Please read the following information to facilitate the successful preparation and submission of your work. These guidelines include best practices for manuscript submission for the SPIE Digital Library, as well as for multimedia files for publication.

Important dates

Abstract submission deadline 5 May 2021
Author notification  9 July 2021
Submission system opens for presentations and manuscripts* 3 September 2021
Oral presentation videos due 29 September 2021
Poster PDF and preview videos due 29 September 2021
Post-event manuscripts due 29 October 2021

*Authors must register prior to uploading

Manuscript guidelines

On this page

How-to guide for a successful manuscript submission

Format your manuscript

  • Length: Publish a four-page minimum in Proceedings of SPIE in the SPIE Digital Library
  • Color: All color will be retained in SPIE's digital publications at no charge
  • File type: The required file format is PDF
  • Margins, US standard size: 0.875 in left/right, 1.0 in top, 1.25 in bottom
  • Margins, A4 size: 1.925 cm left/right, 2.54 cm top, 4.94 cm bottom
  • Fonts: Use Times New Roman or equivalent for all text
  • Spacing: Single space all text in one column. Allow extra space between paragraphs
  • Please, do NOT add headers, footers, or page numbers

Manuscript templates

View and download Microsoft Word Template - US Letter (DOC):

View and download Microsoft Word Template - A4 (DOC):

View and download sample manuscripts in PDF format.
The text of these samples detail SPIE's format preferences:

Using LaTeX.
Style files are available to authors who are preparing manuscripts with LaTeX here:

You can also use the Overleaf authoring tool.
The Proceedings of SPIE template is now available in the Overleaf authoring tool. Originally developed to simplify LaTeX authorship, this free online tool has numerous benefits, including:

  • Real-time collaboration between authors
  • An intuitive user interface
  • Easy document sharing and security options
  • Real-time preview of formatting and equations
  • Inline error warnings
  • A rich-text mode that will look familiar to collaborators who are more comfortable authoring in Microsoft Word
  • Quick submission to SPIE proceedings by following the link "Submit to SPIE Proceedings" at the top of the Overleaf template.

The SPIE proceedings template can be found on Overleaf, along with helpful LaTeX tutorials and a free introductory course for authors who are new to Overleaf and LaTeX.

Submit your manuscript

  • Sign in to SPIE.org/myaccount to log in, or create an account
  • Click on "Manage My Active Submissions" and the name of the meeting. You will see your paper number (Ex: 10049-57), your paper title, and a link to submit
  • Note: You must be designated as the contact author in order to access, submit, and make revisions to the manuscript
  • Follow the steps as they appear in the SPIE manuscript submission wizard

Add multimedia files

You may associate a video or audio file with your research paper to better communicate your paper's main points. A video or animation, published online with your manuscript, can show how data changes over time, conveying more to your audience than is possible through a static paper alone.

Create a representative screenshot for each video or audio file and place them in your paper as you would a regular figure.

  1. Choose from one to ten short files you believe would enhance the reader's understanding of your paper's main points
  2. Multimedia files must be one of the following types:
    • Video: mpeg, mov (Quicktime), or wmv (Windows Media Player) file formats
    • Audio: wav, mp3 file formats
    • Each file should be less than 5MB in size
  3. Create a representative screenshot for each video or audio file and place them in your paper as you would a regular figure
    • Include a descriptive caption beginning with Video 1, Audio 3, etc.
    • At the end of the caption, include this line: http://dx.doi.org/doi.number.goes.here
    • SPIE staff will edit this text and link it to the archived multimedia file

Your multimedia files will be submitted through the SPIE manuscript submission wizard along with your manuscript.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Please do not submit a draft of your paper with the intent of later submitting a revised final version. If you are under pressure to submit your paper, but need more time, please contact your SPIE proceedings coordinator and ask if an extension is possible.

Most SPIE conferences follow an onsite publication model, meaning that manuscripts received by the advertised deadline will be published for online conference viewing during the event as well as archived in the Proceedings on the SPIE Digital Library. For onsite publication, manuscripts received after the advertised deadline will be published as soon as possible but may not be available during the event.
Some SPIE conferences follow a post-meeting publication model, meaning that manuscripts received by the advertised deadline will be subject to a more thorough review prior to publication. For post-meeting publication, manuscripts will be published between 2-4 weeks after the end of the conference in the Proceedings on the SPIE Digital Library, but will not appear as part of the online conference event. 

If a revision to your manuscript is requested, either by SPIE staff or by the conference chair, you will have five business days to submit your revision. To submit a revision, sign in to your account at spie.org/myaccount and click on the name of the meeting. Then, select the "Submit Manuscript Revision" link for your paper.

Manuscript submission is expected and strongly encouraged. SPIE strives to ensure that the published proceedings accurately and completely reflect the program content.

Yes. A "Transfer of Copyright" should be completed and returned to SPIE when you submit your manuscript, or as soon as possible thereafter. Submitting the online form through your account at http://spie.org/myaccount is preferred, but you may download and email the PDF version if necessary. The copyright agreement protects both SPIE and authors/employers and specifies rights for both parties with respect to publication and reuse of the material.

SPIE publication policy permits manuscripts based partly or entirely on scientific content previously reported in SPIE proceedings to be submitted to SPIE journals. In most cases, it is anticipated that the journal submission will be a substantively expanded and revised manuscript relative to the proceedings paper to fully satisfy the standards of significance, originality, and presentation quality that may result in acceptance through the journal peer review process. For more information: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceedings-to-journals

Disclosure: If a manuscript (or portion of a manuscript) was previously published in a conference proceedings or is under consideration for publication in a proceedings, this information must be disclosed when the manuscript is submitted to an SPIE journal. Authors should also reference or acknowledge the prior proceedings paper within the submitted journal article.

SPIE proceedings papers are indexed in all major science and engineering indexes, search engines, and library discovery platforms, including Web of Science Conference Proceedings, Scopus, Ei Compendex, Astrophysical Data System (ADS), Chemical Abstracts (selected content), CrossRef, Semantic Scholar, Dimensions, DeepDyve, Inspec, Portico, Primo, Summon, and others.

SPIE guidelines for ethical publishing

SPIE guidelines for ethical publishing:

Policy regarding use of the "Lena" image in proceedings:

  • SPIE no longer publishes submissions containing the Lena image without convincing scientific justification for its use. Authors are advised to use other suitable images to illustrate and compare image processing algorithms. Any author who chooses to include a Lena image will be contacted and the decision as to whether the image is published remains with SPIE.