SIREV | Instructions for Authors | SIAM
 

Title


SIAM Review features five sections, and authors can submit their work to three: Survey and Review, Research Spotlights, and Education.

Overview

SIAM Review (SIREV) consists of five sections: Survey and Review, Research Spotlights, 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. Instructions for using the Journal Submission & Tracking System are available here.

Section 1: Survey and Review

Editorial Board

Jesús María Sanz-Serna, Section Editor; Elizabeth S. Allman, David F. Anderson, Tina Eliassi-Rad, Ivan G. Graham, Marlis Hochbruck, Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb, Emmanuel Trélat, Francesco Tudisco, Rebecca Willett, Claudia Wulff, Ya-xiang Yuan, Members of the Editorial Board.


Content

The Survey and Review section features one or two papers, typically between 30 and 80 pages in length, that provide readers with a comprehensive, authoritative, 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. We especially encourage timely articles addressing areas that are currently active but have matured sufficiently for a survey to have value and impact. Authors should aim to summarize the state of the art and, where possible, identify important challenges. New results that serve to unify or illustrate existing ideas are welcome, but papers with a key purpose of significantly advancing the state of the art are not appropriate for this section. Similarly, 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 Review

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 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. A cover letter should be submitted with the manuscript. 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.

Section 2: Research Spotlights

Editorial Board

Misha E. Kilmer, Section Editor; Erik G. Boman, L. Pamela Cook, David F. Gleich, Ilse C. F. Ipsen, Art B. Owen, Mason A. Porter, Alison Ramage, Mary Silber, Aretha Teckentrup, Members of the Editorial Board.


Content

This section features short, timely research contributions in applied and computational mathematics that are of broad appeal to the general SIREV readership and have high potential impact. Topics represented by any of SIAM's research journals are appropriate, including interdisciplinary contributions and those involving multiple areas of applied and industrial mathematics.

Articles should be short, ideally no more than 20 pages and with a hard limit of no more than 30 pages in final published form. Articles should not be unduly technical and should be accessible without requiring excessive background reading. Hence, in addition to making a substantial research contribution, articles should be well motivated and clearly presented, in a way that can be understood and appreciated by non-experts, with technical jargon and formalism kept to a minimum. Statements should be accurate and precise, but if necessary may reference details elsewhere, including optional, unrefereed Supplementary Materials that the editors will consider for posting online along with the manuscript itself. Scroll down for more details about what type of content is appropriate as online-only Supplementary Materials. Prospective authors are welcome to consult with the section editor about potential contributions, particularly in cases of non-traditional ideas for articles that they would like considered for Research Spotlights.


Submission and Peer Review

Submit your research here. A cover letter should be submitted with the manuscript. Figures, if any, must be embedded "inline" in the manuscript.

The cover letter must indicate that the manuscript is being submitted to the Research Spotlights section of SIREV. If the results of your paper rely heavily on unpublished reports, then please submit these reports, along with your paper. You will receive a message confirming your submission is received. If the SIAM office does not email acknowledgment within five days contact SIREV to verify receipt.

All Research Spotlights submissions are subject to 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 papers should be sent to the SIAM office.


Section 3: SIGEST

Content

SIGEST 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 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 accepted and published in 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 SIREV section editors, selects SIGEST papers from among those nominated. Authors often condense or otherwise revise SIGEST papers to make them accessible to the SIAM community at large.

Section 4: Education

Editorial Board

Darinka Dentcheva, Section Editor; Daniela Calvetti, Elena Celledoni, Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, Hélène Frankowska, Martin J. Gander, George Karniadakis, Vadim Olshevsky, Alois Pichler, Lea Popovic, Knut Sølna, 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.

In a minority of cases, articles may be written to faculty. Such articles should:

  • 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.

Content

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;
  • reports on current directions and trends in applied mathematics education and curricular issues.

Style of Articles

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.

Submission and Peer Review

Submissions to Education are organized as for SIAM's specialized journals. Submissions are accepted in electronic format via the web-based system found here. 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.

Section 5: Book Reviews

Editorial Board

Volker Schulz, Section Editor; Harbir Antil, Alfio Borzì, Krešimir Josić, Anita Layton, Claudia Schillings, David Simpson, Michaela Szölgyenyi, Members of the Editorial Board.

Book Reviews have been a long-time mainstay of SIREV.

Publishers should send review copies to:
Brittni Holland, Editorial Associate
SIAM
3600 Market Street
6th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Email

Ebook format is preferable, directed to Brittni Holland. If not available, send print copy for review to the address above.

General Information

Parts of a Paper

Submissions to Sections 1 and 2 should contain the following elements: title, author names and affiliations, abstract, American Mathematical Society (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.

The format for papers in Section 4, Education, is described earlier in these Guidelines.


Original Scholarship

A large duplication of another author's or one's own work is a sign of poor scholarship. There is also a copyright issue if the source is not cited. Your manuscript should provide proper citations, use quotation marks or indentation (for quotations of five or more lines) to indicate borrowed wording, and minimize duplication. Refusal by an author to make these necessary changes is grounds for rejection.


Potentially Offensive Material

There is no general rule on what material is appropriate for publication in SIAM publications. However, if an editor believes that the use of some material (text, images, etc.) may offend SIAM readers, there will be an exchange with the authors on the need for the particular material and whether alternatives can be identified to express the same results. Unless the authors can make convincing arguments that the particular material is essential to convey the scientific contribution, it is expected that the material be replaced prior to review and further consideration for publication. For example, the "Lena image" has been used in past publications on imaging but is inconsistent with efforts to promote inclusion in mathematics, science, and engineering. SIAM will not consider submissions containing this image.


Resubmission

A resubmission of a manuscript previously rejected by this or another SIAM journal will be treated as a new submission, with the history of the manuscript made available to the handling editor and, if necessary, also referees. The cover letter should include the criticism in the referee reports and a detailed description of how the manuscript has been revised to meet all the criticism of the original submission. As a new submission, there is no guarantee that it will be handled by the same associate editor or that the original referees will be involved in the evaluation.


Editor Selection

Authors can suggest an editor from among those listed on the journal's masthead, but the editor-in-chief and section editor has the exclusive right to assign papers. The editors reserve the right to reject any manuscript that does not conform to the journal’s standards.


Permissions

If your paper contains material (for example, tables or figures) from another source, that material must be accompanied by written permission from the copyright holder. Permission is needed in cases of alternations to the original, as well.

A submission is representation by the author that the manuscript has not been published or submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. If the paper has appeared in preliminary form in a conference proceedings, this must be clearly indicated in both your cover letter and a footnote on the title page.


ORCID

SIAM is a member of ORCID - a central registry of researchers. Authors submitting papers to SIAM journals can log in to the submission system through their ORCID account, or can go to their SIAM system profile to connect their ORCID to their SIAM journals work. If the paper is accepted and published, SIAM Journals Online will display an icon next to the author’s name which links to their ORCID page, which can in turn list their published article if the author chooses.

SIAM encourages authors to take advantage of ORCID’s capability, which can be viewed as a DOI for an individual. Wherever it is used, this unique identifier then pulls together the individual’s work and professional activities from across publications, disciplines and workplaces. The researcher controls, through his or her ORCID account, which work and activities are publicly displayed.

Those interested can register for an ORCID ID here. Use it for login at manuscript submission, or contact SIAM to add it to your account.


TeX

Authors of accepted papers must submit TeX files to SIAM for typesetting. Authors are highly encouraged to prepare their papers using SIAM's standard LaTeX 2e macros. Note that the SIAM office will format Plain TeX and AMSTeX files to LaTeX 2e. The LaTeX 2e macro package and documentation are available here or by email request.


Illustrations

All illustrations must be of professional quality with no handwritten elements. Note that tables and algorithms are not considered figures and should not be treated as such. Illustrations must be numbered consecutively and cited in the text. If your article is accepted for publication, SIAM will accept electronic (TeX, PDF, PNG, JPG, and EPS) figure files. Hand-drawn artwork will not be accepted. SIAM will not redraw figures. Illustrations must use lines one point or thicker; thinner lines may break up or disappear when printed. When choosing line weight and character size, keep in mind that illustrations may be reduced.

SIREV welcomes the inclusion of color art when the use of color enhances the content of the figure. In order to produce the print edition of the journal, SIAM requires that images 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. Note that although the electronic version of SIREV will display all color art as such, some figures in the print edition may be converted to grayscale where color is deemed not essential.

To ensure the optimal appearance of figures when they are printed in black and white or when viewed by a reader with color blindness, consider using colors that will appear as differing shades of gray when printed, and minimize use of yellow. Use of line markers and broken or dotted lines will also improve differentiation. Some aids in preparation of your figures are the parula colormap in MATLAB and the color blindness tests in the Proof Setup view in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

SIAM Macros

Although the design of SIREV differs from the other SIAM journals, authors are still highly encouraged to prepare their papers using SIAM's standard LaTeX 2e macros. Although doing so is optional, using the SIAM macros enables features that will aid editors and referees during review as well as reducing the time needed to process a paper after acceptance. The SIAM standard LaTeX 2e macro package and documentation are available here or by email request.

Review Procedures

Manuscript Submissions

Authors must submit manuscripts to SIREV in electronic form. Hard-copy submissions will not be considered. Authors must enter submissions directly into the Journal Submission & Tracking System. Authors should submit both the manuscript and a cover letter in PDF format. Figures, if any, must be embedded "inline" in the manuscript.

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

Once SIAM has processed a submission, a copy of the manuscript goes to the appropriate section editor along with any reference material the author may have submitted. The section editor decides which associate editor is best suited to handle the review. Note that all contact with the section editor and all subsequent review correspondence with the associate editor and the SIAM office regarding the manuscript will be done via email. The editor-in-chief or section editor can reject papers that are clearly inappropriate for SIREV without assigning them to a review editor.


Papers Authored by Editorial Board Members

Papers authored by Editorial Board members are subject to the same anonymous peer review process as other papers. Submissions to the journal authored by the members of the Editorial Board - and submitted within their own section - will be handled by the section editor. Submissions to the journal authored by a section editor will be handled by the editor-in-chief. Submissions to the journal authored by the editor-in-chief will be directed to the vice president for publications, who will oversee the review process.


Status Changes

Once the review editor has obtained referee reports and made a decision on a manuscript, the author receives email informing him/her of the decision. Anonymous referee reports are generally included, along with the review editor decision.


Conflicts of Interest

It is vital to the reputation of SIAM and all of its journals that conflicts of interest be avoided. Therefore, it is SIAM policy that editors not review papers authored by their friends, colleagues, co-workers, students, or recent former students. The same policy applies to referees; editors should not send papers to referees who work at an author's institution or who are known to have close ties to the author. To help avoid conflicts of interest, it is SIAM policy that editors who receive manuscript submissions or who are assigned manuscripts that present a conflict of interest contact the SIAM office and the section editor to request that the manuscript be reassigned.

Supplementary Materials

Authors are encouraged to submit Supplementary Materials to complement articles in SIREV. This might include additional figures or examples, animations, data sets used in the paper, computer code used to generate figures or tables, or other materials that are necessary to fully document the research contained in the paper or to facilitate the readers' ability to understand and extend the work.

Supplementary Materials are generally not refereed but will be available to referees as described further below. When a paper is published, the Supplementary Materials are linked from the main article webpage and will be clearly marked in SIAM Journals Online as unrefereed Supplementary Materials. They can be cited using the same DOI as the paper.

SIAM intends to maintain archives of Supplementary Materials but does not guarantee their permanent availability. SIAM reserves the right to remove Supplementary Materials from a published article in the future if they are found to be inappropriate or to violate copyright laws or software licenses.

Guidelines

  • If you are submitting more than one Supplementary Material file, we strongly suggest you use a common compressed file format such as TAR, TGZ, RAR, or ZIP.
  • Supplementary Materials must be submitted at the same time the article is first submitted (use the author submission form located here). They will be available to the editor and referees to inspect. The referees will be asked to give the materials at least a cursory look and verify that they are appropriate to accompany the article.
  • Beyond this, Supplementary Materials are generally not refereed, but the referees or editor may suggest changes, including removing some extraneous Supplementary Materials or moving items from the main text to the Supplementary Materials.
  • Supplementary Materials can be modified in accordance with these suggestions and resubmitted along with a revised manuscript in response to a round of refereeing.
  • Once accepted for publication, Supplementary Materials cannot be changed unless reason is found to remove an item. If a significant error is found in any of the Supplementary Materials then the authors may submit errata to the journal, similar to what would be done for other errors in the paper.
  • The authors must certify that they have the right to publish all Supplementary Materials and are not violating copyright or software licenses by doing so. Copyright of Supplementary Materials remains with the original copyright holder, not SIAM.
  • An index of Supplementary Materials must also be submitted. Each item should be listed along with a brief description and a justification for why the item should be included. This index will be used by the editor and referees in judging the appropriateness, and the descriptions will also ultimately appear on the Supplementary Materials webpage available to readers. This html template should be used to create the index (right click and "save link or target as" to download: also available as a text file).
  • If the Supplementary Materials contain additional figures or tables, it may be most convenient to combine these in a single PDF file. It is recommended that figures and tables be numbered S1, S2, etc. so they are distinct from numbering in the main article.
  • The following file types are allowed for Supplementary Materials:
    • Text/figures/tables/multimedia: TIF, JPG, GIF (including animated GIFs), PS, EPS, PSD, PDF, PPT, PPS, AU, MP3, WAV, MPG, MP4, AVI, MOV, TXT, and TEX.
    • Computer code: should be contained within a common compressed file format such as TAR, TGZ, RAR, or ZIP.
  • If a TAR, TGZ, RAR, or ZIP file is included in the Supplementary Materials, it is recommended that a corresponding TXT file also be included within that gives an index of the contents. This might be appropriate for a collection of computer codes, for example.
  • The linux command "ls -R1F < directory >" may be useful to generate a list of all files organized by subdirectory.
  • Any computer code submitted with the Supplementary Materials should be a snapshot of the code used to obtain the published results. If the authors want readers to have access to later improvements of the code, it is suggested that the paper and/or Supplementary Materials contain a link to the external website or public code repository where the authors will maintain the code.
  • Virtual machines are a popular way to encapsulate the complete computing environment to accompany software, but are too large to be included as Supplementary Materials. Authors are encouraged to point to virtual machines available from other sites or on cloud computing platforms if they wish to indicate an environment on which their code runs.
  • Other than prohibition of huge files such as virtual machines, there is currently no size restriction on Supplementary Materials.

 

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