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Author Guidelines

 

Manuscript Preparation

Editorial Guidelines

    1. TKDD welcomes submissions that have not been published or submitted previously to this or any other publication and encourages submissions that may significantly contribute to opening up new and potentially important areas of research and development in the broad area of data science, data mining, and knowledge discovery.   
    2. TKDD promotes fusion of theories and systems/applications by strongly encouraging the authors of theory papers to indicate applications and implementation considerations/consequences, and the authors of systems/applications papers to indicate the use of existing theoretical results and to point to possible theoretical research issues.
    3. TKDD publishes outstanding papers which are "major value-added extensions" of papers previously published in conferences; that is, TKDD will not automatically reject papers that are major extensions to previously published conference papers.  These papers will go through the normal review process.
    4. TKDD strives to make papers straightforward and more readable by recommending that authors include examples where appropriate and make greater efforts to target their presentation to a broader audience than specialists doing current research in the topical areas of the papers.
    5. TKDD discourages excessively long papers (longer than 50 double-spaced pages including figures, references, etc.), and unnecessary digressions, even in shorter papers. TKDD’s goal is to motivate the authors to bring out the essence of their papers more clearly, to make it easier for the reviewers and readers to follow the article, and to allow TKDD to publish more papers in any given issue.
    6. Similarly, TKDD encourages short submissions, even if they are very short (for example, five pages). The primary focus of the review process is the significant improvement on the state-of-the-art, not the number pages a manuscript fills.
    7. TKDD uses the ACM style of references found at https://www.acm.org/publications/authors/reference-formatting.
    8. The editor processing a submission normally assigns at least two reviewers.  Reviewers provide advice to the editor to assist them in reaching an editorial decision regarding the paper.  The editor's decision may differ from the consensus of the reviewers.  If the editor determines early on in the process that a submission is a clear-reject (through an early-arriving review, editor's own reading, etc.), the editor may stop the review process without collecting all reviews.
    9. TKDD publishes occasional special issues to provide timely enhancement to promising areas of research and development, or a timely consolidation of the results in other areas.  Guest editors will be invited to organize such issues.
    10. TKDD also publishes focused surveys. These reviews should be deeply focused and can sometimes be quite narrow but will make a contribution to our understanding of an important area or subarea of knowledge discovery from data, broadly defined.  More general surveys that are intended for a broad-based Computer Science audience, or surveys that may influence other areas of computing research should continue to go to ACM Computing Surveys.  Brief surveys on recent developments in knowledge discovery research are more appropriate for ACM SIGKDD Explorations. TKDD surveys should be educational to data mining audiences by presenting a relatively well-established body of research. Surveys can summarize prior literature on a theoretical, systems, or applications research topic, or can explain approaches implemented in commercial systems.  A survey of the former type summarizes literature on a particular subject, presenting a new way of understanding how the papers in this literature fit together.  A survey of the latter type summarizes the best industrial art and can be acceptable even if it represents no new technical contribution over what has been used in industry for years, if the paper's content is not to be found in published literature.

Types of Papers

The ACM Transactions on Knowledge Discovery from Data publishes original archival papers in the area of data science, knowledge discovery, and data mining and closely related disciplines. (See the Editorial Charter for further details.)  Submitted papers are judged primarily on originality and relevance, but effective presentation is also critical.  Contributions should conform to generally accepted practices for scientific papers with respect to organization and style.

TKDD also publishes focused surveys. Please see #10 above for guidelines on survey papers. 

Finally, TKDD welcomes submissions that review, critique, correct, or expand on a paper previously published in TKDD. Such submissions will go through the standard formal review. Where appropriate, the author(s) of the original paper will be given an opportunity to respond, with their own submission. 

Prior Publication Policy

The technical contributions appearing in ACM journals are normally original papers that have not been published elsewhere.

A submission based on one or more papers that have been previously published must have major value-added extensions over what appeared previously.  There is little scientific merit in simply sending a conference version to a journal after the paper has been accepted for the conference.

Widely distributed refereed conference proceedings, in addition to journal papers, are considered publications, but technical reports and CORR articles (which are not peer reviewed) are not. All overlapping papers appearing in workshop proceedings and newsletters should be brought to the editor's attention; they may be considered publications if they are peer reviewed and widely disseminated.

Novelty Requirement

A manuscript that is based on one or more previous publications by one or more of the submitting authors should consist of at least 30% new material in the new submission. The new material should be content material; meaning, it should be descriptive beyond straightforward proofs or basic performance figures, but rather illustrate those dimensions that offer substantial, new insights. The submitted manuscript provides an opportunity to present additional results, for example by considering new alternatives or by delving into some of the issues listed in the previous publication(s) as future work. At the same time, it is not required that the submitted manuscript contain all the material from the published paper(s). In fact, only enough material needs to be included from the published paper to set the context and render the new material logical.

When submitting a new paper based on prior publication(s), authors must describe in detail, in a separate document submitted for review, the differences and justify that the extension has sufficient significant technical contributions and novelty and deserves a journal publication in TKDD. Prior publications should also be submitted along with the new paper to facilitate the review process.

Disclosure Requirement

The disclosure requirement concerns any other paper by any TKDD submitting authors that overlaps significantly with the TKDD submission and: (a) is in submission, (b) has been accepted for publication, or (c) has been published at the time of submission. An overlap is significant when it has exact or almost identical text exceeding one page of the TKDD submission, or when it employes the same methods, examples, analysis, case studies, and experiment results, though may be rephrased differently in language.

  1. Papers in categories (b) and (c) should be referenced by the TKDD submission and discussed in the related work section of the submission at a level of detail similar to the level of detail used in the coverage of related work by other authors. Papers that enter into the categories (b) and (c) during the handling of the TKDD submission should be afforded the same coverage in the first revision where this is possible.
  2. At the time of submission, the corresponding author must inform the handling editor about all papers in categories (a)-(c) in writing separate from the submitted manuscript. In addition, the corresponding author should promptly inform the editor about any papers that enter into categories (a)-(c) during the handling of the submission.
  3. Should the submission be accepted for TKDD, it is good form to notify the editor handling papers in category (a) for the other venues, of the overlap.

Note that the novelty requirement applies to papers in categories (a)-(c).

The likely outcome of a failure to comply with this Prior Publication Policy is rejection. In particular, the editor, at their discretion, may choose immediately to reject a submission when an overlapping paper is discovered for which the corresponding author did not adhere to the requirements stated above.

Preparation for Double-Anonymous Peer Review

Submissions must be prepared for double-anonymous review (except for conference extension papers), which means that both authors and reviewers retain their mutual anonymity. In particular, the identity of the authors of each submission is not revealed to the reviewers of the submission. Associate editors responsible for handling the submission know the identity of the authors.

To retain their anonymity from the reviewers, authors must adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Author names and affiliations must not appear anywhere in the submission.
  • Funding sources must not appear anywhere in the submission.
  • Research group members, colleagues or collaborators must not be acknowledged anywhere in the submission.
  • Uploaded file names and metadata must not identify the authors of the submission.
  • References to work of the authors or of authors should be written up carefully to avoid compromising author anonymity (e.g., “As we have shown previously (Smith et al. 1995)” should be written in a neutral manner like “As has been shown previously by Smith et al. (1995)”).
  • Cover letters should not include any identifying information.

Despite the anonymity requirements, authors should still include all relevant work of their own in the references.

It is the responsibility of authors to preserve their anonymity. Papers that do not follow the anonymity guidelines, or otherwise potentially reveal the identity of the authors, are subject to immediate rejection. Author names, institutions, and acknowledgments will be added to the manuscript upon acceptance of the paper.

ACM Policy on Authorship states that venues must continue to allow authors to deposit their manuscripts on arXiv, other non-commercial and legally mandated repositories, their personal home page, or institutional repository. At the same time, authors are encouraged to refrain from uploading versions of their submitted manuscripts to pre-publication servers, such as arXiv, and other online forums during the reviewing period (if a version of a submission already resides on a pre-publication server, such as arXiv, the authors do not need to remove it before submitting to TKDD). No preferential treatment will be given to authors who have refrained from uploading their submitted manuscript to pre-publication servers and other online forums. We also expect reviewers to make reasonable efforts not to discover authors' identities.

Manuscript Format

To ensure proper indexing, classification, retrieval and distribution, authors must include the following in the manuscript.

  • Descriptive title
  • Abstract
  • Content indicators
  • Citations to relevant literature

The ACM submission templates can be found at: https://www.acm.org/publications/authors/submissions. Please note that formatting assistance is provided at no charge to authors by Aptara, by emailing [email protected].

Submission for Editorial Review

How to Submit

To submit a paper, please use the online submission system. 

If a paper has previously been published, and the author is submitting it with significant updates (see the Prior Publication Policy), please upload the original publication as a supplementary file for review. Before submitting their manuscript, authors should examine the Prior Publication Policy to ensure that their manuscript adheres to both the novelty and disclosure requirements.

Papers will be refereed in the manner customary with scientific journals before being accepted for publication. If you have any questions, please contact the Editor-in-Chief, and always inform editors in your submission letters of any possible conflicts. Correspondence on editorial matters should be addressed to one of the editors. Correspondence regarding accepted papers should be sent to [email protected].

Review Process

Submitted papers are evaluated by anonymous referees for originality, relevance, and presentation. (Please see the TKDD referee guidelines for more details.) 

Appeals

If an author has concerns about how their paper was handled, that author should first bring those concerns to the Associate Editor who handled the processing of the paper. In almost all cases, any misunderstanding will be able to be resolved then. If the concern is not addressed, the author can ask the Associate Editor to turn over processing of the paper to the Editor-in-Chief. However, it is the Associate Editor's decision whether to turn it over to the Editor-in-Chief. Should the Associate Editor decide not to turn over the processing of the paper, the author can appeal to the Editor-in-Chief. The Editor-in-Chief will reexamine the materials and make the final editorial decision.

If the concerns are still not adequately addressed, then the author can appeal to ACM Director of Publications.

Procedures for Accepted Papers

How to Prepare Final Version

Once a manuscript is accepted, it will be returned to your author center for you to review and make any final changes or corrections prior to production and publication.  You will find your manuscript in your author center under the list “Manuscripts Accepted for First Look.”  Click on the link to “submit updated manuscript” and follow the steps as you would during a manuscript submission process.  

ACM provides for submission in either LaTeX or Microsoft Word. Please refer to ACM's Guidelines for Submitting Accepted Articles for details on final manuscript formatting and submission procedure.

Submittal of an algorithm for consideration for publication in TKDD implies that unrestricted use of the algorithm within a computer is permissible.

ORCID Requirements

ACM requires that all accepted journal authors register and provide ACM with valid ORCIDs prior to paper publication. Corresponding authors are responsible for collecting these ORCIDs from co-authors and for providing them to ACM as part of the ACM eRights selection process. For journals using the ScholarOne submission system, the submitting author will be required to provide their own ORCID upon submission. Authors are strongly encouraged, but not required, to include ORCIDs for all authors in their source files.  Please note: ACM only requires you to complete the initial ORCID registration process. However, ACM encourages you to take the additional step to claim ownership of all your published works via the ORCID site.

ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission and supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities - ensuring that your work receives proper recognition. This requirement will also enable ACM to provide improvements to the normalization process of ACM Digital Library author profile data, aid in the detection of undeclared conflicts of interest and other publications-related misconduct in ACM Publications, assist with the implementation of ACM Open, and offer a host of other researcher benefits to ACM authors and the scientific community.

Before submission, the corresponding author should register for an ORCID.  Your co-authors should also create their individual ORCIDs at that time and add them to their accounts in the manuscript submission system. Otherwise, you will need to enter them manually into the ACM rights system upon paper acceptance and before publication in the ACM Digital Library. Simple instructions for complying with this mandate are provided inside the ACM eRights system.

ORCID information for all authors will appear on the article’s page in the ACM Digital Library. If ORCIDs are included in an article’s source files, they will also be linked in the published output.

The ACM ORCID FAQ should answer many of your questions.

ACM Policies

As a published ACM author, you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies.

ACM Policy on Authorship

The ACM Policy on Authorship and the associated list of Frequently Asked Questions cover the criteria for authorship and for submission, as well as acceptable and unacceptable authorship practices.

ACM Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy

The ACM Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy describes what a COI is, who is responsible for being aware of such conflicts, how to manage COIs, and how to report violations.

ACM Peer Review Policy

ACM recognizes that the quality of a refereed publication rests primarily on the impartial judgment of their volunteer reviewers. Expectations of reviewers and ACM, including key topics such as confidentiality, the use of large language models in the peer review process, and conflicts of interest, can be found in the ACM Peer Review Policy and its associated list of Frequently Asked Questions.

ACM Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects

All authors conducting research involving human participants and subjects must meet appropriate ethical and legal standards guiding such research. These requirements are detailed in the ACM Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects.

Templates

Manuscripts accepted for publication in any ACM publication must be formatted using the ACM authoring template. Submissions must also use the ACM authoring templates. ACM style files will closely approximate the final output, enabling authors to judge the page-length of their published articles.

ACM authoring templates and detailed instructions on formatting can be found at http://www.acm.org/publications/authors/submissions. For both Word and Latex technical support, contact [email protected].

ACM Computing Classification System (CCS)

If your paper has been accepted, please read the HOW TO CLASSIFY WORKS USING ACM'S COMPUTING CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM for instructions on how to classify your document using the CCS and insert the index terms into your LaTeX or Microsoft Word source file. Providing the proper indexing and retrieval information from the CCS provides the reader with quick content reference, facilitating the search for related literature, as well as searches for your work in ACM's Digital Library and on other online resources.

Author Rights

ACM authors can manage their publication rights in either of the following ways:

  • A license granting ACM non-exclusive permission to publish—allowing authors to self-manage all rights to their work by choosing to pay for perpetual open access from the ACM Digital Library.
  • A publishing license agreement granting ACM exclusive publication rights—by granting ACM the right to serve as the exclusive publisher of a work and to manage ongoing rights and permissions associated with the work, including the right to defend it against improper use by third parties. (This license is roughly the equivalent of ACM’s traditional Copyright Transfer Agreement except that the author continues to hold copyright.)

As of January 2023, per decision of the ACM Publications Board, the traditional Copyright Transfer Agreement option is no longer available for ACM authors.  ACM will continue to defend all ACM-published works against improper use when allegations of publication-related misconduct are brought to light.  For more information please refer to this article in The Blue Diamond.

Additionally, ACM authors may post all versions of their work, with the exception of the final published "Version of Record", to non-commercial repositories such as ArXiv. See the ACM Author Rights page for additional information.

Learn more, including about posting to pre-print servers and institutional repositories, by visiting the ACM Author Rights page.

Open Access

ACM has made a commitment to become a fully sustainable and Plan S compliant Open Access (OA) scholarly publisher within approximately five years. ACM offers a number of ways to achieve this goal, including Hybrid OA, Gold OA, and the ACM OPEN program.

Most ACM journals, with the following exceptions, are Hybrid OA.  ACM Gold OA journals are:

Click here to view the Article Processing Charges (APCs) to publish your article Open Access.

Additionally, all corresponding authors from an institution participating in ACM OPEN will have their research articles published OA at the time of publication at no cost to the authors.  Click here for a list of participating institutions. To ensure eligibility for the program, corresponding authors from participating institutions must use their institutional email address upon submission.

Language Services

ACM has partnered with International Science Editing (ISE) to provide language editing services to ACM authors. ISE offers a comprehensive range of services for authors including standard and premium English language editing, as well as illustration and translation services, and also has significant outreach in China. Editing is available for both Word and LaTeX files. As an ACM author, you will receive a generous discount on ISE editing services. To take advantage of this partnership, visit the Dedicated ACM Editing Service. (Editing services are at author expense and do not guarantee publication of a manuscript.)

Author-izer Service

Once your manuscript is published, this service allows you to generate and post a link on your home page or institutional repository to your published article. This link will let any visitors to your personal bibliography pages download the definitive version of the articles for free from the ACM DL. These downloads will be recorded as part of your DL usage statistics. A detailed description of the service and instructions for its use may be found at the ACM Author-Izer Service page.

LaTeX Collaborative Authoring Tool on Overleaf Platform

ACM has partnered with https://www.overleaf.com/, a free cloud-based, authoring tool, to provide an ACM LaTeX authoring template. Authors can easily invite colleagues to collaborate on their document. Among other features, the platform automatically compiles the document while an author writes, so the author can see what the finished file will look like in real time. Further information can be found at https://www.acm.org/publications/authors/submissions. The ACM LaTeX template on Overleaf platform is available to all ACM authors https://www.overleaf.com/gallery/tagged/acm-official#.WOuOk2e1taQ.

Kudos Article Sharing Platform

Kudos is a free service that you can use to promote your work more effectively. After your paper has been accepted and uploaded to the ACM Digital Library, you'll receive an invitation from Kudos to create an account and add a plain-language description. The Kudos “Shareable PDF” allows you to generate a PDF to upload to websites, such as your homepage, institutional repository, preprint services, and social media. This PDF contains a link to the full-text version of your article in the ACM DL, adding to download and citation counts.

Author Gateway

Please be sure to visit the ACM Author Portal for additional important author information.

Contact Us

For further assistance and questions regarding the journal editorial review process and paper assignment to an issue, contact the journal administrator ([email protected]).