Instructions for Authors
SIAM Review (SIREV) consists of five sections: Survey and Review, Problems and Techniques, SIGEST, Education, and Book Reviews. Each section has its own editorial board. The SIREV editor-in-chief and section editorial boards work together to achieve the desired impact of the entire journal. Specific details on submissions and peer review are given below.
Section 1: Survey and Review
Editorial Board
Fadil Santosa, Section Editor; Andrea Bertozzi, Maria-Carme Calderer, Lenore Cowen, Rachel
Kuske, Randall J. LeVeque, Carl D. Meyer, Michael Overton,
Niles A. Pierce, Eduardo D. Sontag, Lloyd N. Trefethen, Members of the Editorial Board.
The Survey and Review section features one or two papers, typically between 30 and 80 pages in length, that provide readers with a comprehensive and up-to-date perspective on a major topic of broad interest to SIAM members.
Integrative papers that provide an overview of a body of research and connections to other fields or techniques are particularly desirable. Papers that focus primarily on the authors' own research are generally not suitable.
Papers must be well written, in an expository style that facilitates understanding by as broad an audience as is feasible for the topic. Authors should start out with a sufficiently general discussion of the problem area that all readers will gain some appreciation and knowledge of the area, and then progress to more detailed discussion of the issues. Papers should include substantial applied mathematics content, not purely descriptive overview.
Figures are encouraged to help explain concepts and to exhibit results, including photographs as well as graphics. Authors are encouraged to provide color figures wherever appropriate.
Submission and Peer ReviewMany papers appearing in Section 1 are written at the invitation of the editorial board. Authors who wish to write a paper for this section are strongly encouraged to send an informal proposal to the editorial board in advance of preparing and submitting a full paper. Proposals may be communicated to the Section Editor (santosa@math.umn.edu) or other members of the Editorial Board for feedback on the potential suitability of the proposed paper. Full manuscripts should be submitted directly to SIAM. Submission must be electronic (PDF format) via the web-based system at http://sirev.siam.org. A cover letter should be submitted with the manuscript. Note: Figures, if any, must be embedded "inline" in the manuscript.
Papers submitted to Section 1 are reviewed in detail by the section editor, members of the section editorial board, and outside reviewers, with final review by the SIREV editor-in-chief. This rigorous peer review is intended to ensure the highest standards of accuracy, completeness, exposition, and clarity. Author inquiries into the status of Section 1 papers may be sent to the SIAM office (sirev@siam.org).
Section 2: Problems and Techniques
Editorial Board
Ilse C. F. Ipsen, Section Editor; Mark Embree, Martin Gander, Bruce Hendrickson, Desmond Higham, Mark H. Holmes, Jorge Nocedal, Hilary Ockendon,
Members of the Editorial Board.
Content
The second section, Problems and Techniques, contains focused, specialized
papers. There is no hard-and-fast rule for the content of this section
except that suggested by its name: informing SIREV readers about interesting
problems, techniques, and tools. Appropriate topics are, for example,
new mathematical techniques, the latest computational tools, or important
applications and interdisciplinary problems. Papers on problems or applications
should also describe mathematical formulation, solution methods, and/or
open questions. We expect papers in Section 2 to range in length from
7 to 15 pages, but longer papers may also be suitable. Each issue of SIREV
contains two or three Problems and Techniques papers.
Submissions and Peer Review
Submissions to Problems and Techniques are organized as for SIAM's specialized
journals.
Electronic submissions are accepted for Problems and Techniques. See the Survey and Review submission instructions (above) for specific details. A manuscript submission is representation by the author that the manuscript has not been published or submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. If the paper appeared in a preliminary form in a conference proceedings, this must be clearly indicated in both your cover letter and a footnote on the title page. If your paper contains materials (for example, tables or figures) from another published source, the previously published material must be accompanied by written permission from the author and publisher.
The cover letter must indicate that the paper is being submitted to the Problems and Techniques section of SIAM Review. To assist referees, two copies of unpublished references should also be submitted with an indication of whether they have been accepted for publication. If the SIAM office does not acknowledge receipt of your submission within two weeks, please contact SIAM at journals@siam.org to verify its receipt.
All submissions to Section 2 undergo traditional peer review, in which a member of the editorial board solicits reports from at least two referees who are experts in the particular area. Author inquiries into the status of Section 2 papers should be sent to the SIAM office (sirev@siam.org).
Note: Submissions intended for Problems and Solutions, which exists in electronic form only , should be sent directly to Cecil C. Rousseau, Department of Mathematical Sciences, the University of Memphis, Campus Box 526429, Memphis, TN 38152-6429. Fax: (901) 678-2480. E-mail: ccrouse@memphis.edu.
Section 3: SIGEST
Content
SIGEST, the third section, contains digested versions of selected papers
from SIAM's research journals. This section provides a rare opportunity
for readers from all segments of the SIAM community to keep up with important
research from outside their areas of specialization. The digested papers
in SIGEST are chosen on the basis of exceptional quality and potential
significance to the entire SIAM community; authors of these papers will
achieve a wider readership than could be reached by a specialized research
journal alone.
Submission and Peer Review
Papers for the SIGEST section are chosen from papers submitted to and
accepted by SIAM's specialized research journals. Editors of these journals
may nominate potential SIGEST papers to their editors-in-chief. The SIREV
editor-in-chief, in consultation with the editors-in-chief of the other
SIAM journals and the SIREV section editors, selects SIGEST papers from
among those nominated. SIGEST papers are condensed or revised as necessary
to make them accessible to the SIAM community at large.
Section 4: Education
Editorial Board
Andrew J. Bernoff, Section Editor; William L. Briggs, Elizabeth R. Jessup, Dianne P. O'Leary, Louis F. Rossi, G.W. Stewart, Members of the Editorial Board.
Orientation of Articles
In the large majority of cases, articles should be written to students,
not to faculty. In addition, articles should:
- usually be a module, typically a one- to three-class session, largely self-contained, supplementary topic to a course in applied mathematics or scientific computing (a possible exception is a module about a tool-for example, a software package-that can be used throughout much of a course);
- be written more in the style of a textbook section than a journal research article.
- discuss a technique, topic, or tool that faculty may use broadly in a course or set of courses;
- be written more as a teaching guide than as a journal research article, and in a style that directly or indirectly can also be used by students.
Articles should be written on a topic that is of sufficient interest that it might reasonably be expected to be incorporated by a good number of faculty into their courses in applied mathematics or scientific computation and algorithms, yet is not standard fare in textbooks. Articles should provide descriptions, illustrations, and insights regarding established or recent knowledge, as opposed to new research results. The topic may be in any, or a combination, of the following areas:
- supplemental topics in applied mathematics or scientific computation that are of broad interest but are more recent, specialized, or multidisciplinary than topics covered in standard textbooks;
- applications of applied mathematics or scientific computation, including both descriptions of the application area and the mathematical and/or computational techniques that are applied to it;
- applied mathematics or scientific computation history, including informal biographies of prominent contributors or descriptions of the development and/or use of applied mathematics or scientific computing in certain eras or events;
- software tools that can be used in applied mathematics or scientific computation courses, concentrating on descriptions and illustrations of their use.
The following characteristics are encouraged:
- An informal, colloquial style should be used whenever appropriate.
- Motivation and context for the topic should be well provided.
- Papers should not be primarily theorem/proof oriented, although theorems and proofs are welcome where appropriate.
- Use of graphics (including color), computer images, and other visual elements is strongly encouraged, as are URLs to web sites that provide further references, visual support, and multimedia supplements.
- Examples should be heavily used in most articles.
- Abstracts may not necessarily be appropriate, but a summary at the beginning of the paper may be given.
- The most common article length should be 10-15 pages, but shorter articles that fit these guidelines are welcome, and longer articles may be considered if appropriate.
Submissions to Education are organized as for SIAM's specialized journals. Submissions are accepted in electronic format via the web0based system at http://sirev.siam.org. See the instructions under Survey and Review (above). All submissions undergo traditional peer review, in which a member of the editorial board solicits reports from at least two referees who are experts in the particular area. Author inquiries into the status of Section 4 papers may be sent to the SIAM office at sirev@siam.org.
Section 5: Book Reviews
Editorial Board
Robert E. O'Malley, Jr., Section Editor; Arieh Iserles, J. David Logan,
Members of the Editorial Board.
Content
Book reviews, always a mainstay of SIREV, continue as Section 5, which
also includes software reviews.
Submissions and Peer Review
The book review section editor coordinates the reviews with individual
reviewers.
Parts of a Paper
Submissions to Sections 1 and 2 should contain the following elements: title, author names and affiliations, abstract, AMS subject classifications, key words, text, and references.
AMS subject classifications are listed in the Annual Index of Mathematical Reviews and can be accessed or searched electronically through the American Mathematical Society's World Wide Web server. The format for papers in Section 4, Education, is described earlier in these Guidelines.
TeX Files
SIREV is produced from author-supplied TeX files, and authors of accepted
papers will be contacted for their files. (SIAM cannot accept electronic
files for papers produced on any other typesetting or word processing
system.) More detailed information on SIAM's TeX-typesetting procedures
is sent to authors upon receipt of manuscripts and can be obtained from
SIAM's World Wide
Web server.
Accessing SIAM's Macros
Although the design of SIREV differs from the other SIAM journals, authors
should still prepare papers using our standard journal macros. Macro packages
and documentation are available in LaTeX (preferred), Plain TeX, and AMSTeX
and can be obtained from SIAM's
World Wide Web server or via anonymous FTP (ftp.siam.org;
the macros are in directory/pub/macros), or e-mail tex@siam.org.
Illustrations
All illustrations must be of professional quality. Illustrations must be numbered consecutively and cited in the
text. If your article is accepted for publication, SIAM will accept electronic (PostScript, TeX) figure files. Hand-drawn artwork will not be accepted. SIAM will not redraw figures. PostScript figures must use lines that are 1 point or larger;
thinner lines may break up or disappear when printed. When choosing line
width and character size, keep in mind that illustrations may be reduced.
Color Illustrations
SIREV welcomes the inclusion of color art when the use of color enhances
the content of the figure. If at all possible, SIAM prefers to receive
color PostScript files for color art. Also, in order to produce the print
edition of the journal, SIAM requires that color PostScript files be prepared
in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) mode, not in RGB (red, green, blue)
mode. Files prepared in RGB mode may be returned to the author for conversion
to CMYK.
