Survey papers submitted to IEEE Transactions on Haptics (ToH) should explore key emerging topics in haptics or present tutorial-style content that is widely relevant to the journal’s audience. To uphold high standards and ensure relevance, best practices would motivate submissions of such proposals by a set of multiple authors whose expertise is synergistic, helping avoid the possibility of an overly biased coverage of relevant literature and systems. Authors are therefore encouraged to work across different institutions and include participation of co-authors with whom they do not have an extensive history of prior joint publications.

A well-developed survey should provide a well-rounded synthesis of the topic, contributing meaningful insights to the readership. Specifically, a strong survey paper must present a structured, authoritative, and insightful overview of the history and current state of the field. While it should include key references, the survey must be more than a simple compilation of such references and should avoid detailing minor or redundant contributions. The content should be organized thematically—such as by applications, fundamental principles, or technological advancements—and should incorporate fair comparisons and critiques. Authors should ensure an objective approach, avoiding excessive emphasis on their own work.

Although submissions of already complete papers will be accepted, we strongly encourage authors, before drafting their full manuscript, to first submit to the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) a brief proposal that includes a structured outline of the intended survey paper and a tentative bibliography, as well as a summary of the authors’ credentials, demonstrating sufficient expertise in the field. This proposal, formatted as a standalone PDF document, should justify the necessity of the survey, outline its intended readership, and demonstrate its relevance to ToH. Importantly, it should distinguish its coverage from existing survey papers on the subject to highlight the contribution of the proposed work. The EiC, in collaboration with the Senior Editorial Board, will then determine whether the proposed survey is suitable for submission and can offer helpful feedback at the preliminary stage.

Manuscripts are instruments for communicating ideas, and as such must be written clearly. Authors are expected to edit their submissions carefully to eliminate grammatical errors and maintain a scholarly style. Editors may, at their own discretion, require improvements to grammar and style before a manuscript is either reviewed or accepted. The ToH staff will provide contact information for professional editing services, but the responsibility for manuscript editing, including financial responsibility, will reside with the authors.

This publication is a hybrid journal, allowing either Traditional manuscript submission or Open Access (author-pays OA) manuscript submission.The OA option, if selected, enables unrestricted public access to the article via IEEE Xplore. The OA option will be offered to the author at the time the manuscript is submitted. If selected, the OA fee of US$2800 applies to all articles accepted on or after 1 January 2026, and it must be paid before the article is published in the journal. If you have unusual circumstances about this, please contact the Editor-in-Chief. Any other applicable charges (such as the over-length page charge and/or charge for the use of color in the print format) will be billed separately once the manuscript formatting is complete but prior to the publication.The traditional option, if selected, enables access to all qualified subscribers and purchasers via IEEE Xplore. No OA payment is required.

ORCID Required: All IEEE journals require an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) for all authors. ORCID is a persistent unique identifier for researchers and functions similarly to an article’s Digital Object Identifier (DOI). ORCIDs enable accurate attribution and improved discoverability of an author’s published work. The author will need a registered ORCID in order to submit a manuscript or review a proof in this journal.

The articles in this journal are peer reviewed in accordance with the requirements set forth in the IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual (https://pspb.ieee.org/images/files/files/opsmanual.pdf).
At the time of submission, authors may choose between a single-anonymous or double-anonymous peer review process. Each published article is reviewed by a minimum of two independent reviewers. In the single-anonymous review process, the identities of the reviewers are not known to the authors, while the reviewers know the identities of the authors. In the double-anonymous review process, the identities of both the authors and the reviewers are concealed from each other during the review.