Making a Good Feature Article Submission

One of the main items of feedback during our recent IEEE Periodicals Review and Advisory Committee (PRAC) meeting was that IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM) rejected too many feature article white papers as being “out of scope.” In this editorial, I attempt to outline the key features of a good feature article. I hope that you readers-as potential feature article authors-will also consider these tips when you prepare your submissions.

I will start the description by providing some basic background. First and foremost, a feature article is a tutorial paper not associated with a special issue. In particular, it should not include new ideas or fundamental results, as might appear in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, for example. Any article that features new results is not in the scope of a feature article and will be rejected.

A typical feature article is focused on a topic that is narrow enough to be adequately covered within the page and reference limits of the article (more on this later), with enough breadth to be inclusive of the perspectives from different authors. Good articles will provide an introduction to the area, provide a novel perspective on different technical directions, and, most importantly, will highlight directions for future work. The key relevant contributions of a feature article lie in the careful selection of references, thoughtful perspectives on them, and ideas for future work. Graphics should not be overlooked. Having insightful illustrations, and simulations that combine perspectives from different work, can be very useful for future readers.