To Our Reviewers,
Thank you for accepting our invitation to review for Integrated Circuits and Systems (ICAS). Your expertise is the cornerstone of our peer-review process and is essential for maintaining the high standards of scholarship that our community expects from a journal published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in partnership with IEEE. These guidelines are designed to support you in providing a rigorous and constructive review.
Benefits for Our Reviewers
We deeply value your contribution. As a reviewer for ICAS, you will:
· Play a critical role in advancing the field by helping to shape the quality of the scholarly record.
· Gain early insight into emerging research and stay at the forefront of the integrated circuits and systems discipline.
· Receive a formal certificate of appreciation for your contribution.
· Be eligible for inclusion in the journal's annual public acknowledgment of its reviewers.
· Be able to claim your review activity on services like the Web of Science Reviewer Recognition Service (formerly Publons) to build your public reviewing record.
Core Principles of Peer Review
ICAS adheres to the ethical guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and IEEE. We ask our reviewers to uphold the following principles:
· Conflicts of Interest: Please declare any potential conflicts of interest (personal, professional, financial, or intellectual) that could bias your review. If you feel you cannot provide an objective assessment, please decline the invitation to review and inform the editor. This includes situations where the manuscript is closely related to your own work in preparation or under review.
· Confidentiality: All manuscript content is strictly confidential. You must not share the manuscript or discuss its details with others without prior permission from the editor. Do not use information from the review for your own or others' advantage. Importantly, do not upload manuscript content into any AI-assisted tools or software, as this may breach confidentiality and intellectual property rights.
· Objectivity and Constructiveness: Your review should be a constructive and unbiased assessment of the manuscript's scientific merit. Please provide feedback that is professional and helpful, focusing on the quality of the research rather than the characteristics of the authors.
· Timeliness: We are committed to providing authors with a timely decision. Please submit your review by the agreed-upon deadline. If you require an extension, please contact the editorial office as soon as possible.
Conducting the Review: Evaluation Criteria
Please assess the manuscript based on the following criteria, which are critical in the field of integrated circuits and systems:
1. Significance and Originality:
o Does the work address an important and relevant problem in integrated circuits or systems?
o Are the contributions novel? Does the work present a new circuit topology, design methodology, fabrication technique, or theoretical insight?
2. Technical Soundness and Methodology:
o Is the methodology sound? Are the circuit designs, simulation setups, and theoretical analyses technically correct?
o For experimental work, are the fabrication processes and measurement setups described with sufficient detail and rigor? Are the results believable?
o Are the simulation tools (e.g., SPICE, Cadence, Synopsys) and device models appropriate for the analysis?
3. Reproducibility (Data and Code Availability):
o Do the authors provide sufficient information to allow for the replication of their results? This includes key parameters, simulation models, test conditions, and where applicable, links to code or datasets.
4. Comparison with the State-of-the-Art:
o How does this work compare to previously published results? The manuscript should include a thorough comparison with the state-of-the-art, referencing key publications from top-tier journals (e.g., JSSC) and conferences (e.g., ISSCC, VLSI Symposium).
5. Clarity of Presentation and Quality of Figures:
o Is the manuscript well-organized and clearly written in professional English?
o Are all figures (schematics, layout plots, micrographies, measurement graphs) clear, legible, and accurately labeled? Are axes and units correctly presented?
6. Adherence to Ethical Standards:
o If the research involves human subjects or animals, has appropriate ethical approval been obtained and stated?
o Is there any indication of plagiarism, data fabrication, or other ethical misconduct? Please report any concerns to the editor immediately.
Writing Your Review Report
A well-structured review is invaluable to both the editors and the authors. We recommend structuring your report in three parts:
1. Summary: Begin with a brief paragraph summarizing the manuscript's objectives, contributions, and your overall impression.
2. Comments for the Author: Provide specific, numbered comments detailing the manuscript's strengths and weaknesses. Your feedback should be constructive, helping the authors to improve their work. If you suggest revisions, please be clear about what is required.
3. Confidential Comments for the Editor: Use this section to provide your candid assessment of the manuscript's suitability for publication, raise any confidential concerns (e.g., suspected ethical issues), and explain the reasoning behind your recommendation.
Making Your Recommendation
Please provide one of the following recommendations to the editor (this is not visible to the authors):
· Accept: The manuscript is scientifically sound and requires no or only very minor copyediting changes.
· Minor Revision: The manuscript is fundamentally sound but requires minor revisions to clarify points, correct small errors, or add minor details.
· Major Revision: The manuscript has potential but requires substantial changes, such as new simulations/experiments, significant rewriting, or a more thorough comparison with prior work.
· Reject: The manuscript has fundamental flaws in its methodology or analysis, lacks significant originality, or its conclusions are not supported by the evidence.
Thank you once again for your invaluable contribution to Integrated Circuits and Systems. Your expertise ensures we publish research of the highest quality and impact.