all PIER journals related to page lengths.

◈ Publication Charge

As all articles in all PIER Journals are available online and free of charge to all readers, PIER authors are required to pay the publication fee (if any according to the above calculation table).

The total publication fee is the sum of the Paper Charge and the Overlength Page Charge.

The paper charge is USD 300 for each paper in PIER. There is NO paper charge for PIER B, C, M and Letters. The page limit is 6 pages for PIER Letters, 10 pages for PIER M, 16 pages for PIER and PIER C, and 24 pages for PIER B. The overlength page charge is USD 100 for each journal page in excess of the page limit.

◈ Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be submitted via On-Line Submission by following the instructions.

• Manuscripts must be in English.
• The first page should contain the title of the paper, name(s) and affiliation(s) of the authors.
• Full name, affiliation, email of each co-author should be clearly indicated either in a seperate file, or a seperate page in the source paper file. All authors should agree with the submission.
• Abstract should consist of one paragraph not containing numbered references. All nonstandard symbols and abbreviations must be defined.
• Headings and subheadings of the paper (e.g., abstract, introduction, formulation, methods, results, discussion, conclusion) sections should be clearly indicated.
• Tables and figures should have captions. The maximum width for table and figure is 11 cm.
• Symbols, line thickness, and lettering should be in proper scale in relation to the overall figure size so that reduction will not reduce clarity. Times or Helvertica font is suggested to be used in figures.
• Equations, tables, and figures, should be numbered consecutively. In the body of paper, all references, figures, and tables must be cited with an Arabic numeral according to the order in which it is discussed in the paper.
• References must contain full title, place and year of publication, and be listed at the end of the article in the reference section. Technical reports, memos, unpublished or to be published articles must not be listed as references, only published work in journals and books may be cited as references.
• English Grammar: To save the time of our reviewers, authors are encouraged to use grammar check software or find the help of a native speaker to proofread the manuscript before submission.
• Original Contribution: The originality of the scientific contribution should be clearly stated in the manuscript.

Manuscripts are not required to be formatted in PIER format. Before submitting to PIER journals, it is the author's responsibility to make sure that,

• All authors should agree with the submission;
• The work has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere;
• If some materials or figures are reproduced, authors should get authorizations from the copyright holders and indicate the authorizations in the submissions.
• Authors should avoid copyright violation and plagiarism. For detailed guidelines, the submitting authors may refer to the section of Identifying Plagiarism on IEEE's website for publication standards. Authors caught with plagiarism will be banned from future submissions for 3 year.

◈ Submission Instructions

The corresponding author should log in the Author Center to submit the new manuscript. To expedite the process, PIER submission program will request the author to submit the following items.

1 - Target Published Journal

All PIER journals are using the same manuscript track and review system. To expedite the process for high quality and hot topics papers publishing on main PIER, authors are requested to select the target published journal.

• If the author only wants to publish with main PIER, the editors will make a quick decision of acceptance or rejection after review process.
• If the author agrees to publish with PIER B, C, M and Letters, after review/revision and typeset process, the editors will make the final decision to schedule accepted papers into specific journals based on considerations of topical relevance, page length, review inputs, time constraint for publication, and etc..

2 - Special Issue Selection

Being an open access on-line journal, PIER gives great prominence to special issues that draw together significant and emerging works to promote key advances on specific topics. The special issues are devoted to timely, relevant, and cutting-edge research and aim to provide a unique platform for researchers interested in selected topics. If authors have interest in joining these special issues, please choose the special issue title during the online submission process.  The special issue editors will judge whether it is acceptable for their special issue. If it is not accepted by the chosen special issue, the editors will make the final decision to schedule accepted papers into specific journals.

In 2021, several special issues are calling for papers now.

3 - Topic of the Manuscript

PIER scope includes all aspects of electromagnetic theory plus its wide-ranging applications. Hence, it includes topics motivated by mathematics, sciences as well as topics inspired by advanced technologies.  The spectrum ranges from very low frequencies to ultra-violet frequencies.  The length scale spans from nanometer length scale to kilometer length scale.   The physics covers the classical regime as well as the quantum regime.

In order to optimize the review process, authors are requested to choose multiple topics from the list of PIER topics. It is an important step for a fast and accurate review process.

4 - Suggested Reviewers

Authors can suggest reviewers who are active in the research field of submitted articles. This step is optional. If any suggested reviewers, please provide their names, emails, and affiliations.

5 - Uploaded Files

The following files are required for all submissions:

• A PDF file of the manuscript including all text, equations, and figures. This PDF version should be carefully prepared as it will be directly sent to the reviewers.
• Source files of the manuscript in TEX (recommended) or Word format.
  * If the source file is in TEX format (LaTeX sample file), source files of figures in EPS or PDF format are required.
  * If the source file is in Word format, EPS or PDF format of figure is NOT required.
• File of authors information. It should include the full name, affiliation, email of each co-author. Each co-author will be alerted about this submission. Co-authors can only view the paper status and all paper submitted files in their Author Center. However, only the corresponding author can submit the revisions or take other actions related to the manuscripts.
• Supplementary Information is optional.

◈ Editorial Procedures

1 - Peer Review

All manuscripts are prescreened by PIER editors before they are sent out for external review. Submissions are also screened for plagiarism check. The editors prescreens all manuscripts to decide whether a manuscript will be peer-reviewed or declined out right without going through the review process. Manuscripts declined up front can be due to poorly written English, contents being out of the scope of the journals, deficiencies in manuscript format, similarity to previous publications, previous decline or withdrawal, banned author due to asserted plagiarism, or that its subject matter is not of interest to PIER, which only publishes well-presented original contributions in electromagnetics.

After the prescreen, the editors will select reviewers who are experts in the field of manuscript or reviewer(s) from the suggested names. Reviewers are allowed time to complete their review and submit comments. If there is no sufficient review comment, editors will assign more reviewers in another round untill at least 2 review comments arrive.

Only review comments with constructive suggestions will be made public to the authors. To expedite the revision, some review suggestions will be made public to the authors before decision. If some review comments appear online, authors can prepare the revisions in advance. Kindly wait for the decision letter via email notice. The revision checklist will be available online when you are required to revise your manuscript.

Usually, the review process of PIER Journals takes 3-6 weeks. Some special cases may need more time.

2 - Revision

Usually, PIER editors make decision based on at least 2 reviews. Once there are enough reviews, the editors will make a quick decision (revision/acceptance/rejection for PIER), if the author only wants to publish with main PIER.

If the author agrees to publish with PIER B, C, M and Letters, the editors will make decision (revision/acceptance/rejection) based on the reviews. In this stage, specific journal option will not be offered untill typeset version is ready after revision process.

A final decision of acceptance or rejection will be made after receiving and evaluating the revised version together with additional new review inputs.

If authors receive revision decision letters, the following files are required in this revision stage:

Usually, authors are required to submit the revised version within 3-7 days. However, authors can request for revision extension of more days. Or, if we do not receive any response within 1 month, the submission may be withdrawn from our file.

Revisions are strongly advised to be submitted via Online Checklist in Author Center. An acknowledge email will be sent to the corresponding author immediately once the online revision checklist is successfully submitted. Email revision submission is NOT encouraged due to unpredictability of emails. It will also delay the revision process.

3 - Proofread the Typeset Version

After the revision process and paper is acceptable, the manuscript will be typeset in PIER TEX format. 

Once the typeset version is available online, author will be requested to proofread the typeset version in case any typos exist in the typeset process. Revisions of typos should be sent within 3 days. Please highlight revisions in different color or indicate the page and line numbers where the revisions should be made. Do not upload the files of your whole revised article without indication. If there is no revision needed, please online approve the current typeset version.

In this stage, authors are strongly advised to pay attention to page length of this typeset version. Different journals have different free page limit and minimum & maximum pages.

4 - Journal Selection and Final Proofread

Once typeset version is approved, Editors will recommend specific journal(s) to publish, based on considerations of topical relevance, page lengths, review inputs, time constraint for publication, etc.. If you do not like the suggested journal(s), you may choose to withdraw your manuscript. If the author only wants to publish with main PIER, only main PIER will be offered.

Any revision to reduce contents in this Final Proofread stage is not acceptable.

Authors have the final chance to proofread the paper again. Please fill in the checklist form in the "To Do" list within 30 hours. The manuscript will not be scheduled until it is approved by the author.

After the specific journal is chosen, author is required to pay the publication fee (if any according to the above PIER Publication Fee Table).

Once it is scheduled, no changes can be made to the paper. If we do not receive the timely response, paper may be withdrawn from our file.

5 - Schedule Notice

Approved paper will be queued in the publication schedule. Before publication, paper may have final grammar check again. Once you get message of english grammar request, please do give your prompt reply.

Once it is scheduled for publication, you will be informed as early as possible via email. Once a paper is approved and scheduled, it cannot be withdrawn. Usually, this schedule procedure takes no more than 1 week.

◈ Contact Us

Since 2021, authors are strongly recommended to contact PIER Editorial OFFICE via "Send a Message" in Author Center, as email correpondence methods are becoming more and more unstable nowadays. Authors can also check messages from PIER office in the author center.

Email: work@jpier.org and/or jpier@emwave.cn