Author Guidelines
Authors must submit only entirely original manuscripts. Any proven sign of plagiarism will result in the immediate rejection of the manuscript.
Download Journal Template »General Requirements
- Language
- The publication language is English. Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of the two).
- Length
- A length of 3,000 words is preferred. Papers will generally not exceed 6,500 words (excluding references) and should have no more than 50 references.
- Title
- Must be concise and informative. Do not use abbreviations or formulae.
- Author Names and Affiliations
- Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, where available, the e-mail address of the corresponding author.
- Corresponding Author
- Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication. Ensure that telephone numbers are provided in addition to the e-mail address and full postal address.
Paper Structure
- Abstract
- The abstract should not exceed 250 words. It should succinctly state the purpose of the research, the main results and the major conclusions.
- Keywords
- After the abstract, provide a maximum of 5 keywords using British spelling, avoiding general or plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid “and”, “of”, etc.). Do not use abbreviations. Keywords will be used for indexing purposes.
- Abbreviations
- Define abbreviations at their first mention in the text. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
- Introduction
- State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
- Method
- 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.
- Results
- Results should be clear and concise.
- Conclusions
- The main conclusions of the study should be presented in a short Conclusions section.
- Acknowledgements
- List individuals who provided help during the research. If the research was sponsored or supported by an organisation, please indicate this. All sources of financial support should be clearly identified, including the name of the research project, its duration, its coordinator and the funding authority.
- References and In-Text Citations
- Every reference cited in the text must appear in the reference list (and vice versa). The abstract should not contain citations. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list. Citation of a reference as “in press” implies the item has been accepted for publication.
- DOIs in References
- The journal strongly encourages authors to cite items that have DOIs. When cited items have DOIs, authors should add active DOI persistent links as the last elements of the reference.
- Figures
- Previously published figures must be cited with the original source at the end of the figure caption. If figures have been published elsewhere, authors must obtain permission from the copyright holders for both print and online formats before submission.
