A Q&A with Shigemasa Takai & Yoshito Ohta

Meet the Current Editor-in-Chief

Shigemasa Takai is currently Professor of Electrical, Electronic, and Infocommunications Engineering with Osaka University in Japan. He holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from Osaka University. Takai’s research in the areas of Analysis and Control of Discrete Event and Hybrid Systems has been published in over 100 journal articles. He is a Member of the Subcommittee on Industrial Automated Systems and Control of IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (2014-Present) and a Member of IFAC Technical Committee 1.3 on Discrete Event and Hybrid Systems (2008-Present). He serves as Publicity Chair of the 17th IEEE International Conference on Control & Automation (2022). Professor Takai is our current SICE Journal of Control, Measurement, and System Integration (SICE JCMSI) Editor-in-Chief.

Meet the Past Editor-in-Chief

Yoshito Ohta is currently Professor of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Physics at Kyoto University in Japan. He holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from Osaka University. Ohta’s research in the areas of modeling of control systems, networked control systems, and robust control has been published in over 60 journal articles. He was the General Chair of the 54th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control in 2015 and an IEEE Control Systems Society Liaison Representative for SICE, 2017-2018. He served as Vice President, SICE, 2016-2017 and has received the SICE Paper Award five times.

What topics does SICE Journal of Control, Measurement, and System Integration intend to cover? 

Ohta: Our journal covers the area of control, measurement, and systems. We welcome theoretical, algorithmic, or applicational studies from their infancy to maturity. Integrating systems is essential, where systems are not confined to manufacturing systems but include artificial and social systems.

Takai: We delve into fields from measurement and control to system analysis/design/integration, from theory to application, and from software to hardware.

What is your aspiration for the journal as Editor-in-Chief? 

Ohta: Our journal aims to be a quality venue for exchanging reliable and useful information. I hope many researchers in the world make the most of this forum. 
 

Takai: We would like to see the number of submissions from outside of Japan increase. 

What are the unique features of SICE Journal of Control, Measurement, and System Integration? 

Ohta: Our journal emphasizes how to solve problems and synthesize systems using a systems engineering approach. We do not work on a single specific area but on areas where cyber and physical worlds interact. Control, measurement, and system integration are crucial elements for this approach.   

Our journal represents a network of research communities of systems engineering in the Asian region, especially Japan. You will have access to the communities by reading and submitting papers to the journal. The Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE), founded in 1961, started publishing SICE Journal of Control, Measurement, and System Integration in 2008 to increase the interaction between researchers in neighboring regions. This is a complementary effort by SICE operating SICE annual conferences in English from 2002.   
 

Takai: Our journal provides great opportunities for scholars around the world to discuss theoretical and practical issues related to a broad range of fields from control, measurement, and system integration.  
 
In Asian countries, such as Japan and China, many scientific and technological papers are written and published in the languages of those countries. We has been receiving many submissions mainly from Japan, China, and other Asian countries. You can read in English cutting-edge research results that were only available in Japanese or Chinese in the past. 

What advice would you give to prospective authors? For instance, what makes an excellent research paper? 

Ohta: A research paper is a tool to convey your idea to the readers. In my humble opinion, it is important to get your message through to both the readers as well as the editorial team.  

When I started my research career as a graduate student, I did not know anything about the editorial work behind the publication process. I submitted a paper and received many useful comments (though some were harsh), which helped shape my paper. I later became an Associate Editor and then an Editor-in-Chief. I now operate on the other side of the process, communicating and working with authors to develop their manuscripts. 

An excellent paper should be persuasive, and should state the motivation and the ideas clearly. I would suggest discussing the presentation with the colleague before submitting the manuscript. It would be equally important to cope with comments by the editorial staff. This would be a chance to improve the presentation, especially when the comments are negative ones. 
 

Takai: The criteria for an excellent research paper are to present novel ideas with technically sound discussions and make an impact in your field of research. 

An excellent research paper is read not only by experts in the field, but also by researchers and practitioners in related disciplines. Therefore, it is important to write your paper in such a way that it can be easily understood by non-specialists. Moreover, it is important to carefully examine the text and structure of your paper and proofread it repeatedly before submission, to make it enjoyable for readers. 

What can authors expect when they submit their manuscripts for consideration in SICE Journal of Control, Measurement, and System Integration? 

Ohta: We aim for rapid publication. Our editorial team members are experts in control, measurement, and system integration. You will find suitable reviewers who will quickly give constructive criticism and make a fair evaluation. Our journal follows a continuous publication model, where accepted articles will be published online as soon as they are copyedited and proofread.    

Once your paper is published, anyone can access your article free of charge and you will be connected to the global research community. 
 

Takai: The review is carried out as quickly as possible. By minimizing the publication lag after acceptance, accepted articles are published immediately after the production process is finished. 

SICE Journal of Control, Measurement and System Integration is now an Open Access journal. How is this beneficial for published authors? 

Ohta: Taylor & Francis Online is an excellent platform to disseminate your findings to the people who can refine or apply the results. This will improve your chances of reaching the right readers and thereby help you connect with the network of the respective area.   
 

Takai: The published papers are highly visible from all over the world and will get more citations as a result. Also, The Society of Instrument and Control Engineers (SICE) members can obtain a discount on the article publishing charge; details can be found here. 

Which emerging topics are you looking forward to receiving submissions in? What do you think will be the next ‘hot’ topic? 

Takai: I’m particularly interested in seeing how existing techniques come together with the new and emerging to better solve problems or increase efficiency. For example, exploring the interactions of control, measurement, system integration with artificial intelligence and machine learning. Another application area that has broad public impact would be looking at how technologies in control, measurement and system integration could contribute towards building a smart city or smart society. 

Ohta: I expect that the scientific approach to systems engineering is the key to developing future society. The 20th century was the century of mass production. We witnessed a growing number of researchers and workers in the engineering areas manufacturing tangible products.   

The 21st century tackles more complex problems where the knowledge on specific areas alone is not enough to solve a problem. For example, our world has suffered from the pandemic for the past two years. The problem cannot be solved only by the knowledge of infection. It would be equally important to model the reactions of human beings. Another example is the sustainable development goals. Affordable and clean energy requires better use of resources without sacrificing our standard of living. In both examples, the systems engineering approach would be essential.