Submissions

Author Guidelines

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically through the journal’s online submission system. Once a submission is made, authors can track its progress and communicate directly with the editorial team via the journal management platform.

Before submitting, please review and follow all author guidelines carefully. Submissions that do not adhere to these requirements may experience delays in processing.

All word limits stated below include references and citations.

Artificial Intelligence

Authors should refer to the publisher's guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. All submissions must comply with these guidelines.

Template

An article template is available to download. This provides a summary of the main structural and formatting requirements for submitting to this journal (also detailed below).

Structure

All author information — including names, affiliations, contact details, biographies (optional), and the corresponding author’s details — must be entered during the online submission process. All listed authors must meet the journal’s definition of authorship as outlined in the Authorship Guidelines.

Author names should include both a forename and a surname. Forenames consisting only of initials (e.g. J. Bloggs) are not preferred. The full name (Joe Bloggs) should be provided to improve the discoverability and indexing of your publication.

Affiliations should ideally follow the format “Department, Institution, City, Country.” However, only the Institution and Country are mandatory.

Abstract

Research articles must include an abstract of no more than 250 words, summarising the main arguments and conclusions of the paper. The abstract should be clearly headed ‘Abstract’ and positioned at the beginning of the main text.

A list of up to six keywords may be included below the abstract (optional).

Both the abstract and keywords must also be entered into the metadata fields during the initial online submission process.

Main text

The main body of the submission should be structured in a clear and logical manner. A concise introduction should provide sufficient background to enable non-specialists to understand the context and significance of the research.

Subsequent sections such as Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion should be used to present and interpret the study’s findings in a coherent way.

Up to three levels of headings may be used and must be clearly distinguishable through variations in font size, bold, or italics. Authors are encouraged to use Heading levels 1, 2, and 3 in MS Word’s Styles function for consistency and ease of formatting.

Data Accessibility

If data, structured methods, or code used in the research have been made openly available, authors must include a statement indicating how and where these materials can be accessed. This should include the name of the repository and the corresponding DOI.

If the use of a repository is not possible, the journal can host supplementary files. Such files must be listed in the Data Accessibility section with a corresponding number, title, and (optional) description. Supplementary materials should also be cited in the main text where relevant.

Example:
Supplementary file 1: Appendix. Scientific data related to the experiments.

Supplementary files will not be typeset and must therefore be provided in their final form at the time of submission. They will be assigned a DOI and linked to the published article by the publisher.

The journal's data policy is available on the Editorial Policies page.

Ethics and consent (if applicable)

Research involving human subjects, human material, or human data, must have been performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Where applicable, studies must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee and the authors should include a statement within the article text detailing this approval, including the name of the ethics committee and reference number of the approval. The identity of the research subject(s) should be anonymised whenever possible. For research involving human subjects, informed consent to participate in the study must be obtained from participants (or their legal guardian) and added to this statement. If a study involving human subjects/tissue/data was exempt from requiring ethical approval, a confirmation statement from the relevant body should be included within the submission.

Experiments using animals must follow national standards of care. For further information, see the ICMJE Recommendations for Protection of Research Participants.

Acknowledgements (optional)

Any acknowledgements must be headed and in a separate paragraph, placed after the main text but before the reference list.

Funding Information (if applicable)

Should the research have received a funding grant then the grant provider and grant number should be detailed.

Competing interests

If any of the authors have any competing interests then these must be declared. A short paragraph should be placed before the references. If there are no competing interests to declare then the following statement should be present: The author(s) has/have no competing interests to declare.

Authors' contributions

A sentence or a short paragraph detailing the roles that each author held to contribute to the authorship of the submission. Individuals listed must fit within the definition of an author, as per our authorship guidelines.

References

All references cited within the submission must be listed at the end of the main text file.

Permissions

The author is responsible for obtaining all necessary permissions prior to submission of the manuscript. Permission and ownership details must be provided for all third-party content included in the submission or used in the research.

If the study introduces a new method or tool — such as software, questionnaires, or scales — the applicable licence and any permission requirements must be clearly stated. When using an existing method or tool, it is the author’s responsibility to verify the licence terms and secure the required permissions.

A statement confirming that permission has been obtained should be included in the Materials and Methods section.

Language & Text

Capitalisation

For the submission title:
Capitalise all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions (e.g. as, because, although). Use lowercase for articles, coordinate conjunctions, and prepositions.

Example:
Learning from the Grid: Optimising Energy Systems through Artificial Intelligence

Headings within the main text:
First-level headings should follow the same capitalisation rules as the main title.

For lower-level subheadings, only the first word and proper nouns should be capitalised.

Headings should not exceed 75 characters in length.

Spelling

Submissions must be made in English. Authors are welcome to use American or British spellings as long as they are used consistently throughout the whole of the submission.

• Colour (UK) vs. Color (US)

When referring to proper nouns and normal institutional titles, the official, original spelling must be used.

• World Health Organization, not World Health Organisation

Grammar

American or English grammar rules may be used as long as they are used consistently and match the spelling format (see above). For instance, you may use a serial comma or not.

• red, white, and blue OR red, white and blue

Font

The font used should be commonly available and in an easily readable size. This may be changed during the typesetting process.

Underlined text should be avoided whenever possible.

Bold or italicised text to emphasise a point are permitted, although should be restricted to minimal occurrences to maximise their efficiency.

Lists

Use bullet points to denote a list without hierarchy or order of value. If the list indicates a specific sequence then a numbered list must be used.

Lists should be used sparingly to maximise their impact.

Quotation marks

Use single quotation marks except for quotes within another speech, in which case double quotation marks are used.

Quotations that are longer than three lines in length must be in an indented paragraph separate from the main text.

The standard, non-italicised font must be used for all quotes.

It must be clear from the text and/or citation where the quote is sourced from. If quoting from material that is under copyright, then permission will need to be obtained from the copyright holder.

Acronyms & Abbreviations

With abbreviations, the crucial goal is to ensure that the reader – particularly one who may not be fully familiar with the topic or context being addressed – is able to follow along. In order to enhance understanding and accessibility for all readers, any abbreviations should be defined when they are first mentioned. Spell out almost all acronyms on first use, indicating the acronym in parentheses immediately thereafter. Use the acronym for all subsequent references.

• Research completed by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows …

A number of abbreviations are so common that they do not require the full text on the first instance. Examples of these can be found in the Wikipedia: Manual of Style.

Abbreviations should usually be in capital letters without full stops.

• USA, not U.S.A

Common examples from Latin origin do not follow this rule and should be lower case and can include full stops.

• e.g., i.e., etc.

Use of footnotes/endnotes

Use endnotes rather than footnotes (we refer to these as ‘Notes’ in the online publication). These will appear at the end of the main text, before ‘References’.

All notes should be used only where crucial clarifying information needs to be conveyed.

Avoid using notes for purposes of referencing, with in-text citations used instead. If in-text citations cannot be used, a source can be cited as part of a note.

Please insert the endnote marker after the end punctuation.

Hyperlinks

Our accessibility policy determines that links, when used within the article, should ideally be descriptive and understandable from the link text alone or from its context. This is crucial for screen readers, so please avoid “click here” or “read more” links, but instead e.g. “View PMC page”.

Links, like images, also require alt text to improve clarity, especially when the link text alone isn’t descriptive enough. Please provide us with one for each link to assist with improving overall accessibility. It should be short and clear - e.g. “View the article [article title]” if you’re linking to another article.

It isn’t necessary to provide alt text for links in the reference list (e.g. DOIs) as this will be added by the production team.

Data & Symbols

Symbols

Symbols are permitted within the main text and datasets as long as they are commonly in use or have explanatory definition on their first usage.

Hyphenation, em and en dashes

There is no set rule on the use of hyphenation between words, as long as they are consistently used.

Em dashes should be used sparingly. If they are present, they should denote emphasis, change of thought or interruption to the main sentence and can replace commas, parentheses, colons, or semicolons.

• The president’s niece—daughter of his younger brother—caused a media scandal when…

En dashes can be used to replace ‘to’ when indicating a range. No space should surround the dash.

• 10-25 years
• pp. 10-65

Numbers

For numbers zero to nine please spell the whole words. Please use figures for numbers 10 or higher.

We are happy for authors to use either words or figures to represent large whole figures (i.e. one million or 1,000,000) as long as the usage is consistent throughout the text.

If the sentence includes a series of numbers then figures must be used in each instance.

• Artefacts were found at depths of 5, 9, and 29 cm.

If the number appears as part of a dataset, in conjunction with a symbol or as part of a table then the figure must be used.

• This study confirmed that 5% of…

If a sentence starts with a number it must be spelt, or the sentence should be re-written so that it no longer starts with the number.

• Fifteen examples were found to exist…
• The result showed that 15 examples existed…

Do not use a comma for a decimal place.

• 2.43 NOT 2,43

Numbers that are less than zero must have ‘0’ precede the decimal point.

• 0.24 NOT .24

Units of measurement

Symbols following a figure to denote a unit of measurement must be taken from the latest SI brochure. See https://www.bipm.org/en/publications/si-brochure for the full brochure.

Formulae

Formulae must be proofed carefully by the author. Editors will not edit formulae. If special software has been used to create formulae, the way it is laid out is the way they will appear in the publication.

Figures & Tables

Figures

Figures, including graphs and diagrams, must be professionally and clearly presented. If a figure is difficult to interpret or does not meet quality standards, the editor may request that it be re-rendered or removed.

Avoid using scans or images of text wherever possible, as these are not machine-readable and therefore inaccessible. Such images will only be accepted when essential to the content of the article. Authors should contact the production editors after acceptance to discuss these cases.

All figures must be cited in the main text in consecutive order using Arabic numerals (e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.).

Each figure must include a descriptive title that clearly summarises the content and/or purpose of the image. A short figure legend may also be provided for additional explanation.

Examples:

• Figure 1: Historical map of London (1685).

• Figure 1: Historical map of London (1685). Note the addition of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Each figure must also include alt text, distinct from the title or caption. Alt text serves as a brief textual substitute for the image and should be no longer than 10 words. For guidance on writing appropriate alt text, see the WebAIM guide.

Figure titles, legends, and alt text should appear in the manuscript either directly after the paragraph in which the figure is first mentioned, or together as a list following the references.

The source of each image must be cited, including any relevant copyright details and a statement of authorisation if permission was required.

Example:

• Figure 1: Firefighters work to free workers trapped under collapsed concrete and steel. Photo: Claude-Michel Masson. Reproduced with permission of the photographer.

If the figure includes text (see above), please use FS Me or a similar sans-serif font (e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Verdana) to ensure consistency with the typeset article.

NOTE: All figures must be uploaded separately as supplementary files during the submission process, if possible in colour and at a resolution of at least 300dpi. Each file should not be more than 20MB. Standard formats accepted are: JPG, TIFF, GIF, PNG, EPS. For line drawings, please provide the original vector file (e.g. .ai, or .eps).

Tables

Tables must be created using a word processor's table function, not tabbed text.

Tables should be included in the manuscript. The final layout will place the tables as close to their first citation as possible.

In order to enhance understanding and accessibility for all readers (including screen readers), tables should be kept as simple as possible without compromising the value of presenting the table.

All tables must be cited within the main text, and numbered with Arabic numerals in consecutive order (e.g. Table 1, Table 2, etc.).

Each table must have an accompanying descriptive title. This should clearly and concisely summarise the content and/or use of the table. A short additional table legend is optional to offer a further description of the table. The table title and legend should be placed above the table.

Tables should not include:

• Rotated text
• Colour to denote meaning (it will not display the same on all devices)
• Images
• Vertical or diagonal lines
• Multiple parts (e.g. ‘Table 1a’ and ‘Table 1b’). These should either be merged into one table, or separated into ‘Table 1’ and ‘Table 2’.

NOTE: If there are more columns than can fit on a single page, then the table will be placed horizontally on the page. If it still can't fit horizontally on a page, the table will be broken into two.

References

In-text citations

Every use of information from other sources must be cited in the text so that it is clear that external material has been used.

If the author is already mentioned in the main text then the year should follow the name within parenthesis.

• Both Jones (2013) and Brown (2010) showed that …

If the author name is not mentioned in the main text then the surname and year should be inserted, in parenthesis, after the relevant text. Multiple citations should be separated by semicolon and follow alphabetical order.

• The statistics clearly show this to be untrue (Brown 2010; Jones 2013).

If three or fewer authors are cited from the same citation then all should be listed. If three or more authors are part of the citation then ‘et al.’ should follow the first author name.

• (Jones, Smith & Brown 2008)
• (Jones et al. 2008)

If citations are used from the same author and the same year, then a lowercase letter, starting from ‘a’, should be placed after the year.

• (Jones 2013a; Jones 2013b)

If specific pages are being cited then the page number should follow the year. Use the abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges.

• (Jones, 2013, p143)
• (Jones, 2013, pp. 199–201)

For publications authored and published by organisations, use the short form of the organisation’s name or its acronym in lieu of the full name.

• (ICRC 2000) NOT (International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2000)

Please do not include URLs in parenthetical citations, but rather cite the author or page title and include all details, including the URL, in the reference list.

Numeric in-text citations

Every use of information from other sources must be cited in the text so that it is clear that external material has been used. Each time a reference is being cited it should be represented by sequential numbers in square brackets, which should be within punctuation. Each citation should be a unique number unless it has been previously cited. In such cases, the original citation number should be presented. The reference list at the end of the publication will reflect this numbered list, with full reference data for each entry.

• This is citing an existing source [1].

If citing multiple sources at the same point, separate the citations with a comma.

• This is citing multiple existing sources [2,3,4].

Reference list

All citations must be listed at the end of the text file, in alphabetical order of authors’ surnames/in numerical order [delete as appropriate].

All reading materials should be included in ‘References’ – works which have not been cited within the main text, but which the author wishes to share with the reader, must be cited as additional information in endnotes explaining the relevance of the work. This will ensure that all works within the reference list are cited within the text.

NOTE: If multiple works by the same author are being listed, please re-type the author’s name out for each entry, rather than using a long dash.

NOTE: DOIs should be included for all reference entries, where possible.

Reference format

This journal uses the Harvard system – see below for examples of how to format:

• Books:

Author, AA. Year. Title. Place of publication: Publisher.

Adam, DJ. 1984. Stakeholder analysis. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Silverman, DF. and Propp, KK. (eds.) 1990. The active interview. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

• Chapters within books:

Achebe, C. 1995. Colonialist Criticism. In: Ashcroft, B et al The Post Colonial Studies Reader. London: Routledge. pp. 57–61.

• Journal articles:

Author, A. Year. Title. Journal name, vol(issue): page. DOI

Martin, L. 2010. Bombs, bodies and biopolitics: Securitizing the subject at airport security. Social and Cultural Geography, 11(1): 17-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649360903414585

NOTE: Please include DOIs for all journal articles where possible.

• Conference papers:

Author, A. Year. Title of chapter. In: Title of conference proceedings, location, date, pp. page.

Lynch, M. 2003. Dialogue in an age of terror. In: The Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA on 18 August 2003, pp. 4-7.

• Organisational publications/Grey literature:

Author group. Year. Title. Place of publication: Publisher

World Health Organization. 2010. The world health report – Health systems financing: the path to universal coverage. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.

• Theses and dissertations:

Author, A. Year. Title. Unpublished thesis (PhD), institution.

Yudis, A. 2004. Failed responsibility of the media in the war on Iraq. Unpublished thesis (PhD), University of Manchester.

• Webpages / PDFs:

Author, A. Year. Title, date of publication. Available at URL [Last accessed date month year].

Pascual, Amb. C. 2005. Stabilization and Reconstruction: Building peace in a hostile environment. Prepared statement to Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 16 June 2005. Available at https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/crs/rls/rm/48644.htm [Last accessed 14 August 2012].

• Newspaper articles [print]:

Author, A. Year. Title. Newspaper, date of publication, page.

Tate, P. 2007. Illicit organ trade increasing. The Jordan Times, 6 June, p. 3.

• Newspaper articles [online]:

Author, A. Year. Title. Newspaper, date of publication, [URL and last accessed date].

Patel, SS. 2005. Climate; In a Marsh, Sifting the Past And Seeing the Future. The New York Times, 6 November [online access at https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800EEDF173EF935A35752C1A9639C8B63 last accessed 28 April 2014].