Author's Guidelines

 

GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

INTRODUCTION

Types of paper

When submitting a manuscript to the journal, authors must choose one or more classifications that best describe their manuscript.

Covering letter to the editor:

When submitting the manuscript, it is mandatory to include a covering letter to the editor. The covering letter must state:

(1) Subject Classification selected from the list (see guide for authors and select the most suitable ONE ONLY).
(2) That all the authors mutually agree that it should be submitted to MyJCAM.
(3) It is the original work of the authors.
(4) That the manuscript was not previously submitted to MyJCAM.
(5) State the novelty in results/findings, or significance of results.

Types of contributions: Original research papers, review articles and case studies. Review articles would be generally solicited by the editors from the experts. However, these can be contributed by others also. In this case, authors must consult the editor by sending the extended summary (300-400 words), outline and the list of publications of authors on the topic.

BEFORE BEGIN 

Ethics in publishing 

Ethics topics to consider when publishing: 

  • Authorship of the paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.
  • Originality and plagiarism: The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
  • Data access and retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data.
  • Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication: An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication.
  • Acknowledgement of sources: Proper acknowledgment
  • Data access and retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide of the work of others must always be given.
  • Disclosure and conflicts of interest: All submissions must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.
  • Fundamental errors in published works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
  • Reporting standards: Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance.
  • Hazards and human or animal subjects: Statements of compliance are required if the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, or if it involves the use of animal or human subjects.
  • Use of patient images or case details: Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the paper.

 

Conflict of interest 

All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. .

Transparency and objectivity are essential in scientific research and the peer review process. When an investigator, author, editor, or reviewer has a financial/personal interest or belief that could affect his/her objectivity, or inappropriately influence his/her actions, a potential conflict of interest exists. Such relationships are also known as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties.

The most obvious conflicts of interest are financial relationships such as:

  • Direct: employment, stock ownership, grants, patents.
  • Indirect: honoraria, consultancies to sponsoring organizations, mutual fund ownership, paid expert testimony.

 

Undeclared financial conflicts may seriously undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and the science itself. An example might be an investigator who owns stock in a pharmaceutical company that is commissioning the research.

Conflicts can also exist as a result of personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion. An example might be a researcher who has:

  • A relative who works at the company whose product the researcher is evaluating.
  • A self-serving stake in the research results (e.g. potential promotion/career advancement based on outcomes).
  • Personal beliefs that are in direct conflict with the topic he/she is researching.

Not all relationships represent a true conflict of interest–conflicts can be potential or actual. Some considerations that should be taken into account include: whether the person's association with the organization interferes with their ability to carry out the research or paper without bias; and whether the relationship, when later revealed, make a reasonable reader feel deceived or misled. 

Full disclosure about a relationship that could constitute a conflict–even if the person doesn't believe it affects their judgment–should be reported to the institution's ethics group and to the journal editor to which a paper is submitted. All publishers require disclosure in the form of a cover letter and/or footnote in the manuscript. 

A journal may use disclosures as a basis for editorial decisions and may publish them if they are believed to be important to readers in judging the manuscript. Likewise, the journal may decide not to publish on the basis of the declared conflict.

Submission declaration and verification 

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder.

Changes to authorship 

This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts:

Before the accepted manuscript is published in an issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that: 

  1. Journal Managers will inform the Journal Editors of any such requests and
  2. Publication of the accepted manuscript in an online issue is suspended until authorship has been agreed. 

After the accepted manuscript is published in an issue: Any requests to add, delete, or rearrange author names in an article published in an issue will follow the same policies as noted above and result in a corrigendum.

Copyright

Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement'. Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form.  Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article.

Role of the funding source

Author are requested to identify who provided financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the article and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding source(s) had no such involvement then this should be stated.

Language and language services

Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). The Editors suggest avoidance of usage of first person (we, us, our) in the text.  Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post submission.  Please note that poor language may cause the rejection of the manuscript.

Submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online and you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of your files. The system automatically converts source files to a single PDF file of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF files at submission for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail removing the need for a paper trail.

Referees

Please submit, with the manuscript, the names, addresses and e-mail addresses of five potential referees. Note that the editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.

 

The Executive Editor first evaluates all manuscripts on technical aspects such as compliance to the Guide for Authors, quality of grammar or English language. Revision can be requested. Manuscripts accepted at this stage are passed to the handling editor who can also reject on the basis of insufficient originality, serious scientific flaws, or because the work is considered outside the aims and scope of the journal. Those that meet the minimum criteria are passed on to experts for review. Referees advise the editor, who is responsible for the final decision to accept or reject the article.


Please note:

Any Editor's decision is final.

Manuscripts previously rejected by the Journal will not be re-considered by the Editors, and therefore will be rejected without review.

 

PREPARATION 

Manuscript Preparation 

General:

Authors must follow guide for authors strictly, failing which the manuscripts would be rejected without review. Editors reserve the right to adjust the style to certain standards of uniformity.

Structure:

Follow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgements,

References, Figure Captions, Tables and Figures. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk and footnote. All other footnotes (except for table footnotes) should be avoided. Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article and do not include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.

Text Layout:

Use double spacing and wide (2.5 cm) margins on white paper with full justified. Ensure that each new paragraph is clearly indicated. Present tables and figure legends on separate pages at the end of the manuscript. If possible, consult a recent issue of the journal to become familiar with layout and conventions. Number all pages consecutively, use 11 point font size and Arial font.

Page length: Maximum page length should be 35 and 40 pages for Original article/case study and review paper, including text, references, tables and figures. Each figure and table must be embedded in the text.

Use of word processing software

It is important that the file be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor. 

Article structure

Subdivision - numbered sections

Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, ...), 1.2, etc. (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not just refer to 'the text'. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.

Introduction

State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Material and methods

Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.

Theory/calculation

A Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation for further work. In contrast, a Calculation section represents a practical development from a theoretical basis.

Results and Discussion

Results should be clear and concise, and be part of a single section, discussing the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. Extensive citation and discussion of the published literature should be avoided.

Conclusions

The main conclusions drawn from results should be presented in a short Conclusions section (maximum 100 words).

 Appendices

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.

 Essential title page information

  • Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
  • Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
  • Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that phone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address.

 Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.

  • Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.

 Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required. Each paper should be provided with an abstract of about 150-200 words. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Highlights

Highlights are mandatory for this journal. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that convey the core findings of the article and should be submitted in a separate file in the online submission system. Please use 'Highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point).

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 5 keywords to be included in an article, using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and", "of"). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

Abbreviations

Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Acknowledgements

Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).

Units

Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other units are mentioned, please give their equivalent in SI. 

Math formulae

Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text). 

Footnotes

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many word processors build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.

Table footnotes

Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.

 Figure captions

Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used. Note that the maximum number of figures allowed for Original article, case study, and review papers is 6. Multiple figures can be expressed as one figure (for e.g. 1a, 1b, 1c etc...), while retaining the maximum limit of 6.The Journal discourages publication of simple one line graphs/figures, pattern figures, conventional spectra (X-ray, FTIR, UV, NMR, etc) and SEM photographs of a routine nature.

Tables

Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Note that the maximum number of figures allowed for Original article, case study, and review papers is 6. The Journal discourages publication of simple one parameter tables; such information should be preferably described in the text itself.

References

Maximum 35 and 75 references for original research paper/case study and review papers, respectively.

Citation in text

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice

versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.

Web references

As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.

References in a special issue

Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.

Reference style

Text: All citations in the text should refer to:

  1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;
  2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication;
  3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication.

Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically).

Examples: 'as demonstrated (Allan, 2000a, 2000b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1999). Kramer et al.

(2010) have recently shown ....'

List: References should be arranged first alphabetically, THEN NUMBERED NUMERICALLY, and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:

Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., Lupton, R.A., 2010. The art of writing a scientific article. J. Sci. Commun. 163, 51–59.

Reference to a book:

Strunk Jr., W., White, E.B., 2000. The Elements of Style, fourth ed. Longman, New York.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B., 2009. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: Jones, B.S.,

Smith , R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281–304.

 

References in the list should be placed first alphabetically, then numbered chronologically.

  1. Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B., 2009. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: Jones, B.S., Smith , R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281-304.
  2. Strunk Jr., W., White, E.B., 2000. The Elements of Style, fourth ed. Longman, New York.
  3. Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., Lupton, R.A., 2010. The art of writing a scientific article. J. Sci. Commun. 163, 51-59.

Submission checklist

The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item.

 Ensure that the following items are present:

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:

  • E-mail address
  • Full postal address
  • Phone numbers

 All necessary files have been uploaded, and contain:

  • Keywords
  • All figure captions
  • All tables (including title, description, footnotes)

 Further considerations

  • Manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'
  • References are in the correct format for this journal
  • All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
  • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)

 AFTER ACCEPTANCE

 Use of the Digital Object Identifier

 The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to electronic documents. The  DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly 'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. When you use a DOI to create links to documents on the web, the DOIs are guaranteed never to change.

 Publication of Articles

After acceptance the Journal will publish articles quickly both online and in print. Requests for delayed publication of the accepted articles are generally not acceptable.