SPIE's conferences provide an opportunity for presentation of reports on current research resulting in rapidly published proceedings that accurately reflect those presentations. All authors of oral or poster papers are expected to submit manuscripts containing original, previously unpublished work, in accordance with their specific conference deadlines. Those papers are published online in the SPIE Digital Library, as well as in print and often on CD-ROM.

In addition, papers from Proceedings of SPIE are indexed in leading scientific databases including INSPEC, Ei Compendex, Physics Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, International Aerospace Abstracts, ISI Index to Scientific and Technical Proceedings (ISTP), and the Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS).

Manuscripts must be:

• 8 to 12 pages long, single-spaced, formatted to SPIE Specifications 
• Written in English, with clearly understandable text and figures
• Technically sound, with sufficient data to explain results and support conclusions
• Received by the manuscript due date 
• Not acceptable: short summaries, viewgraphs, or abstracts; overtly commercial content.

Conference Chair/Editors review manuscripts for technical merit, suitability of content, and clarity. Conference Chair/Editors may require one or more manuscript revisions before approving publication, and reserve the right to reject for publication any paper that does not meet content or quality expectations or manuscript requirements. SPIE's decision on whether to publish a manuscript is final.

Late manuscripts may not be published. Much of the value of the Proceedings volume depends on timely publication and distribution. To ensure inclusion in the Proceedings, manuscripts should be received by the announced due date.

Authors are expected to attend the meeting and present their papers. Papers not presented at the meeting will not be published in the Proceedings, except in the case of exceptional circumstances at the discretion of SPIE and the Conference Chair/Editor. If unforeseeable circumstances prevent you from attending the meeting and keeping your commitment, please notify your staff Proceedings Editor immediately, and arrange for a coauthor or colleague to make the presentation.

Company or government clearance must be final at the time of submittal. DOD contractors need to allow a minimum of 60 days for government clearance. Authors are required to warrant to SPIE in advance of publication of the Proceedings that all necessary permissions and clearances have been obtained, and that submitting authors are authorized to transfer copyright of the paper to SPIE for publication in the Proceedings.

The Society views as unprofessional the arbitrary withdrawal of a paper once the author has made a commitment to prepare it, the paper has been accepted by the conference committee, and the presentation has been announced in the Advance Technical Program. The withdrawal of a paper after the Advance Technical Program is distributed jeopardizes not only the Society's credibility, but the author's professional reputation as well.