IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2014 - 165

turning point (continued from p. 168)
FP: It's a difficult problem, and I do
know there's some ongoing discussion
within our Society on ways to alleviate
the review burden. Some of these ideas
are also tied to finding ways for members of our community to receive the
credit they deserve for their conference
publications, at least relative to other disciplines. I think we'll be hearing more
about these ideas in the near future.

they have enough new material to justify submitting to T-RO. In most cases,
however, it's not a huge dilemma for
our authors. Also, our editors and associate editors are experienced and will
indicate clearly what needs to be done
for successful evolution, assuming, of
course, that the result meets our criterion for research significance.

ence publications, one of the
things I've struggled with is how
much to add to a conference paper
for it to be able to evolve into a
transactions paper.

ics is changing rapidly. Where is
T-RO positioned?

EG: As you said earlier, the
EG: Since you mention confer- publications landscape in robot-

FP: We have guidelines in our information for authors, but you can see
that, ultimately, the threshold is a subjective one. I've known authors who
deliberately hold back showing everything in their conference paper so that

FP: Robotics publications are proliferating to the point where we might
soon have a bubble on our hands. At
T-RO, we're faced with the huge task of
filtering and curating this ever-growing
body of research. Naturally, we want to
publish the best papers from the entire
ecosystem of robotics, which, as you
know, is continually evolving. New

problems and research emerge, and old
problems keep coming back. Just look
at the resurgence of hands and grasping, for example.

EG: Let me ask one final question
that I hope will lead to some practical advice for our readers. If I
have what I think is a rather nice
result, how should I decide whether to submit to T-RO or a more
specialized journal?

FP: That's a tough question. If you ask
some of our more experienced senior
researchers to name the publications
that they're most proud of, I think most
would list a number fewer than ten. If,
at the end of your career, you think this
paper could be on that list, then absolutely-I want you to submit your
paper to T-RO.

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SEPTEMBER 2014

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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

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165
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2014
