Submitting paper to IEEE journal using the standard `article`/`proc` LaTeX class

Question

Do IEEE Journals accept LaTeX-formatted manuscripts using the standard article or proc class provided by LaTeX?

It is not made clear to me, if I should stick with the IEEETrans class IEEE has provided me with or I can just use the standard article classes - pre-installed with LaTeX - and submit my manuscript this way.

Thanks in advance

Read the CFP. What template does it tell you to use? And stick to those instructions. — Alexandros, Feb 14 '15 at 16:37
There is a latex template but these there is no references to what I am asking in this question. — bolzano, Feb 14 '15 at 16:47
Slighty related: Should you conform to journal formatting requirements for the initial submission?. — O. R. Mapper, Feb 14 '15 at 17:14

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 14 '15 at 17:55

I disagree with Bill Barth's answer: I strongly believe that you should use the LaTeX classes that IEEE has provided you with. The reasons are two-fold:

The reviewers will be used to almost always seeing IEEE submissions in IEEE standard formats. If you submit in another format, it will likely prejudice the reviewers against you, as it will appear "amateurish." Whether or not this is fair, it is a risk you are taking with your paper that there is no need to take.
Many IEEE journals have length constraints, and some are quite adamant about them. If you submit in a non-standard format, it will be difficult to tell whether you are actually complying with the length constraints or not. This may annoy the editor, again unnecessarily.

IEEE formats are pretty easy to use, and have really good instructions. Since that is the case, I simply see no up-side to avoiding the standard formatting, and plenty of down-side.

I think this should be flagged as the correct answer. For conferences that will appear directly to xplore it is a must as the requirements are strict and once you get used to the workflow of the IEEEtran it is very simple and a lot more productive to stick to it. — o4tlulz, Feb 14 '15 at 23:27
Readers of these excellent points should be aware that outside of IEEE, ACM, and some other journals, which may prefer submission in the journal style, many commenters in the other question were in agreement that this was "presumptuous" in their field and could be detrimental. I tried to give a correct answer here given the strong field split in what is expected. Anyone who doesn't put these biases aside is unethical IMO, but following the norm is advisable. — Bill Barth, Feb 15 '15 at 17:56

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 14 '15 at 16:55

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My reading is that you can submit anything that complies with the rules on Manuscript Types and Lengths, but if you actually use the template for the journal you are submitting to, they really, really appreciate it. If your article is accepted, you will have to work with them to reformat it to use the specific journal's style.

answered Feb 14 '15 at 16:55

Bill Barth

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Downvoters care to comment? – Bill Barth Feb 15 '15 at 00:37
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I think that you might be technically correct, but that it is a bad idea, for the reasons I gave in my own answer. – jakebeal Feb 15 '15 at 01:28

Submitting paper to IEEE journal using the standard `article`/`proc` LaTeX class

2 Answers2