Best Practices for Authors

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When preparing your manuscript for IEEE Data Descriptions, it is crucial to adhere strictly to the established guidelines. Following these best practices ensures consistency, clarity, and a smoother review process.

1. Follow the Required Title Format

Title Structure:

  • Descriptor Articles:
    \title{{\color{black}\textbf{Descriptor:}} The Name of My Dataset (TNM)}
  • Collections Articles:
    \title{{\color{black}\textbf{Collection:}} Datasets from IEEEXtreme 2023}
  • Meta Articles:
    \title{{\color{black}\textbf{Meta:}} A Critic of Medical Image Resolutions in Publicly Available Data}

Adhering to the required title format immediately communicates the article type and focus, ensuring consistency across submissions.

2. Include All Required Sections

Every article type must follow a specific structure to ensure that the dataset is comprehensively and consistently described. Use the following as a checklist:

For Descriptor Articles:

  • Abstract: Acts as the introduction (without references).
  • Background: Provides an overview of the dataset and its relevance.
  • Collection Methods and Design: Details the data acquisition process, including any hardware or systems used.
  • Validation and Quality: Presents technical validations, error rates, and quality control measures.
  • Records and Storage: Explains the structure and storage of data elements.
  • Insights and Notes: Discusses special cases, caveats, and potential additional uses of the dataset.
  • Source Code and Scripts: Lists public repositories or software used (excluding dataset DOIs or links).
  • Acknowledgements and Interests: Acknowledges contributions, funding sources, and declares any conflicts of interest.
  • References: Follows standard IEEE reference formatting.

For Collections Articles:

Follow the same structure as Descriptor articles, with additional details on the collective nature of the datasets.

For Meta Articles:

Include essential sections such as Background, Proposed Methodology, Applied Analysis, Discussion of Results, and Conclusions.

3. Ensure Consistency and Completeness

  • Adhere to Guidelines: Review the IEEE Data Descriptions Author Guide carefully and use it as a checklist for formatting, content, and structural requirements.
  • Detailed Descriptions: Provide clear and comprehensive details in every section—including data acquisition, processing methods, and quality validations.
  • Formatting and Style: Follow provided templates exactly. Avoid including additional elements such as author biographies or unnecessary footnotes.

4. Final Checks Before Submission

  • Internal Review: Re-read your manuscript to ensure that all required sections are present and that the title conforms exactly to the prescribed format.
  • Compliance with Guidelines: Verify that your submission meets all formatting, content, and structural requirements as outlined in the Author Guide.
  • Feedback Incorporation: If you are revising a submission, carefully address all previous reviewer comments related to clarity, completeness, or formatting.

5. Write Your Article to Satisfy Reviewer Criteria

Your manuscript should be written in such a way that reviewers can confidently answer “yes” to the following key questions:

  • Is the data generated using robust methods?
    Clearly document your data collection methods and justify their robustness.
  • Is the technical quality convincingly supported?
    Provide thorough validations, including figures, tables, or error metrics to demonstrate technical soundness.
  • Is the data's depth and coverage adequate?
    Ensure that your dataset internally covers all necessary elements. For example, in a dataset on written language recognition, confirm that all letters or syllables of the language are included, rather than covering every known language.
  • Are any data-processing details sufficient for replication?
    Include detailed descriptions of data-processing steps, ensuring that other researchers can reproduce your methods.
  • Is all necessary information provided for data reuse?
    Make sure that your manuscript contains comprehensive metadata and documentation to facilitate reuse by other researchers.
  • Does it adhere to the journal reporting standards?
    Follow the IEEE Data Descriptions formatting and reporting guidelines precisely and use the approved article templates
  • Is the chosen repository suitable?
    Clearly state the repository where the dataset is stored and ensure that it meets the journal’s criteria for long-term accessibility.
  • Are the deposited data files complete?
    Confirm that all data files described in the manuscript are present, well-documented, and easily accessible.

By addressing each of these questions thoroughly, you help reviewers quickly assess the strength of your submission and facilitate a positive review outcome.

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