Aims & Scope

Founded in 1981 by two of the pre-eminent control theorists, Roger Brockett and Jan Willems, Systems & Control Letters is one of the leading journals in the field of control theory. The aim of the journal is to allow dissemination of relatively concise but highly original contributions whose high initial quality enables a relatively rapid review process. All aspects of the fields of systems and control are covered, especially mathematically-oriented and theoretical papers that have a clear relevance to engineering, physical and biological sciences, and even economics. Application-oriented papers with sophisticated and rigorous mathematical elements are also welcome. Expressly excluded from SCL's scope are the following topics: fractional-order systems, designs employing fuzzy-neural network approximations, all but the most mathematically sophisticated embodiments of sliding-mode control, "dynamic surface control", adaptive control under unknown sign of high-frequency gain (Nussbaum gain algorithms), the so-called "multi-dimensional" systems (discrete-time/discrete-space systems inspired by image processing), all applications not entailing significant theoretical advances, and all papers with analytical developments not resulting in rigorous "theorem-proof" formulations of the results.

Articles published in SCL rarely exceed 8-10 pages in Elsevier's two-column format. However, submission on topics of a technically demanding nature (for example, stochastic control, PDE control, etc.), where even concisely crafted proofs cannot fit into the said page limit, are also welcome, as long as their initial quality is high and permits editorial processing that typically takes no more than two rounds of review. (Initial quality refers to originality, relevance, correctness, clarity of exposition, and comprehensive awareness of literature in the paper's first draft.)

Following the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, signed by Elsevier and over 2,000 organizations and 16,000 researchers, authors of submissions to SCL should cite primary literature, in which observations are first reported, rather than limiting themselves to citing surveys and predominantly recent contributions. Additionally, geographically limited perspectives on the literature are not appropriate for submissions to a global journal like SCL. This policy aims for a proper attribution of credit, authors' adequate assessment of their own contributions, and those undertaking follow-up research effort not being misguided regarding the state of the art on a topic to which they will dedicate much time and their career hopes. The editors may reject an article containing such lapses, either after the deficiencies are not corrected to the editors' satisfaction upon being pointed out by editors or reviewers, or immediately upon submission if the deficiencies require a degree of editorial input that is more commonly associated with acting as a co-author than as an editor or reviewer.

Special Issue on “Frequency-Domain and Matrix Inequalities Methods in Systems, Control, and Learning” dedicated to Centenary of Vladimir Yakubovich
Submission Date: 2026-02-28

This special issue is dedicated to the Centenary Vladimir Andreevich Yakubovich (1926-2012), one of the founders of the modern control theory. 

The influence of his works on the systems and control theory can hardly be overestimated. Perhaps, the most prominent contribution has emerged in his seminal paper “The solution of certain matrix inequalities in automatic control theory” (Soviet Mathematics, V.3, No 2, 1962, pp.620-623), which is included in the inaugural volume “Twenty Five Seminal Papers in Control”, Wiley-IEEE Press, USA, 2001 composed of 25 most influential papers in control theory and engineering in the XXth century. The main result of that paper was later extended by R.Kalman and V.M.Popov and is usually called Kalman-Yakubovich or Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov Lemma (KYP Lemma). This and related results were systematically developed by V.A.Yakubovich to form a foundation of what is currently referred to as “Method of matrix inequalities in stability theory of nonlinear control systems”. Later S.Boyd and coauthors called V.A.Yakubovich “the father of this field” in the influential volume “Linear Matrix Inequalities in System and Control Theory” (SIAM Press, 1994).

Overall, remarkable achievements of Vladimir Yakubovich also extend to a whole series of areas, including frequency-domain methods of nonlinear analysis, absolute stability and oscillations of dynamical systems, optimal and adaptive control, pattern recognition, etc.

He is the recipient of the prestigious IEEE Control Systems Award of 1996 with citation: "For pioneering and fundamental contribution to stability analysis and optimal control".

The main aim of the issue is to present an up-to-date exposition of the basic research areas influenced by the works of Prof. Yakubovich and to evaluate the impact of these works based on opinions and contributions of active and well-established researchers from different countries.

Guest editors:

Prof. Alexander Fradkov (Executive Guest Editor), Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia; Email: fradkov@mail.ru
Prof. Petros Ioannou, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Prof. Alexey Matveev, Saint Petersburg University, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Prof. Anders Rantzer, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Prof. Vladimir Rasvan, Romanian Academy of Engineering Sciences (ASTR) and University of Craiova, Craiova, Romania

Manuscript submission information:

Important Dates:

    Submission Open Date: November 1, 2025
    Submission Deadline: February 28, 2026
    Notification of Acceptance: May 31, 2026

Contributed papers must be submitted via the Systems & Control Letters online submission system (Editorial Manager®): Please select the article type “VSI: Yakubovich’s Centenary” when submitting the manuscript online.

All submissions deemed suitable to be sent for peer review will be reviewed by at least two independent reviewers. Once your manuscript is accepted, it will go into production and will be simultaneously published in the current regular issue and pulled into the online Special Issue. Articles from this Special Issue will appear in different regular issues of the journal, though they will be clearly marked and branded as Special Issue articles.

Please refer to the Guide for Authors to prepare your manuscript.

For any further information, the authors may contact the Executive Guest Editor.

Keywords:

(Frequency-Criteria) OR (Matrix Inequalities) OR (Nonlinear Systems) OR (Control Systems) OR (Adaptive Systems) OR (Learning Systems)