Author Guidelines

Information for authors submitting articles to The Interplanetary Network Progress Report.

Scope

The IPN Progress Report welcomes the publication of technical articles relating to any technical activity, research, analysis, development, implementation, or operations in the fields of communications, networking, navigation, information systems, DSN science, standards, protocols, spectrum engineering, or related areas. Previously published material should not be submitted unless permission has been obtained from the copyright holder.

Due Dates

Issues appear quarterly. Submissions should be complete 45 days ahead of the publication date (the first step of the procedure below). The due dates are:

December 31 — for the February issue
March 31 — for the May issue
June 30 — for the August issue
September 30 — for the November issue

Submission Procedure

Write your article using one of the templates below.
Identify a technical referee who will read and provide technical feedback on the article.
Implement changes requested by the referee, to her satisfaction.
Complete an IPN Progress Report Submittal and Approval Form, Form 2917-S. The author and referee should sign the form.
Submit your article to Document Review using the Unlimited Release System.
Email your article, figures, and scanned Form 2917-S to the Editor in Chief, Jon Hamkins, and the publications editor, Mary Young. Provide figures in a vector-based native format (e.g., PDF, EPS, PS, PPT, or EMF). Bitmap figures are discouraged because of the inability to edit fonts or render at high resolution.
Respond to requests for updates and revisions from the editors.

Author Templates

Articles may be submitted in Word or LaTeX. Templates are provided to guide authors in proper formatting of their article.

Word (docx) — For submissions in Word, the publications editor will produce the published PDF.
LaTeX class file and template (zip, tar.gz) — For submissions in LaTeX, the author will be required to make the necessary changes to produce the published PDF.

Referee Guidelines

The referee is a check, apart from line management, on quality and technical integrity. Referees should verify the following:

The work is sound and technically correct.
The work has archival relevance to IPND (9x) programs, R&TD tasks, and reimbursable tasks related to IPND.
There are no promises of what is going to be done, only a report of what has been done, although a paper based on a formal plan is acceptable as a report of the contents of the plan.
Credit is fairly given to other organizations for technical support, and there are no disparaging comments about vendors, suppliers, or other NASA centers, etc.
There are an adequate abstract, some form of summary and conclusions, and accessible references (external ones and ones to prior IPND work).

A written referee's report is not expected. Negotiate changes with the author and have the author make the agreed-to changes. The honor system is in effect; it is acceptable to sign the IPN Progress Report Paper Submittal and Approval Form as the referee without verifying that all changes have been made.