Submissions

Author Guidelines

Overview

Submissions can only be made on the journal's website [http://aiej.org/aiej/about/submissions]. It is requested that all the instructions below are observed before starting the submission process. Only manuscripts strictly following the specified standards will be forwarded to the evaluators. All submissions must also be guided by the following technical standards, under penalty of disregard of the proposal.

The manuscript must also be subdivided into numbered sections, using Roman numerals (I, II, …) for the main headings and Arabic numerals (1, 2, …) to (1.1, 1.1.1, …) for any other headings and subheadings. This ensures that the final typographical article presents its headings and subheadings as intended and makes it easy to refer to sections during review correspondence.

Submission Checklist

Please ensure that the following items are present at submission:

❏ Article Manuscript with necessary components, including an Abstract

❏ Title Page

❏ Source files for figures and tables, as well as relevant captions, titles, and notes

❏ Source files for graphics, as well as relevant captions, titles, and notes

❏ A list of highlights

❏ A list of keywords

Please also ensure to perform the following checks:

❏ Proofread the manuscript for spelling and grammar errors. Submitted manuscripts should not expect significant semantic editing by the AIEJ before or after acceptance. Comprehensive editing is the responsibility of the authors before submission. The AIEJ will provide copy edits.

❏ The manuscript is fully de-identified and prepared for masked review with third-person references for self-citations. Any remaining personal information will be removed at the discretion of the editor.

❏ All figures, tables, and graphic references in the text match the files and information provided.

Manuscript Structure

This suggested format has been adapted from the 6th edition APA guidelines for the AIEJ. Please add to and change the structure accordingly for your paper.

Text

Please provide your manuscript in an editable format; any word-processing software is acceptable. If you use LaTeX, the AIEJ recommends the Elsevier article class to prepare your manuscript, and BibTeX to generate your bibliography. For detailed submission instructions, templates, and other information on LaTeX, please refer to Elsevier’s LaTeX Instructions. If you use LaTeX, please supply a PDF version of your manuscript with your submission.

Title and Abstract

The title should clearly and effectively state the contents of the article. The abstract should clearly and effectively summarize the hypothesis, design, study, and findings of the article in a coherent and non-evaluative manner. For more information on the abstract, please see the “Abstract” section below. Please limit the title to 100 characters and the abstract to 300 words.

Introduction

The introduction should engage the reader in the main contents of the article, stating the rationale behind the selection of the topic(s) and providing a background through relevant and/or current studies. The author(s) should clearly state the hypothesis and related correspondence to the research design (if needed, depending on the article type submitted). Avoid a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.

Theory/Calculation

A Theory section should extend the background of 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.

Methodology/Materials

Sound studies are built on clean methodology. This includes the use of appropriate, valid, and unflawed methods of sampling and the use of instruments, procedures, and analysis. The methodology presented in the article should be free of confounding influences, appropriate for the study in question, and contain reliable and sophisticated statistical methods for effective analysis. Provide sufficient details to allow the work to be reproduced by an independent researcher. Methods that are already published should be summarized and indicated by a reference. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.

Results

The Results section should include a general summary of the collected data and accompanying analyses. All results, including unexpected findings, should be included in this section.

Discussion

The Discussion section should evaluate and interpret the findings from the Results section. It should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section may sometimes be appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions/Recommendations

The main conclusions may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results/Discussion section. If needed, a Recommendations section may be included, which may stand alone or form a subsection of the aforementioned sections. Here, the author(s) may elaborate suggestions for further research on the study topic(s), including changes to the methodology or scope of the hypothesis.

References

A list of references should be included at the end of your manuscript in proper APA format, with citations used throughout the article text as appropriate. Reference information should be accurate and thorough; for references accessed by the web, please include the full URL. References should be denoted by square brackets [ ] and numbered {[1], [2], … }according to the order in which they are cited by the text.

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.

Acknowledgments

The acknowledgments section should indicate the benefactors and other sources of support to the research in the article (for example, financing, research assistance, use of research facilities, and so on) (refer to Authorship and Declarations sections for details).

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required, stating briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results, and conclusions in approximately 300 words. The abstract should be able to stand alone, and thus references should be avoided. If essential, cite the author(s) and year(s). Abbreviations should be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

A graphical abstract is not required but is encouraged. In a single, concise, pictorial form, summarize the findings of the article. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file. Please provide an image with a minimum of 531×1328 pixels (h×w) or proportionally more. The image should be readable at a size of 5×13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 96 dpi. These are the preferred file types: TIFF, EPS, PDF, JPG, JPEG, or MS Office files.

Title Page

The title page must include a concise and informative title, author names and affiliations, disclosures, as well as the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country's name and the author’s email address. Author names include the given and family names of each author in English. The affiliation addresses should be placed below the authors’ names, with a lowercase superscript letter after each name corresponding to the same superscript in front of the appropriate address. It is necessary to identify the corresponding author.

Figures and Tables

Figures and tables embedded in the manuscript for initial review must be as separate source files if the submission is accepted pending revision. We anticipate that Word files will suffice for most entries, but if your figures are difficult to present in Word, contact us to arrange for submission in an alternate format. The Editorial Board will handle any additional formatting of figures and tables for final publication. Preferred file types: MS Office files

Graphics

Please review the File Type section below for the correct resolution (dpi) of each type of graphic submitted, as resolution requirements vary depending on the graphic type and content. Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text and provide captions separately. A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available in Elsevier’s Artwork Instructions.

Size

Please size your illustrations as close as possible to the desired dimensions of the final pdf version at the resolution described in the “File Type” section below. Graphics in the AIEJ will be viewed online and in PDF in a single-column format and should not exceed a maximum width of 8 inches (20cm) or 2400 pixels @300 DPI (4000 pixels @ 500 DPI for line art and bitmap art).

Labels

Please use uniform lettering and sizing in your original artwork and embed the used fonts if the application provides the option. To ensure labels are legible, we suggest using the following fonts: Arial, Helvetica, Courier, Times, Times New Roman, and/or Symbol, sizing them according to the final figure size.

File Type

Please ensure that artwork files are in an acceptable format and with the correct resolution, size, and illustrations as close as possible to the desired dimensions of the printed pdf version. We do not accept file formats optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG) as these typically have a low number of pixels and a limited set of colors.

TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (half-tones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi.

TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure 100% black & 0% white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations of bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi.

EPS (or PDF): For vector-based images. Please embed the font or save the text as 'graphics'.

Highlights

Highlighting your article will boost its discoverability. Highlights are three to five bullet points (every 85 characters or fewer, including spaces) that encapsulate original findings and any new methodologies utilized in the study. Highlights are submitted separately in an editable file.

Key Words

On a separate document (or with the list of highlights), please provide a maximum of 6 keywords separated by commas. If possible, avoid abbreviations and plural terms. We suggest against attempts to include multiple disparate concepts, as doing so may lead to ambiguity regarding the subject matter and inaccuracy of indexing.

Additional Material

If you wish to submit any supplementary material not mentioned in this guide, contact our Editorial Team for more information. Such material can be included via captioned links in your article or some alternative arrangement.