Guidelines for Review Article Submissions

IEEE TMI Advisory Committee

December 1, 2025

Purpose

Review articles in IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (TMI) must go beyond enlisting papers or summarizing literature simply. They should offer novel angles and deep insights, benchmark the field, identify actionable gaps, and provide a rigorous, balanced, multidisciplinary perspective. A successful TMI review is a scholarly synthesis that shapes the research agenda of the field.

  1. Topic Suitability & Positioning
    • Address rapidly evolving areas where consolidation is valuable.
    • Describe how the review complements existing reviews.
    • Avoid overly broad topics as well as overly narrow topics.
  2. Required Structure
    • Introduction
    • Technical Foundations
    • Core Methods / Techniques
    • Medical Imaging Applications
    • Benchmarking & SOTA Comparison
    • Clinical and/or Industrial Perspective
    • Regulatory & AI Issues
    • Future Directions
  3. Literature Standards
    • Target 8-12K words excluding references (unless with compelling reasons and EiC’s and AC’s permission)
    • Cite 80–120+ references
    • Use high-quality figures/tables, up to 6 items
    • Ensure comprehensive coverage at professional depth
  4. Authors and Team Composition
    • Multidisciplinary team recommended (no more than 4 authors unless with compelling reasons and permission): academic, clinical, and if feasible industrial and regulatory
  5. Timeline
    • Typical timeline: 3–4 months from invitation by the Editor-in-Chief
  6. Evaluation Criteria
    • Scientific Rigor
    • Author expertise with proven competence
    • Originality & Added Value
    • Literature Coverage and Depth
    • Clinical Relevance, likely involving industrial and regulatory aspects
    • Presentation Quality
  7. Common Mistakes to Avoid
    • Overly broad/narrow topic
    • Excessive self-citation
    • Lack of benchmarking
    • Absence of clinical/industry/regulatory perspectives
    • Speculative or promotional language
  8. Workflow

TMI review articles are by invitation only. Once the initial idea is vetted by (a) the Advisory Committee and approved by (b) the Editor-in-Chief, authors will be invited to write a proposal. After the proposal is accepted by the Advisory Committee and the Editor-in-Chief, the authors should submit their files before the mutually agreed deadline (any significant delay could invalidate the invitation) to the IEEE TMI Portal. Then, the review process will be organized by a Senior Area Editor in the same way as a regular research article.

These guidelines are designed to support the development of high-quality special issue proposals that advance medical imaging research whilst meeting IEEE TMI’s editorial standards. For additional guidance, please consult the IEEE Author Guidelines and contact the TMI Editorial Office.