General Submission Process

To submit your manuscript, click on "Submit Article" and create a user login.

The submission process consists of the following steps (also listed on the "Submit Article" page once you create a user account):

• Read and accept the Article Submission Agreement
• Provide information about yourself
• Provide information about any authors
• Upload your article and related items

Also, before you begin, please have the following items:

• Article title
• Article in the following format: Microsoft Word
• An abstract (separate from the article body)
• At least five (5) keywords for your article
• Cover letter (optional)

Authors: You may later revise any of these elements by clicking the submitted article's title on your My Account page. You must assume all responsibility for the accuracy of the information in your submission, as well as the clearance of your submission for dissemination to the public. It is your responsibility to clear the content of your article with your organization, your government, and whatever other agencies or organizations—professional, academic, national, or international—are relevant to the release of the information in your submission. IJNS and the University of Tennessee Institute for Nuclear Security are not responsible for the accuracy and clearance of any information in your submission.

In addition: you must not submit to IJNS any material currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) or other form of publication, and you must not submit the same material to another journal (electronic or print) or any other form of publication, until the IJNS editorial decision process is complete. Authors wishing to pursue other venues for publication for material they have submitted to IJNS must first withdraw their manuscript from consideration by IJNS. Any concerns about IJNS submission rules should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief Jackson Stanley at jstanl28@vols.utk.edu.

Correspondence Upon Submission

After you complete the submission process, you will receive a confirmation email. Please retain this email for your records. Any and all follow-up emails generated via the TRACE system utilize an HTML-based format, which can sometimes be misconstrued as spam. Please do not disregard email correspondence from the TRACE system, as it may indicate the movement of your submission through the approvals and review process. When inquiring about the status of a submitted article, please include the article title, author names, and contact email to ensure a prompt response.

Style Guide

IJNS adheres to the IEEE Editorial Style Manual for all formatting, citation, and language guidelines. Authors are encouraged to use the official IEEE conference templates to prepare their manuscripts. Templates in both Word and LaTeX are available via the IEEE Author Center: IEEE Conference Templates. The IEEE Editorial Style Manual can be accessed directly here: IEEE Style Manual (PDF). Note that while manuscripts may be formatted utilizing LaTeX in compatible editors (such as Overleaf), IJNS utilizes Microsoft Word for submission review. If you have questions about grammar, citations, punctuation, or other style-related issues, please consult these resources or contact IJNS with your concerns. Authors will not be penalized for deviations from IEEE style during submission or revision. However, only manuscripts prepared in an IEEE style will be considered for review.

Note: Only manuscripts prepared in an IEEE style will be considered for review.

IJNS uses the Merriam-Webster English language dictionary for spelling and definitions. Merriam-Webster is primarily US English, and IJNS publishes in US English. If you need to look up a word or check spelling, please consult this dictionary. It is free to use and can be accessed here.

Proper and thorough citation is vital in publications. IJNS follows the IEEE citation style, which uses numbered in-text citations enclosed in brackets (e.g., [1], [2], etc.). Each citation corresponds to a full reference entry in the References section, listed in the order of citation. If a source is cited multiple times, it retains the same number. All quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material must be cited appropriately to avoid plagiarism.

Formatting Requirements

Cover Page:

On your initial submission, include the title of your submission, the abstract, keywords for your submission, and an acknowledgment of any conflicts of interest on a cover page. If AI was utilized in the submission, authors must transparently disclose their use of AI on the first page. This includes specifying the models and versions employed and the nature of their application. The next page of your submission after the cover page is the beginning of your manuscript in IEEE format. Do NOT include the author(s)’s names or institutional affiliations in your submission, either on the cover page or in the manuscript. This information is included in the online form completed during the initial submission process. In addition, do not include page numbers in your submission. These are provided automatically by the system.

Example Conflict of Interest Statement:
“The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this submission.”

If your institution requires a disclaimer or acknowledgment, please include this in the Acknowledgment section at the end of the paper per IEEE format.

Note: Author names and affiliations must not appear in the manuscript or cover page to ensure a double-blind peer review process.

Tables, Equations, and Figures:

Include all tables, equations, and figures where they should appear in the manuscript. Tables should be editable using Microsoft Word’s table function. Equations should be created using Word’s equation editor. Figures should be images (such as JPEGs) inserted inline with the text, not anchored.

References:

Include references at the end of your manuscript following IEEE format. References are numbered in the order cited and must include DOIs where available.