The IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Electromagnetics, Antennas and Propagation (JSTEAP) is different from most other technical publications. For example it is different from the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques as well as IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, in that each issue deals with a specific topic which we refer to here as a selected topic. Furthermore, there is usually little technical overlap between issues.
Each selected topic is selected from proposals submitted by a team of individuals who wish to become Guest Editors for it. Becoming a Guest Editor is a prestigious achievement and will help you become known further in the field and help you know others working in the field. The journal issue with your selected topic will also become valuable to the research community and become valuable references.
Once the proposal is developed by the team it should be submitted to JSTEAP following the instructions below. The Editorial Board will review the proposal and decide whether it can be accepted as a selected topic, requires revision or is not within scope. When a proposal is accepted the proposing team will formally become Guest Editors and be given Guest Editor accounts for the journal. The Guest Editors will then handle the submission and review process under the supervision of the Editorial Board.
All researchers are invited to submit proposals and the success of our journal depends upon a continuing flow of quality proposals. For your reference an example list of existing and potential selected topics is also provided at the end of this page. This list is neither exhaustive or comprehensive and we welcome selected topics from outside this list too. Topics that are new or emerging are particularly encouraged.
Guidelines for Selected Topic Proposal Preparation
The selected topic proposal should have the following sections with each section having content and titles as described below. The entire proposal need not be long and we recommend no more than 3-4 pages at most.
- Title: The title of the proposed selected topic
- Team: The team members, affiliations and their emails. It is suggested that the team has at least 4-5 Guest Editors. Guest Editors should be selected so that a good technical, institutional, geographical and gender balance is achieved.
- Lead Guest Editor(s): The Guest Editors should identify a Lead Guest Editor(s) that acts as the contact point for the editorial board and authors and is ultimately responsible for the quality of the papers accepted in the selected topic.
- Selected Topic Description: A brief outline (at most one page) of the proposed selected topic should be given including the motivation for why this selected topic is important. A bullet point list of the research sub-areas in which papers will be solicited should also be provided.
- Draft Call-for-papers: A one-page draft call-for-papers for the selected topic should be included (see examples of CFP on our web pages)
- Any Related Selected Topics: Briefly describe whether there are other current or recent selected topics in other journals over the last 3 years that overlap with the proposed selected topic. If there is overlap then please briefly justify why this is not important.
- Manuscript submission plan: A plan for obtaining quality submissions should be given, indicating the potential sources of manuscripts. There must be a clear indication that there is substantial research conducted in the area (such as workshops and sessions of conferences). The Guest Editor team may also solicit invited papers and a list of potential invitees should also be provided if this is to be performed. We encourage this for the first few issues of JSTEAP. It must be remembered however that all papers, including invited papers, must be independently reviewed by at least 2 reviewers and invited papers may be rejected.
- Prediction of Manuscript Submission Numbers: Each selected topic should receive at least 20 submissions so that enough papers (no less than 8) can be accepted for a reasonable sized issue. Please provide a prediction and justification of how many manuscripts you expect to be submitted to your selected topic.
- Biographies: Brief biographies of the proposed Guest Editors, listing up to three related papers in the area of the proposed issue, should be included. The proposed Guest Editors should have a good standing in the proposed research area and all must have agreed to serve on the Guest Editorial team
- Potential Reviewers: A list of potential reviewers should be included with the proposal (at least 20 reviewers). All papers including invited papers must be reviewed by at least two reviewers. Guest Editors cannot be reviewers for the selected topic as they are involved in the editorial decision process and should be independent of reviewers.
- Declaration of Guest Editor Submission Restrictions: One Guest Editor authored tutorial or overview paper can be submitted to their own selected topic. Such a paper will be reviewed independently from the Guest Editor team and should agree to the page limit of regular papers in the issue. The Guest Editor team cannot however submit technical papers to their own selected topic. The Guest Editors must declare in their proposal that this is understood.
- Declaration of Guest Editor no involvement in other current selected topics: The Guest Editor team should declare that none of them is currently a Guest Editor on an active selected topic issue in JSTEAP or other selected topic journals or special sections (that is, an issue that has an open call for papers). The Guest Editors that will appear on two or more accepted proposals will be asked to choose one of them and will be removed from the others. Each Guest Editor can participate in at most three special issue proposals within a given year and the Guest Editor team should verify that this is the case.
Evaluation of the Selected Topic Proposals
The two essential ingredients of a successful issue of JSTEAP are a timely topic and Guest Editors who are willing and able to develop the proposed topic. The selected topic proposal will be evaluated by the JSTEAP Editorial Board based on the following criteria:
- The proposed selected topic and scope should be well described and be within the scope of JSTEAP
- The breath of the selected topic should be wide enough to attract at least 20 relevant submissions but be sufficiently narrow not to encroach on other past or future selected topics.
- The proposed topic should also be both timely and have significant scientific merit.
- The Guest Editors should be selected so that a good technical, institutional, geographical and gender balance is achieved.
- The proposed Guest Editors should have a good standing in the proposed research area with the Lead Guest Editor(s) having editorial experience; Can the Lead Guest Editor demonstrate their experience and expertise in editorial leadership?
- Is there a good plan for promotion of the proposed selected topic such as workshops, special sessions at conferences, invited papers or by other means.
- Have there been any special issues with the same or a similar topic published in other journals recently (within the last three years)? If so, what is the rationale for publishing another issue on this topic
Duties of the Guest Editors
After approval of a proposal, the first duty of the Guest Editors is to establish a tentative publication schedule with the JSTEAP Editorial Board. The normal lead time is 18-24 months.
The next duty of the Guest Editors is the extremely important task of promotion, paper solicitation and review. The call-for-papers needs to be publicized widely and published in the publications of the IEEE AP-S, MTT-S and ComSoc to facilitate access to the Co-sponsoring societies. These need to be done in a timely manner to provide ample time for authors to prepare submissions to the issue.
The Guest Editors are in charge of the review process and make the important decisions on which papers are to be published under the supervision of the Senior Editors and Editor-in-Chief. In this phase, the following needs to be adhered to. The Lead Guest Editor is responsible for conferring the policy decisions with the Senior Editors:
- The Guest Editors are responsible to solicit at least two independent reviews per paper. Examples of reviewers that are not independent include researchers from the same group or reviews by the Guest Editors.
- The Guest Editors conduct all correspondence with the authors and oversee all revisions required or suggested by the reviewers.
- The Guest Editors notify the authors of accepted and rejected papers
Each issue of JSTEAP will normally include between 8 to 20 papers. The Guest Editors are responsible for developing an editorial which establishes the perspective of the issue and introduces the papers. This editorial is the first item in the issue.
Submission of the Proposal
All selected topic proposals should be submitted to the JSTEAP Editor-in-Chief (EiC) via email. The email should include in CC the Executive Editor of JSTEAP as well as all Guest Editors involved in the proposal. The JSTEAP Editorial Board will make every attempt to arrive at a timely decision on the proposal, and the proposer will be notified of the Editors' decision. At that time a JSTEAP Senior Editor will be assigned to work with the Guest Editors on development of the issue. If a proposer has questions on the development of the proposal, or needs help in some part of the process, they are invited to contact any of the JSTEAP Editors.
Submitting a Paper to Your Own Issue
JSTEAP encourages tutorial and overview papers authored by Guest Editors. The review process for such tutorial and overview papers will be managed by the Editor Board. Guest Editors however may not have technical paper submissions in their own JSTEAP issue.
Examples of Selected Topics
Selected Topics Already Approved
- Integrated Sensing and Communication (Closed 2 May 2025)
- AI for Electromagnetics, Antennas, Propagation, Communication Channels and Microwave Circuits (Deadline for papers 19 November 2025)
- Programmable Metamaterials and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (Deadline for papers: 15 December 2025)
- ESIT for Electromagnetics, Antennas, Propagation and Channel Models (Deadline for papers 6 February 2026)
Potential Future Selected Topics that Potential Guest Editors may consider
(Topics from outside this list also encouraged; particularly those topics which are new or emerging)
- Reconfigurable, Pixel, Moveable Antennas and Fluid Antenna Systems
- Multiport Antennas and MIMO Systems
- Emerging Electromagnetic Technologies for Biomedical Applications
- Quantum Electromagnetics
- Electromagnetic Measurement Technologies
- Exascale Electromagnetic Models
- Dielectric Resonator Antennas and Applications
- THz and mm Antennas and Propagation
- Space/Air/Ground Antennas and Propagation
- Body Area Networks
- RF Energy Harvesting Systems and Wireless Power Transfer
- Advanced Wave-Matter Interactions
- Antennas and Propagation for Full Duplex systems
- Emerging Electromagnetic Technologies for Future Wireless Communication Systems
- Radars and Systems for Biomedical Sensing and Imaging
- Advances in Microwave and Millimeter-wave Sensing and Imaging on Mobile Platforms
- Emerging sub-THz Imaging and Sensing Technologies
- Interplay between Propagation Channel Measurements/Modelling and System Performance
- Additive Manufacturing Techniques in Electromagnetics
- Near-field Electromagnetic Techniques and Devices
- Integrated Active and Chip-level Antenna Technologies and Systems