Author Guidelines for ISE

ISE (formerly Industrial Engineer) welcomes feature articles that focus on industrial and systems engineering issues, problems, and solutions, as well as recent developments and research that may have a significant impact on the practice of the profession.

While every submission will be considered, emphasis will be placed on the article's practical value and analytical approach. Highly theoretical or statistical articles are discouraged. Articles based on experience and actual hands-on operating situations, those that take a how-to tone, and those that have valuable applications in a working environment are favored. Articles must list all authors to be included in the byline upon initial submission. Authors are encouraged to include supporting graphics and high-quality color photographs with articles or suggest where IISE may obtain them. IISE Managing Editor Keith Albertson is an author's point of contact.

Sample Topic Areas Include: 

  • Benchmarking
  • Careers and training
  • Consulting
  • Continuous improvement
  • Costing/Engineering economics
  • Cycle time reduction
  • Ergonomics/Human factors
  • Facilities planning
  • Forecasting and scheduling
  • Incentive programs
  • Inventory management
  • Lean manufacturing
  • Logistics, transportation, and distribution
  • Maintenance management
  • Manufacturing processes, strategies, and systems
  • Material handling
  • Logistics, transportation, and distribution
  • Maintenance management
  • Manufacturing processes, strategies, and systems
  • Material handling
  • Operations research
  • Production control
  • Productivity improvement
  • Project management
  • Quality
  • Re-engineering
  • Simulation
  • Six Sigma
  • Statistical process control/Statistical quality control
  • Supply chain management
  • Systems integration
  • Technology management
  • Theory of constraints
  • Warehousing
  • Work measurement

Submissions  

Articles submitted to ISE should be offered on an exclusive basis and limited to 3,500 words. Articles will be edited for publication, and all editorial changes will be made solely at the discretion of the editor. Members of the editorial staff may contact authors for clarifications of fact or intent. The editor makes the final decision about whether to accept or reject an article. Due to time constraints, authors do not generally see a copy of the final article until publication.

Here is the current editorial calendar for your reference.

IISE publishes several other periodicals. If the editor determines that your submission is more appropriate for one of them, your article may be published in a periodical other than ISE. Under these circumstances, the editor will attempt to obtain your permission before publication, though this is not always possible due to time constraints.

Looking to be published in IISE's journals? ISE and Industrial Management are general interest magazines and not indexed journals. IISE does have four research journals addressing various topics that are indexed through Scopus and Compendex. Visit www.iise.org/publications to contact each journal for article submission guidelines. 

Tips for Non-Native English Speakers

We welcome contributors from every corner of the globe. However, all submissions must be submitted in English. Terms that appropriate the native culture are acceptable; entire sentences are not.

Industry-specific jargon (such as in the areas of manufacturing or supply chain) can be difficult to translate, so pay special attention to choice of language around statistics and technical applications. Simplify this language when possible.

We have high editorial standards and adhere to The Associated Press Stylebook for all grammatical uses. Translated articles should be proofread against the latest version of this guide.

Article Checklist

  1. Include a suggested title for the article. You may give alternate titles as well.
  2. Include a brief overview of the article. Summarize the article in two or three clear sentences.
  3. Bulleted and numbered items or lists are acceptable, but excessive use is discouraged.
  4. Do not include literature references within the body of the work. Do not include footnotes or endnotes. Vital material or appropriate references should be incorporated into the narrative of the article itself. For example: "In his book Good to Great, author Jim Collins develops the hedgehog theory of corporate mission." Lengthier reference lists may be included online at iise.org/isemagazine/references with the link included at the end of the story.
  5. List ALL authors to be included in the article byline and a one-paragraph biography of each author. Include professional title, place of business and its location, areas of professional specialty, educational degrees, and related professional information such as books published or previous positions of employment.

Materials Checklist

Please include:

  1. An electronic file of your article as a Microsoft Word document e-mail attachment.
  2. Relevant charts, graphs, illustrations, and photographs. Photos should be submitted as high-resolution JPG images of at least 300 PPI at actual size. Other artwork such as illustrations, charts, and graphs may also be submitted electronically. All electronic images should be saved in separate files from the text of the article.
  3. Identification and caption material for all figures, illustrations, and photos.
  4. For each article we publish, we must have a signed copyright release form on file. One will be sent to you upon receipt of your article. IISE holds the copyright of all published articles.

COPYRIGHT & MORE FAQs

1. Does the copyright release mean that IISE owns information that I or my employer developed?

The copyright release transfers copyright ownership of a specific article (otherwise known as "the work") to IISE, giving it protection under IISE's copyright registration. IISE does not own the ideas or processes described in the article. Authors retain proprietary rights in any process, procedure, or information described in the work. Authors are free to publish other works on the same subject.

2. Does the copyright release prevent me from using the article for marketing purposes?

IISE routinely grants permission to authors to use the published article in a variety of formats for marketing purposes. However, permission must be obtained prior to any such use. Some commercial uses are subject to a fee. Contact Keith Albertson.

3. Can ChatGPT or other AI tools be listed as an author of my article submission to ISE?

ISE magazine recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) tools – large language models, generative AI and chatbots like ChatGPT – are increasingly popular resources for writers.The ISE editorial team understands that when used appropriately and responsibly, these rapidly evolving tools can assist in the writing process; however, authors are accountable for the originality, validity and integrity of the content of their submissions – a uniquely human responsibility. Therefore, AI tools should not be listed as an author for submissions to ISE magazine. Where AI tools are used, such use must be acknowledged and documented appropriately.

4. Can I obtain a PDF of my article after it's published online?

Authors may obtain a link to a PDF of their articles for their personal use, limited distribution within their company and educational purposes (for example, posting it on a website).

Email submissions to Keith Albertson.
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