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IEEE

Transactions on Games

A Leading Journal for Games Research
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About

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GAMES (TOG) publishes original high-quality articles covering scientific, technical, and engineering aspects of games.

Editor in Chief: Julian Togelius

Editorial Assistant: Aditya Bhatt

For the complete list of all the Associate Editors, click here

IEEE Transactions on Games welcomes submissions of papers on artificial intelligence for games, games for artificial intelligence, human–computer interaction, graphics, educational and serious games, software engineering in games, affective computing in games, virtual and augmented reality, game design, and other topics. The scope specifically indicates "scientific, technical, and engineering aspects of games", and the vast majority of what is published is empirical and/or quantitative in nature. For more information on the journal and its scope, click here

Cover page

Cover Page of the March 2018 Issue

Instructions for Authors


Types of Contributions

Transactions on Games publishes letters, short papers, full papers and surveys.

Letters typically comment on existing papers but may also present new research where the result may be concisely described. Letters are limited to 4 pages in the journal’s two column format.

Full papers may be research articles, surveys, or tutorials. They are archival quality papers making a significant contribution to the field.
Full Papers are limited to 10 pages in the journal’s two column format, which will include all references and author biographies (note, author biographies are optional), but excluding supplementary material. Papers exceeding this length will be subject to a mandatory over-length page charge. Full papers, even if paying an over-length page charge, cannot exceed 14 pages.


Survey papers will focus on a specific area related to the journal. It will provide a historical perspective, highlight recent work, provide a broader perspective of the area and suggest future areas of potential research, as well outlining open questions.
A Survey paper should not exceed 15 pages of formatted text in the IEEE two-column style, which will include all references and author biographies, but excluding supplementary material. Papers exceeding this length will be subject to a mandatory over-length page charge. Survey papers, even if paying an over-length page charge, cannot exceed 20 pages.


Short papers report sufficiently interesting new theories and/or developments/results/simulations/experiments on previously published work in the area. Short papers are limited to 6 pages in the journal’s two column format, including all references and author biographies (note, author biographies are optional), but excluding supplementary material. Papers exceeding this length will be subject to a mandatory over-length page charge. Short papers, even if paying an over-length page charge, cannot exceed 8 pages.

The mandatory page charges for over-length papers (see page charges) are payable, unless the voluntary page charge has been paid.


For all papers review management is primarily under the direction of an associate editor, who will solicit reviews for each submission. The associate editor will ordinarily make a recommendation after receiving three reviews (two for letters).

All submissions should be accompanied by a covering letter or note indicating the type of the submission (letter, short paper, full paper or survey) and whether it is a candidate for a special issue.

Please note: 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 ( https://pspb.ieee.org/images/files/files/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.

Publication Timeline

Every effort is made to ensure minimum delay from submission to publication. Authors have a key role to play in minimising the delay between initial submission and publication, largely by ensuring that manuscripts are of high quality both in terms of content and presentation. Use of a proof-reading service is highly recommended for any authors who are not native English speakers.
When the final version of a manuscript is accepted, it is immediately published electronically on IEEE Xplore and given a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), at which time it enters the queue for publication in the paper version. In line with the IEEE’s policy on scholarly publishing, authors are also free to archive the PDF of the author-final version of the paper on their own web-site or institutional repository.
For manuscripts that are accepted without revision it is entirely feasible that they could be published within twelve weeks of the initial submission.

Submit a Paper

Please read all the instructions for authors before submitting the paper

All correspondence concerning submissions is between the author, Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Assistant.

To submit your paper for consideration, visit the web submission system at Manuscript Central found here , where you can create a new account or use an existing one if you have one, and submit a first draft of a new manuscript.

The journal operates a single-blind review process. Authors should list their names and affiliations on the manuscript, but the reviewers and the associate editor for each paper will remain anonymous. Use ample margins on all sides, and please ensure that your uploaded file prints without error on both 8.5×11 inch and A4 paper.
This TRANSACTIONS is devoted primarily to archival reports of work that have not been published elsewhere. Specifically, conference records and book chapters that have been published previously are not acceptable unless and until they have been enhanced significantly. In special circumstances or on exceptional occasions, the editor may deem a contribution noteworthy enough to be exempted from this policy. Ensure that in “Comments to Editor-in-Chief” you state that the work being submitted has not been published elsewhere, nor is it under review currently by another publication.

Style for Manuscript

TOG follows the standard format IEEE Transactions. For guidelines and templates please follow this link: https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/ . A list of 2-5 keywords are required for all manuscripts. Number all pages of hard copy manuscripts, using one side only. Provide an abstract of 150-250 words as described below. Authors are encouraged to put detailed derivations in appendices. Papers longer than 12 pages in the IEEE Transactions format will be considered only if the author can justify this length in the covering letter. The authors are encouraged to suggest a publication category for their paper, but this may be changed by the editor-in-chief as deemed appropriate.

Abstract

In order for an abstract to be effective when displayed in IEEE Xplore® as well as through indexing services such as Compendex, INSPEC, Medline, ProQuest, and Web of Science, it must be an accurate, stand-alone reflection of the contents of the article.

The abstract must be a concise yet comprehensive reflection of what is in your article. 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. Be sure that you adhere to these limits; otherwise, you will need to edit your abstract accordingly.
  • 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.

Page Charges

After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the author’s company or institution will be requested to pay a voluntary charge of $110 per printed page to cover part of the cost of publication. Page charges for this TRANSACTIONS, like those for journals of other professional societies, are not obligatory, nor is their payment a prerequisite for publication. The author will receive 100 free reprints without covers if the voluntary page charge is honored. Detailed instructions accompany the proofs.

Mandatory Over-Length Page Charges. If the voluntary page charge is not honoured, the IEEE will impose a mandatory over-length page charge of $200 per page for each page in excess of 12 pages for full papers (in excess of 20 pages for survey papers), 6 pages for short papers and 4 pages for letters. Detailed instructions on payment of these charges will accompany the page proof.

Copyright

It is the policy of the IEEE to own copyright to the technical contributions it publishes. To comply with the IEEE copyright policy , authors are required to sign the IEEE Copyright Transfer & Export Control compliance From before publication in either the print or electronic medium. The form is provided upon approval of the manuscript. Author must submit a signed copy of this form with their final manuscripts.

Submission of Final Manuscript

Page Numbers: Number all pages, including illustrations (which should be grouped at the end), in a single series, with no omitted numbers. Figures should be identified with the figure number and author’s name at the bottom or on the back; keep the information in the margin, off the body of the figure.
References and Captions: Put references on a separate page and provide them in IEEE style. Figure captions should also be on a separate page from references and content. Do not include captions on the illustrations themselves. Figure captions should be sufficiently clear so that the figures can be understood without detailed reference to the accompanying text. Axes of graphs should have self-explanatory labels, not just symbols, wherever appropriate.
Illustrations and Photos: Figures and photos should be original figures and not photocopies. Photos must be glossy prints with not screens. Laser prints are not acceptable in place of photos or where gray-scale graphics are involved. All line drawings and photos should be in black and white, unles specifically requested. Letters should be large enough to be readily legible when the drawing is reduced to two or one-column width – as much as 4:1 reduction from the original. All materials should be no larger than 22 x 28 cm (8.5 x 11 in).
Electronic Form for Final Printing: For the final printed production of the manuscript, the author will need to provide electronic copy of the peer-approved version. Please be certain that changes made to the paper are incorporated into the final copy, and include all source files. Check that all files are complete including abstract, text, references, footnotes, biographies, and figures and captions. Figures, tables, and author photos may be submitted in .tiff, .eps, or .ps formats. A separate set of files should be submitted for graphics as they are processed separately from the manuscript. For more information on submitting electronic graphics, please visit the URL: https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/ and click on the link “Guidelines for Author supplied Electronic Text and Graphics.” IEEE can process most commercial software programs, but not page layout programs. Do not send postscript files. The preferred programs are TeX, LaTeX, and Microsoft Word. An IEEE LaTeX style file or Word Template can be obtained at the URL: https://ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org

Special Issues

Previous Special Issues

  1. Computational Aesthetics in Games (Volume 4, Issue 3  and Editorial)
  2. Computational Narrative and Games (Volume 6, Issue 2 and Editorial)
  3. General Games (Volume 6, Issue 4 and Editorial)
  4. Age of Analytics (Volume 7, Issue 3 and Editorial)
  5. Physics Simulation (Volume 8, Issue 2 and Editorial)
  6. Real Time Strategy (Volume 8, Issue 4 and Editorial)

Current Special Issues

  • Game Competition Frameworks for Research and Education
  • Intelligence in Serious Games
  • AI-based and AI-assisted Game Design
  • Deep/Reinforcement Learning and Games

Proposing a Special Issue

If you are interested in guest editing a special issue, you should send a proposal to the Editor-in-Chief (Julian Togelius, julian@togelius.com).

Preparing your Proposal

  1. Please prepare a Call for Papers which will ultimately be distributed. We would suggest that this is a maximum of one side of A4.
  2. Please provide an additional page, that presents short biographies of the proposed guest editors and why they are qualified to guest edit a special of the Transactions of Games in the area being suggested.
  3. The proposal will be sent to the journal’s Associate Editors for comment. You may be asked to revise the proposal and this iterative process will continue until a decision has been made.

Other Points to Note

  • The proposed guest editors must include a current Associate Editor of TOG. This will ensure that the same standards are maintained for special issues, as for regular issues.
  • A guest editor can submit a maximum of ONE paper with them as an author.
  • A special issue cannot be related to a particular event (e.g. a conference) and submissions should be open to all
  • The editorial that is eventually written to introduce the special issue must not mention specific conferences or events

Contact Us

Follow/Message us on Social media- Twitter: @IEEETxnOnGames

Email Editor-In-Chief Julian Togelius for queries on scope and content: julian@togelius.com

Email Editorial Assistant Aditya Bhatt for all other queries: apb462@nyu.edu