Review Procedures

Manuscript Submissions: Authors must submit manuscripts to SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization (SICON) in electronic form. Hard-copy submissions will not be considered. Authors must enter submissions directly into the Journal Submission & Tracking System at http://sicon.siam.org. Authors should submit both the manuscript and a cover letter in PDF format.
Note: Figures, if any, must be embedded "inline" in the manuscript.

After the submission has entered SIAM's tracking system, the corresponding author receives an e-mail acknowledging receipt and providing the manuscript number. Authors are asked to include the manuscript number in all correspondence regarding the paper.

Editor Assignments. Once SIAM has processed a new submission, a copy of the manuscript goes to the journal's Editor-in-Chief (EIC) along with any reference material the author may have submitted. The EIC decides which Corresponding Editor (CE) and which Associate Editor (AE) are best suited to handle the review. Note that SICON papers are assigned to two editors for review: one Associate Editor, who obtains referee reports and makes a recommendation on the papers' publishability to a Corresponding Editor. The CE uses the AE's reports and recommendation to make a final decision on the paper and the CE handles all communication with the author.

Status Changes. Once the Associate Editor has obtained referee reports and made a recommendation on a manuscript, the Corresponding Editor reviews the reports and makes a decision. The author receives an e-mail from the CE informing him/her of the decision. Anonymous referee reports are generally included, along with the AE’s comments.

NOTE: To protect confidentiality, all referee and AE comments and reports are sent electronically through the Journal Submission & Tracking System as plain text, or as (La)TeX source. The system also allows attachment of a PDF or a PostScript file, but this is not the preferred path in terms of protecting referee identity. If an attachment is sent, the editor MUST take care to make sure that all filename header information is edited out.

The various status designations used by SIAM are discussed below. Note the distinctions among the following statuses: rejected, in revision, accepted pending minor revision.

Acceptance (A). The CE generates an acceptance letter through the web-based system. This goes to the corresponding author via e-mail. In a follow-up step, SIAM staff contacts the author for TEX files to launch the production process.

Accepted pending minor revision (PA). Unlike one that is "in revision," a paper that is PA will likely be published in the journal as long as the author(s) makes the changes specified. The revision is minor; no substantial changes are necessary in order to make the paper acceptable. The author receives a decision letter and reviewer reports. The letter may state whether the editor plans to send the revised paper back to the referees or not.

In revision (V, V1, V2). When an author is asked to revise a paper, there is no guarantee that the revised paper will be accepted for publication. Usually, in fact, such revised papers must again be refereed. The CE's letter should make this clear. The author receives reports and an e-mail requesting revisions. The e-mail contains a link that the author may use to submit the revised version directly into SIAM’s web-based system. Also, a deadline of no longer than six months for the revision should be stated.

Rejection (RJ). A paper that is of poor quality should never be transferred to another SIAM journal. The decision letter should leave no doubt as to the status of the paper. The author receives the rejection letter and may also get referee and AE comments.

In review; reports sent to EIC (RS). This status occurs when an editor, for whatever reason, is unable or unwilling to inform the author of his/her decision. The EIC will then author the decision letter, which along with the referee reports, will go to the corresponding author in the EIC’s name.

In review, re-routed from one editor to another (RR). This status change can be effected only by the EIC. It occurs in one of two situations:

(1) An editor cannot handle a given paper due to heavy workload or other considerations and requests that the paper be re-routed to another editor. The EIC should inform the SIAM office of the change in editors, and the Publications Manager or Editorial Associate can take care of the change in editors in the web-based tracking system.

(2) An editor has not handled a paper in a timely or responsible fashion and the EIC determines that the paper must be re-routed to another editor.

Withdrawn (W). An author can withdraw a paper. The editor, the SIAM office, and the EIC must be notified. A paper is also considered withdrawn when an author fails to revise a paper within a reasonable amount of time. SIAM asks authors to revise and resubmit papers within six months. The decision to close a file out is made jointly by the SIAM office and the CE, AE, and/or Editor-in-Chief. Files are never closed without first giving the author ample opportunity to submit a revision.

Transfer. Papers that are of high quality but are inappropriate for the journal to which they have been submitted can be transferred to another SIAM journal for consideration. Both EICs involved and the author(s) must approve the transfer. The EICs must agree before the author is consulted. If the author agrees to the transfer, the original paper is marked rejected (RJ) and a new file is opened with a different manuscript number. The submission then goes through the system to the EIC of the second journal. However, SIAM staff should first include a “General Note” on the electronic file indicating its history as a transferred paper.

Reports. Various reports can be run by SIAM staff. Selected reports are run and distributed to the journal EICs on a monthly and quarterly basis. One report shows all papers in process, while others emphasize papers that have remained in one status for an unusually long time.

The Editorial Associate working with SICON sends AEs an Individual Editor Report every three months. This report shows all papers assigned to that editor and specifies “overdue” and “flagged papers.” CEs also receive reports that specifically address flagged (in a round of review longer than six months) papers.

If possible, AEs and CEs should indicate approximately when the review will be completed. SIAM receives the greatest number of author inquiries about flagged papers and it is important that authors be reassured that the review is proceeding. CEs also receive reports on papers awaiting author revision for more than six months. The Editorial Associate offers to contact the author to see if the author intends to complete the revision. It is helpful if the editors respond within one week to the Editorial Associate.