IEEE Communications Letter (WCL / CL)

A letter is not a short transactions paper. It is a single, sharp contribution presented under a tight page budget (currently a 5-page maximum for both WCL and CL, with page charges beyond the free page budget under ComSoc guidance). The job is to make one result land — fast — and to cut everything that does not serve it. Use this skill to draft a letter from scratch or to compress an over-length draft.

Core stance

• One contribution, stated once. A letter carries a single advance: one algorithm, one

closed-form expression, one new scheme, or one decisive finding. If the draft has two, it is a transactions paper — say so and use ieee-writing.

• The free-page budget is a design constraint, not a trim at the end. Plan the budget before

drafting (see page budget below). Treat a paid fifth page as a strategic decision for essential evidence, not as permission to write a small transaction.

• No standalone Related Work section. Prior work is folded into the Introduction as the gap.
• Author evidence comes first. Never invent results, numbers, channel models, benchmark

schemes, or limitations. Missing evidence → [PLACEHOLDER: ...] or ask the user.

• Same IEEE register as a transactions paper: US English, numbered citations [n], bold-vector

/ bold-matrix notation, equations numbered only for the skeleton of the argument.

WCL vs CL — know the target

Always confirm the current page/fee/EDICS rules in the journal's author kit before submitting; these defaults change. If the user has not named WCL vs CL, ask — the EDICS and anonymity rules differ.

Page budget (IEEEtran, two-column, 10pt) — plan this first

Aim for the free 4-page budget by default. Use the paid fifth page only when it protects the one contribution's proof, experiment, or critical validation.

Title + abstract + Index Terms              ~0.25 page
I.  Introduction (gap + contribution)       ~0.75 page
II. System Model (+ problem if needed)      ~1.0 page
III. Proposed Scheme / Analysis (core)      ~1.0 page
IV. Simulation Results (2–4 figures/tables) ~0.75 page
V.  Conclusion (3–4 sentences) + refs       ~0.25 page

This is a starting allocation, not a rule. The core (III) and the result (IV) are the paper; protect their space and compress I–II. Verify how references and appendices count in the target journal's current Author Kit.

When to open extra files

For the argument of each section, defer to ieee-writing (its section defaults apply, compressed). For simulation content use ieee-experiments; for figures use ieee-figure; for references and EDICS use ieee-citation; for the cover/response letters use ieee-response.

Intake — establish before drafting

• target: WCL or CL (they differ on EDICS and anonymity)
• the one contribution: in a single sentence — the advance the letter exists to deliver
• type: algorithm/design letter, or closed-form analysis letter (changes Section III)
• evidence: the algorithm + convergence, or the derivation + a simulation overlay
• boundary: the CSI/channel assumption and scope where the claim holds
• starting point: drafting fresh, or compressing an over-length draft (→ compression-tactics.md)

If "the one contribution" is actually two, flag it: a letter cannot carry both well.

Drafting workflow

1. One-sentence contribution. `We propose/derive [the one advance] for [system], which [benefit],

under [boundary].` Confirm it with the user.

1. Check it fits a letter. One contribution, one model, one core result. If not, route to

ieee-writing.

1. Allocate the page budget (above), then draft core-first: Section III, then IV, then the

compressed Introduction, then System Model, then Abstract and Conclusion last.

1. Draft from evidence outward; keep each claim beside its support. Use ieee-writing section

logic, compressed: Introduction ends with a short contribution statement (often 1–2 sentences, not a numbered list of four).

1. Fit the figures: 2–4 decisive figures/tables maximum, vector (EPS/PDF), readable at column

width — see ieee-figure. One should validate analysis (line + Monte-Carlo markers) if the letter derives an expression.

1. Page-fit pass: if over the free budget, decide whether the paid fifth page is justified; if

over the maximum, apply references/compression-tactics.md in order (cut repetition and over-fine detail before touching the core result).

1. Return the letter (LaTeX if IEEEtran), a page-budget estimate, a claim–evidence map, and a

note on what was cut to fit.

Letter-specific section defaults

• Abstract: ~75–100 words unless the current Author Kit says otherwise, one quantified headline.
• Introduction: compress to gap → contribution. Fold prior work into the gap; no separate

Related Work. End with a one- or two-sentence contribution statement, not a 4-item list.

• System Model: only the symbols the core result needs. Cut generality the result does not use.
• Proposed Scheme / Analysis (the core): the algorithm box or the theorem/derivation — the one

thing the letter exists for. Label transformations exact vs approximate; state convergence target (KKT/stationary/global) honestly. Long proofs are usually cut or sketched, not appended (letters rarely have appendices — confirm with the author kit).

• Simulation Results: 2–4 decisive figures/tables, claim-first. Validate the derived expression

first if there is one; then the single most important comparison vs benchmark schemes. A compact measurement/testbed result is worth the space only if it supports the one contribution. State the fairness boundary in one sentence.

• Conclusion: 3–4 sentences. Contribution → decisive result → boundary/outlook. No new data.

Output format

1. Draft: the letter prose (or IEEEtran LaTeX).
2. Page budget: estimated pages per section vs. the free-page budget and the 5-page maximum.
3. Claim–evidence map: Claim … | Evidence … | Status: supported / needs evidence.
4. Cut list: what was removed (or must be) to fit, and what was protected.
5. Assumptions or missing inputs: only material issues.

For Chinese input, give the polished English letter first, then brief Chinese notes on what was compressed or cut and why.