--- name: ieee-transactions-on-automatic-control description: Use when targeting IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (TAC) or deciding whether a systems-and-control manuscript fits this venue. Encodes the journal's fit, the theory-first contribution bar, proof and assumption rigor, paper-vs-technical-note framing, house style, official-submission re-check, and desk-reject heuristics. --- # IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (ieee-transactions-on-automatic-control) ## Journal positioning IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (TAC) is the flagship archival journal of the systems-and-control field, publishing rigorous theoretical and methodological contributions across control theory, estimation, optimization for control, hybrid and networked systems, and the mathematics of dynamical systems. The defining expectation is a **provable, general result**: a new theorem, a new method with guarantees, or a sharp answer to an open systems-and-control question. Application papers that tune a known controller for one plant, or simulation studies without a generalizable theoretical contribution, are a poor fit and are routinely returned. This skill is a **fit / venue-selection / re-framing** tool. It does not replace the journal's current official author information. Before submitting, re-check the live IEEE TAC author guidance and submission system. ## When to trigger - The author names TAC as the target for a control-theory, estimation, or dynamical-systems manuscript and wants a fit/framing check. - A control contribution must be re-framed from "we controlled this system" into a general theorem or method statement with explicit assumptions. - The author is choosing between TAC and `automatica`, or between a full Paper and a Technical Note / shorter contribution. - The author needs TAC's specific desk-reject heuristics and a credible alternative-venue route for application-heavy work. ## Scope & topic fit - Control theory: stability, robust/H-infinity, adaptive, nonlinear, optimal, model-predictive, and geometric control, with new analysis or synthesis results. - Estimation and filtering: state estimation, observers, Kalman-type and set-membership filtering, when the contribution is a new guarantee or method, not a tuning. - Networked, distributed, multi-agent, and hybrid/switched systems; event-triggered and quantized control; consensus and distributed optimization with convergence proofs. - Optimization, game-theoretic, and learning-based control when the result is rigorous (stability/convergence/regret guarantees), not purely empirical. - Stochastic systems and control; systems-theoretic aspects of dynamical systems. ## Method & evidence bar - The central object is a **theorem with a correct, complete proof** under clearly stated, non-vacuous assumptions; the generality and tightness of the result are what carry the paper. - Assumptions must be reasonable and explicitly discussed: a result that holds only under assumptions that effectively presuppose the conclusion is not a contribution. - Numerical examples are illustrations, not evidence of generality; simulations support intuition but never substitute for the proof. - Position against the closest prior results precisely: state what is new relative to existing theorems (weaker assumptions, larger class of systems, tighter bound, constructive vs. existence). - Notation must be standard and self-consistent; the problem formulation must be mathematically precise before any result is stated. ## Structure & house style - IEEE double-column format; TAC publishes full **Papers** and shorter **Technical Notes / Correspondence** — match the article type to the size and scope of the contribution, and re-check current definitions on the live guide. - Problem statement and assumptions come early and precisely; main results are stated as numbered theorems/propositions/lemmas with proofs (in-text or in an appendix per the current format). - The introduction must position the open problem and the gap in existing theory, not survey applications. - Figures are used sparingly and purposefully (block diagrams, convergence/phase plots); the paper stands on its theorems, not its plots. - Supplementary proofs/appendices carry length-limited material per current rules. ## Official-submission checklist - Before giving submission-ready advice, read `../../resources/source-basis.md` and `../../resources/official-source-map.md`; start from the IEEE Author Center anchors, then cite the current TAC-specific page you checked. - Search the live site for "IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control information for authors" and follow the current ScholarOne/IEEE version. - Re-check article types (Paper vs. Technical Note), page/length limits and overlength policy, and the IEEE double-column template. - Confirm reproducibility/data/code expectations for any numerical or experimental results. - Re-check ORCID, competing-interests, funding, author-contribution, and AI-use disclosure requirements, and IEEE open-access options. - If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions win. ## Pre-submission self-check - [ ] The contribution is stated as a general theorem/method with explicit, non-vacuous assumptions — not as a successful control of one plant. - [ ] Every main result has a complete, correct proof; simulations are illustrative only. - [ ] The novelty is pinned to specific prior theorems (weaker assumptions / wider class / tighter bound / constructive). - [ ] The problem formulation is mathematically precise before any result is stated. - [ ] Article type (Paper vs. Technical Note) matches the scope, and length is within current limits. - [ ] Notation is standard, consistent, and defined. ## Common desk-reject triggers - Application/tuning paper: a known control method applied to one specific system with no generalizable theoretical contribution. - Simulation-only "validation" with no theorem, or a theorem whose assumptions effectively assume the result. - Incremental extension of an existing result with no weakening of assumptions or broadening of the system class. - Incorrect, incomplete, or hand-waved proofs; mismatched or undefined notation. - Scope mismatch: a signal-processing, pure-optimization, or machine-learning paper with control only as a label. ## Re-routing decision - Methodological control breadth, longer development → `automatica`. - Signal-processing estimation/detection as the core → `ieee-transactions-on-signal-processing`. - Power-system or power-electronics control application → `ieee-transactions-on-power-systems` / `ieee-transactions-on-power-electronics`. - Robotics planning/control as the central contribution → `ieee-transactions-on-robotics` / `the-international-journal-of-robotics-research`. - Optimization theory with no control object → a dedicated optimization venue. ## Output format ```text [Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason) [Target] IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control [Topic tags] <2–3 closest control subtopics> [Contribution type] theorem / method-with-guarantee / open-problem answer [Method/evidence] [Top risk] [Article type] Paper / Technical Note [Official items to re-check]
[Re-route suggestion] ```