Introduction
Editors reserve the right to adjust the style to certain standards of uniformity. Please use Word, Word Perfect or LaTeX files for the text of your manuscript.
Types of contributions
- Original researches
- Reviews
- Letters
Details for submission
The journal editorial office makes editors' assignments.
Science Park Publisher Editorial System
Submission of manuscripts proceeds totally online via the Science Park Publisher Editorial System at
https://www.sciparkpub.com/journal-details/21. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail and via the author's main menu in Editorial Manager.
Submission items
You can use this list to carry out a final check of your submission before you send it to the journal for review. Please check the relevant section in this Guide for Authors for more details.
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.
- Affiliation
All necessary files have been included
Manuscript
- All figures (include relevant captions).
- All tables (including titles, descriptions, footnotes).
- Ensure all figure and table citations in the text match the files provided.
- Indicate clearly if color should be used for any figures in print.
- Graphical Abstracts / Highlights files (where applicable).
- Supplemental files (where applicable).
Further considerations
- The manuscript has been 'spell-checked' and 'grammar-checked'.
- All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa.
- Permission has been obtained for the use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet)
- A competing interests statement is provided, even if the authors have no competing interests to declare
- Journal policies detailed in this guide have been reviewed
- Referee suggestions and contact details were provided
- Our online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files. The system converts your article files to a single PDF file used in the peer-review process. Editable files (e.g., Word, LaTeX) are required to typeset your article for final publication. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, is sent by e-mail.
Before you begin
Ethics in publishing
1. Please see the information on COPE
2. Studies in humans and animals: Suppose the work involves the use of human subjects. In that case, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans. The manuscript should be in line with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and aim for the inclusion of representative human populations (sex, age and ethnicity) as per those recommendations. The terms sex and gender should be used correctly.
3. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.
4. All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed. The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study.
Declaration of competing interest
Corresponding authors, on behalf of all the authors of a submission, must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. All authors, including those without competing interests to declare, should provide the relevant information to the corresponding author (which, where relevant, may specify they have nothing to declare). This information should be clarified as a statement. This statement should be placed in a new section entitled ‘Declaration of competing interest’.This statement should be added at the end of the author's manuscript in the core manuscript file before the References list.
Declaration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in scientific writing
The below guidance only refers to the writing process and not to the use of AI tools to analyze and draw insights from data as part of the research process.
1- Where authors use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, authors should only use these technologies to improve readability and language. Applying the technology should be done with human oversight and control, and authors should carefully review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased. AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author or be cited as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans.
2- Authors should disclose in their manuscript the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by following the instructions below. A statement will appear in the published work. Please note that authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the work.
Disclosure instructions
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process by adding a statement at the end of their manuscript in the core manuscript file before the References list. The statement should be placed in a new section entitled ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process’.
Statement: During the preparation of this work, the author (s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author (s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.
This declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a statement
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, a published lecture or academic thesis), 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 any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright holder. To verify compliance, your article may be checked by Crossref Similarity Check and other originality or duplicate checking software.
Use of inclusive language
Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences, and promotes equal opportunities. Content should make no assumptions about the beliefs or commitments of any reader; contain nothing that might imply that one individual is superior to another on the grounds of age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition; and use inclusive language throughout. Authors should ensure that writing is free from bias, stereotypes, slang, references to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions. We advise seeking gender neutrality by using plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default/wherever possible to avoid using "he, she," or "he/she." We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that refer to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability or health condition unless they are relevant and valid. When coding terminology is used, we recommend avoiding offensive or exclusionary terms such as "master", "slave", "blacklist," and "whitelist". We suggest using alternatives that are more appropriate and (self-) explanatory such as "primary", "secondary", "blocklist," and "allowlist". These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help identify appropriate language. Still, they are by no means exhaustive or definitive.
Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses
Reporting guidance
For research involving or pertaining to humans, animals or eukaryotic cells, investigators should integrate sex and gender-based analyses (SGBA) into their research design according to funder/sponsor requirements and best practices within a field. Authors should address the sex and/or gender dimensions of their research in their articles. In cases where they cannot, they should discuss this as a limitation to their research's generalizability. Importantly, authors should explicitly state what definitions of sex and/or gender they are applying to enhance the precision, rigor and reproducibility of their research and to avoid ambiguity or conflation of terms and the constructs to which they refer (see Definitions section below). Authors can refer to the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the SAGER guidelines checklist. These offer systematic approaches to the use and editorial review of sex and gender information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation. However, please note there is no single, universally agreed-upon set of guidelines for defining sex and gender.
Author contributions
For transparency, we require corresponding authors to provide co-author contributions to the manuscript using the relevant CRediT roles. The CRediT taxonomy includes 14 different roles describing each contributor’s specific contribution to the scholarly output.
The roles are Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Roles/Writing - original draft; and Writing - review & editing. Note that not all roles may apply to every manuscript, and authors may have contributed through multiple roles.
Changes to authorship
Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in the author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of the addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. Suppose the manuscript has already been published in an online issue. In that case, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.
Copyright
This journal is an open-access journal without article-processing charge (APC) for end of 2024.
Open access articles: Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'License Agreement.
Role of the funding source
You 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, it is recommended to state this.
Referees
Please submit the names and institutional (preferred) or private e-mail addresses of several potential referees. Please provide a list of at least three referees. Note that the Editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.
Prime novelty statement
A prime novelty statement is required with every new submission. In addition to highlighting the main novelty of the work, the statement should indicate a single, most significant result that substantially advances a given field of science, as well as emphasize how this advancement may be used by those who work in different areas or with different classes of materials. The main purpose of the statement is to inform the Editorial Board of how the work is described. The results reported make them of interest to the broad readership of the Multidisciplinary Materials Chronicles and why those who work outside of the immediate field or the discipline of the article should care to read the paper when it is published. The prime novelty statement must be written for non-experts, avoid jargon, and be limited to 150 words. Non-compliant prime novelty statements may result in desk rejection of manuscripts without peer review.
Peer review
This journal operates a single anonymized review process. The Editor will initially assess all contributions for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of three independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of articles. The Editor's decision is final. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers that they have written themselves or have been written by family members or colleagues, or which relate to products or services in which the Editor has an interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's usual procedures, with peer review handled independently of the relevant Editor and their research groups.
Use of word processing software
The file must 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 boldface, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts. Note that source files of figures, tables and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text. See also the section on Electronic artwork
To avoid unnecessary errors, you are strongly advised to use the 'spell-check' and 'grammar-check' functions of your word processor.
Article structure
General
- Word and LaTeX templates for different types of the article are available. General order of the sections in the form of:
- Title – Author(s) – (Dedication) – Affiliation(s), – Keywords – Abstract -– Main text [including Figures, Schemes and Tables] – (Experimental/Methods Section) –Conclusion-Acknowledgements – References
- All submissions must be written in English and adhere to proper grammatical and linguistic standards.
- The structure should consist of sections such as Abstract (maximum 250 words), Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions.
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 separate line.
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: Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled. You can add your name between parentheses in your script behind the English transliteration. 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, as well as post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about Methodology and Materials. Ensure that the e-mail address is given and that contact details are kept up to date by the corresponding author.
- Present/permanent address: Suppose an author has moved since the work described in the article was done or was visiting at the time. In that case, 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.
Highlights
Highlights are optional for this journal as they help increase the discoverability of your article via search engines. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that capture the novel results of your research as well as new methods that were used during the study (if any).
Upload the highlights in a separate editable file if they have been online submitted. Please use 'Highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters, including spaces, per bullet point).
Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required. 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. Still, if essential, they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Graphical abstract
Although a graphical abstract is optional, its use is encouraged as it draws more attention to the online article. The graphical abstract should summarize the contents of the article in a concise, pictorial form designed to capture the attention of a wide readership. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file in the online submission system. Image size: 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. Preferred file types: pdf, doc, docx, png, jpeg, jpg files.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, 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.
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 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. If quoting directly from a previously published method, use quotation marks and also cite the source. Any modifications to existing methods should also 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
Results should be clear and concise.
Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.
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: Equation (A.1), Equation (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Equation (B.1) and so on. Similarly, for tables and figures: Table A.1; Figure A.1, etc.
Acknowledgments
Collate acknowledgments 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, proofreading the article, etc.).
Formatting of funding sources
List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance with the funder's requirements:
Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace [grant number aaaa].
It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions of the program or type of grants and awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.
If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Math formulae
Please submit math equations as editable text and not as images. Present simple formulae in line with 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. Many word processors can build footnotes into the text, and this feature may be used. Otherwise, please indicate the position of footnotes in the text and list the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list.
Artwork
Electronic artwork
General points
- Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
- Embed the used fonts if the application provides that option.
- Aim to use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times New Roman, Symbol, or use fonts that look similar.
- Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text
- Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files
- Provide captions to illustrations separately
- Size the illustrations close to the desired dimensions of the published version
- Submit each illustration as a separate file
- Ensure that color images are accessible to all, including those with impaired color vision.
Formats
If your electronic artwork is created in a Microsoft Office application (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), then please supply 'as is' in the native document format.
Regardless of the application used other than Microsoft Office, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please 'Save as' or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
- EPS (or PDF): Vector drawings embed all used fonts
- TIFF (or JPEG): Color or grayscale photographs (halftones), keep to a minimum of 300 dpi
- TIFF (or JPEG): Bitmapped (pure black & white pixels) line drawings, keep to a minimum of 1000 dpi
- TIFF (or JPEG): Combinations of bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale), keep to a minimum of 500 dpi
Please do not:
- Supply files that are optimized for screen use (e.g., GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); these typically have a low number of pixels and a limited set of colors;
- Supply files that are too low in resolution;
- Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF (or JPEG), EPS (or PDF) or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution.
Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. 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.
Text graphics
Text graphics may be embedded in the text at the appropriate position. If you are working with LaTeX and have such features embedded in the text, these can be left.
Tables
Please submit tables as editable text and not as images. Tables can be placed either next to the relevant text in the article or on separate page(s) at the end. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text and place any table notes below the table body. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in them do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please avoid using vertical rules and shading in table cells.
References
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. Suppose these references are included in the reference list. In that case, they should follow the standard reference style of the journal. They should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. The 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.
Data references
This journal encourages you to cite underlying or relevant datasets in your manuscript by citing them in your text and including a data reference in your Reference List. Data references should include the following elements: author name(s), dataset title, data repository, version (where available), year, and global persistent identifier. Add [dataset] immediately before the reference so we can properly identify it as a data reference. The [dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.
Preprint references
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, the formal publication should be used as the reference. If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic but are not yet formally published, these may be referenced. Preprints should be clearly marked as such, for example, by including the word preprint or the name of the preprint server as part of the reference. The preprint DOI should also be provided.
Reference formatting
The reference should include the author(s) name(s), journal title/book title, chapter title/article title, year of publication, volume number/book chapter and the article number or pagination must be present. The use of DOI is highly encouraged. The reference style used by the journal will be applied to the accepted article by Science Park Publisher at the proof stage. Note that missing data will be highlighted at the proof stage for the author to correct. If you do wish to format the references yourself, they should be arranged according to the following examples:
Reference style
Text: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.
Example: '..... as demonstrated [3,6]. Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result ....'
List: Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
[1] J. van der Geer, J.A.J. Hanraads, R.A. Lupton, The art of writing a scientific article, J. Sci. Commun. 163 (2010) 51–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.Sc.2010.00372.
Reference to a book:
[2] W. Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth ed., Longman, New York, 2000.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
[3] G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age, E-Publishing Inc., New York, 2009, pp. 281–304.
Reference to a website:
[4] Cancer Research UK, Cancer statistics reports for the UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/, 2003 (accessed March 13, 2003).
Reference to a dataset:
[dataset] [5] M. Oguro, S. Imahiro, S. Saito, T. Nakashizuka, Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and surrounding forest compositions, Mendeley Data, v1, 2015. https://doi.org/10.17632/xwj98nb39r.1.
Reference to software:
[6] E. Coon, M. Berndt, A. Jan, D. Svyatsky, A. Atchley, E. Kikinzon, D. Harp, G. Manzini, E. Shelef, K. Lipnikov, R. Garimella, C. Xu, D. Moulton, S. Karra, S. Painter, E. Jafarov, S. Molins, Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS) v0.88 (Version 0.88), Zenodo, March 25, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3727209.
Journal abbreviations source
Journal names should be abbreviated according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations.
Data visualization
Include interactive data visualizations in your publication and let your readers interact and engage more closely with your research.
Supplementary material
Supplementary material, such as applications, images and sound clips, can be published with your article to enhance it. Submitted supplementary items are published exactly as they are received (Excel or PowerPoint files will appear as such online). Please submit your material together with the article and supply a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary file. If you wish to make changes to supplementary material during any stage of the process, please make sure to provide an updated file. Do not annotate any corrections on a previous version. Please switch off the 'Track Changes' option in Microsoft Office files, as these will appear in the published version.
Research data
This journal requires and enables you to share data that supports your research publication where appropriate and enables you to interlink the data with your published articles. Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings, which may also include software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods and other useful materials related to the project.
Below are a number of ways in which you can associate data with your article or make a statement about the availability of your data when submitting your manuscript. When sharing data in one of these ways, you are expected to cite the data in your manuscript and reference list. Please refer to the "References" section for more information about data citation.
Letter article overview
A Letter article is a concise report of original research, a substantial novel research study, or a significant research finding that is of high interest to the journal's audience. It is shorter than a full-length article, offering focused, rapid communication without the full detail of a complete research paper.
Length and Format
Word Limit: Typically 1,500 - 2,000 words (excluding abstract, figure legends, references, acknowledgment, and funding).
Abstract: No more than 150 words summarize the work's main findings and importance.
Keywords: Provide a maximum of 5 keywords for indexing purposes.
Figures/Tables: Limited to a maximum of 2 figures and/or tables.
References: Should be selective, not exceeding 20 references.
Supplementary material is not typically included. Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis.
After acceptance
To ensure a fast publication process of the article, we kindly ask authors to provide us with their proof corrections within two days. Corresponding authors will receive an e-mail with a link to our proofing system, allowing annotation and correction of proofs. The environment is similar to MS Word: in addition to editing text, you can also comment on figures/tables and answer questions from the Copy Editor.
If preferred, you can still choose to annotate and upload your edits on the PDF version. All instructions for proofing will be given in the e-mail we send to authors
We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission from the Editor. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication. Please check carefully before replying, as the inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility.
