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Archaeologies

Journal of the World Archaeological Congress

Publishing model:

Submission guidelines

Contents

Instructions for Authors

ADVICE TO AUTHORS

Archaeologies is a high-profile journal which is distinctive in its wide coverage and geographical range. It publishes contributions of global significance with high impact on the development of archaeology as a global endeavour. We especially welcome contributions from those areas of the world not regularly represented in high-profile publications and representing views of archaeology from those who engage with archaeologists but perhaps do not identify themselves as archaeologists.

We seek offers of papers of general archaeological concern from any area of the world that will inform archaeological practice, theory or understanding more widely and can especially challenge local and global power geometries. As part of our mission and distinctiveness we recognise the special importance of non-Western epistemologies and intellectual traditions and are keen to represent these in our pages. We are also keen to encourage younger colleagues to contribute to debates at the global level in the belief that they have new and distinctive perceptions of archaeology and its place in the world.

Specific Issues to consider

Like other journals we seek well-written, high quality contributions that will enhance the reputation of the author(s) and the journal, but we also aim to be distinctive in what we offer our readers. We look in particular for the following aspects:

Originality:

what is new about the material in the article? what does it tell us that we would not otherwise know? does it offer a new or distinctive approach to archaeological material? does it represent a different or alternative view of archaeological practice? does it challenge conceptions of archaeology as a practice? is the form of the article original or challenging to an archaeological audience?

Relevance and appeal to the readership of the journal:

what is the appeal of the article to someone from a different region or who specialises in a different aspect of archaeology? are these aspects to the article made clear?

International validity: what is the relevance of the topic to a global readership? what wider implications does it carry for archaeology as a global practice? what will those from other parts of the globe gain from reading this article?

ADVICE TO REVIEWERS

Archaeologies is a high-profile journal which is distinctive in its wide coverage and geographical range. It publishes contributions of global significance with high impact on the development of archaeology as a global endeavour. We especially welcome contributions from those areas of the world not regularly represented in high-profile publications and representing views of archaeology from those who engage with archaeologists but perhaps do not identify themselves as archaeologists.

We seek offers of papers of general archaeological concern from any area of the world that will inform archaeological practice, theory or understanding more widely and can especially challenge local and global power geometries. As part of our mission and distinctiveness we recognise the especial importance of non-Western epistemologies and intellectual traditions and are keen to represent these in our pages. We are also keen to encourage younger colleagues to contribute to debates at the global level in the belief that they have new and distinctive perceptions of archaeology and its place in the world.

Specific questions to address

Like other journals we seek well-written, high quality contributions that will enhance the reputation of the author(s) and the journal and we ask our reviewers to comment upon these aspects. However, we also aim to be distinctive in what we offer and therefore ask reviewers to consider in addition the following issues.

Originality:

What is new about the material in the article? What does it tell us that we would not otherwise know? Does it offer a new or distinctive approach to archaeological material? Does it represent a different or alternative view of archaeological practice? Does it challenge conceptions of archaeology as a practice? Is the form of the article original or challenging to an archaeological audience?

Authorship:

Is the authorship distinctive or any way ‘alternative’? Is the author an archaeologist less likely to be published in an international peer-reviewed journal (e.g. a current student, an amateur or avocational archaeologist, or an archaeologist from a rarely-represented part of the world)? Are they a non-archaeologist with a distinctive perspective on archaeology (e.g. an Indigenous person, a community member, or a metal detectorist or treasure-hunter).

Relevance and appeal to the readership of the journal:

Does the author make it clear why someone from a different region or who specialises in a different aspect of archaeology should be interested in the article? What is such an appeal? Are there aspects to the article that are of interest to the wide readership of the journal that are not made clear?

International validity:

What is the relevance of the topic to a global readership? What wider implications does it carry for archaeology as a global practice? What will those from other parts of the globe gain from reading this article? To what extent would an assessor of the work represented in the article be able to rank it as ‘of international significance’?

ADVICE FOR SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORS

NOTES FOR EDITORS OF SPECIAL ISSUES OF ARCHAEOLOGIES

There are many advantages to publishing a Special Issue in the pages of Archaeologies: the journal of the World Archaeological Congress. Among these are professional advantages to the discipline such as highlighting new and exciting areas of concern to the global archaeological community, and relatively swift communication of important material derived from conference sessions. Advantages to editors include the high profile an editorial role provides and the opportunity it gives to put your name onto a body of work of global significance. We therefore welcome offers to edit a collection of papers as a Special Issue of Archaeologies.

The following is advice for those of you making such an offer which we hope is both clear and helpful. Any queries can be sent to the Editors who are keen to help. It needs to be noted however that production of the issue falls entirely upon the editors for that issue: you will be responsible for attracting contributions, their collation, their academic review, and delivery in suitable form in due time to the production team for publication, together with an Editorial Introduction and any Concluding statement by you as editor(s) together with ancillary information on contributors.

Archaeologies is published three times a year – in April, August and December. We aim to publish no more than one Special Issue in a year which means that any you offer may need to be held over into a succeeding year. Materials for publication need to be in the hands of the production team no later than two clear months before the issue is due for publication and this requires effective planning by editors: you will be held to any promise of delivery you have made to meet contractual obligations of the publisher.

See previous issues (available online) for the general look of the journal and how it is organised. The Editors are happy to provide additional advice.

Preliminaries

Please approach the journal Editors in the first instance with details of the proposed Special Issue as follows:

1. A working title

2. Names and contact details of editors; and clear designation of one as the main contact

3. An outline statement of what the collection as a whole aims to achieve

4. Names of contributors, affiliation, titles and abstracts of proposed individual contributions

5. Names of likely contributors and working titles of proposed contributions

6. Proposed total length (articles for Archaeologies are usually 5000 to 6000 words including references)

7. Details of any special features (e.g. photo essays etc.) that may affect publication

8. Outline plan for delivery (including dates)

9. Proposed final delivery date

10. An outline of plans for article review (by editors alone? shared among contributors? to be sent out to external reviewers?)

The Editors will respond with any comments and additional advice, including possible publication dates. They will be especially concerned to ensure that the issue meets the general requirements of the journal in terms of topic, global significance and overall quality.

Preparation

The journal Editors will play no part in this except as specifically requested. If it appears that production may take longer than planned, for any reason, please advise the journal Editors as soon as this is recognised: it will allow them to arrange publication of an issue and to defer yours until it will be ready. If advice is provided less than two months before publication is due it may not be possible to arrange alternatives and this will be the responsibility of the Special Issue editors.

It is the task of the Special Issue editors to collate contributions, ensure that they meet appropriate standards of academic quality and that copy-editing and proofreading have been carried out effectively: NB none of this falls to the journal Editors nor to the journal production team. Please advise the journal Editors of progress and especially of any problems that arise: the Editors are very willing to offer help and advice if called upon.

Delivery

Once ready, the collection should be delivered to the journal production team who will advise on the precise process at that time. The production team will require in their final form:

1. Special Issue title (NB once delivered this cannot be changed)

2. Text of editorial introduction

3. Text etc. of all contributions

4. Text of editorial conclusion (if any)

5. Short biographies of every contributor

6. The sequence of publication including specifically how each is to be listed in the Contents page (order and names of authors as they should appear, article title, etc.)

7. Advice on how the cover is to be laid out – see previous issues for an idea of this; state how each contribution is to be briefly described on the cover, in what sequence and how these are distributed across the right and left hand sides.

Proofs of individual contributions will be sent electronically to individual contributors for checking before publication: please note this is not an opportunity to revise or update text which should take place before delivery. Please also note that article Abstracts cannot be altered at this stage. Once proofs have been checked and returned the material will be published online and will be ready for publication in hard copy as agreed.

Generally

Because it is the responsibility of Special Issue editors to produce the issue, it is important to ensure that the main contact should be available to respond quickly to any queries or requests for further information during the production period. Any periods when you will not be available must be built into your production schedule and if one editor is taking over as lead at any point the journal Editors and (closer to delivery) the production team must be made aware of this. If any problems arise that mean delay or cancellation of the issue, the journal Editors must be informed immediately so they can take appropriate steps to ensure publication of an issue at the appropriate time.

Editing a journal issue – especially for a journal with global status such as Archaeologies – is a serious responsibility and that is why it is highly valued. We hope you will enjoy the process and we look forward to seeing your issue in print.

Editorial procedure

Double-blind peer review

This journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. This means that the author will remain anonymous to the reviewers throughout peer review. It is the responsibility of the author to anonymize the manuscript and any associated materials.

  • Author names, affiliations and any other potentially identifying information should be removed from the manuscript text and any accompanying files (such as figures of supplementary material);
  • A separate Title Page should be submitted, containing title, author names, affiliations, and the contact information of the corresponding author. Any acknowledgements, disclosures, or funding information should also be included on this page;
  • Authors should avoid citing their own work in a way that could reveal their identity.

Additional Information for Peer Review

Individual contributions are subject to double-blind review by at least two reviewers. Contributions to Special Issues are subject to review as the Editor of that issue shall determine with advice from the Editors-in-Chief: all submitted reviews are then assessed by the Editors-in-Chief before the issue is accepted for publication.

Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts, in English, can be submitted through Editorial Manager:

www.editorialmanager.com/ares

Other editorial inquiries can be directed to the co-editors:

Other additional inquiries can be directed to the co-editors:

Kathryn Weedman Arthur

kjarthur@usf.edu

and

John Carman

J.Carman@bham.ac.uk

It is strongly recommended that prospective authors contact the Co−Editors before beginning to write, to ensure there is no significant overlap with other manuscripts in progress.

Springer is pleased to offer Archaeologies authors the opportunity to have their submissions reviewed by an independent language editing service prior to submission. The following four contractors have been selected specifically for their English as a second language (ESL) capabilities and their years of experience with scientific manuscripts. Interested authors should contact any of the following contractors for manuscript assistance; authors are directly responsible for all payments to these contractors:

American Journal Experts

www.JournalExperts.com

Diacritech Language Editing Services

http://www.languageedit.com/

Write Science Right

http://www.writescienceright.com/

Genedits

http://www.genedits.com/

International Science Editing 

http://www.internationalscienceediting.com

www. ares.edmgr.com

Publication Policies

Submission is a representation that the manuscript has not been published previously and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. A statement transferring copyright from the authors (or their employers, if they hold the copyright) to Springer will be required before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. The Co−Editors will supply the necessary forms for this transfer. Such a written transfer of copyright, which previously was assumed to be implicit in the act of submitting a manuscript, is necessary under the U.S. Copyright Law in order for the publisher to carry through the dissemination of research results and reviews as widely and effectively as possible

Manuscript Style

If manuscripts are submitted electronically, the word−processing program used should be specified.

PLEASE INCLUDE ALL FIGURES AND TABLES WITH SUBMITTED MANUSCRIPT

Order the elements comprising the manuscript as follows:

  • Title page
  • Author contact info
  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • Text
  • Appendix
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • Tables
  • and Figure−caption list

Acknowledgements

All acknowledgments (including those for grant and financial support) should be typed in one paragraph on a separate page that directly precedes the References Cited section. Manuscripts should generally be 20–25 (double−spaced) text pages in length.

Title Page

A title page is to be provided and should include the title of the article, author's name (no degrees), author's affiliation, and suggested running head. The affiliation should comprise the department, institution (usually university or company), city, and state (or nation) and should be typed as a footnote to the author's name. The suggested running head should be less than 80 characters (including spaces) and should comprise the article title or an abbreviated version thereof. For office purposes, the title page should include the complete mailing address and telephone number of the one author designated to review proofs.

Author Contact Info:

All manuscripts submitted should contain complete, correct information for the main author (proof recipient). This includes name, address, email, and phone.

Abstract

An abstract is to be provided, preferably no longer than 50–100 words. Please note that, if the article is accepted, this abstract will be sent for translation immediately upon acceptance, and will not be available for future corrections. Please submit abstract in finalized form.

Keywords

A list of 4 key words is to be provided directly below the abstract. Key words should express the precise content of the manuscript, as they are used for indexing purposes

References

List references alphabetically at the end of the paper in a section entitled References Cited and refer to them in the text by name and year in parentheses. Where there are three or more authors, only the first author's name is given in the text, followed by et al.

References should include (in this order):

  • last names and initials of all authors
  • year published
  • title of article
  • name of publication
  • volume number
  • and inclusive pages

The style and punctuation of the references should conform to that used in the journal – illustrated by the following examples:

  • Journal Article

    Andrews, A. P. (1993). Late Postclassic lowland Maya archaeology. Journal of World Prehistory 7: 35−−69.

  • Book

    Sinopoli, C. M. (1991). Approaches to Archaeological Ceramics, Plenum Press, New York.

  • Contribution to a Book

    O'Connell, J. F., Hawkes, K., and Jones, N. B. (1991). Distribution of refuse−producing activities at Hadza residential base camps: Implications for analyses of archaeological site structure. In Kroll, E. M., and Price, T. D. (Eds.), The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 61−−76.

  • Online document

    J. Cartwright, Big stars have weather too. (IOP Publishing PhysicsWeb, 2007), http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/11/6/16/1. Accessed 26 June 2007

After References Cited, include a separate section entitled Bibliography of Recent Literature. Bibliography entries should not be cited in the text (and therefore not appear in the References Cited). List entries alphabetically, and follow the same style as the examples above.

Footnotes

Footnotes should be avoided. When their use is absolutely necessary, footnotes should be treated as endnotes. The endnotes in the article section should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numbers in the text and should be typed at the end of a complete article.

Tables

  • All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
  • Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
  • For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table.
  • Identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the end of the table caption.
  • Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.

Artwork and Illustrations Guidelines

Electronic Figure Submission

  • Supply all figures electronically.
  • Indicate what graphics program was used to create the artwork.
  • For vector graphics, the preferred format is EPS; for halftones, please use TIFF format. MSOffice files are also acceptable.
  • Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files.
  • Name your figure files with "Fig" and the figure number, e.g., Fig1.eps.

Line Art

  • Definition: Black and white graphic with no shading.
  • Do not use faint lines and/or lettering and check that all lines and lettering within the figures are legible at final size.
  • All lines should be at least 0.1 mm (0.3 pt) wide.
  • Scanned line drawings and line drawings in bitmap format should have a minimum resolution of 1200 dpi.
  • Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files.

Halftone Art

  • Definition: Photographs, drawings, or paintings with fine shading, etc.
  • If any magnification is used in the photographs, indicate this by using scale bars within the figures themselves.
  • Halftones should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

Combination Art

  • Definition: a combination of halftone and line art, e.g., halftones containing line drawing, extensive lettering, color diagrams, etc.
  • Combination artwork should have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi.

Color Art

  • Color art is free of charge for online publication.
  • If black and white will be shown in the print version, make sure that the main information will still be visible. Many colors are not distinguishable from one another when converted to black and white. A simple way to check this is to make a xerographic copy to see if the necessary distinctions between the different colors are still apparent.
  • If the figures will be printed in black and white, do not refer to color in the captions.
  • Color illustrations should be submitted as RGB (8 bits per channel).

Figure Lettering

  • To add lettering, it is best to use Helvetica or Arial (sans serif fonts).
  • Keep lettering consistently sized throughout your final-sized artwork, usually about 2–3 mm (8–12 pt).
  • Variance of type size within an illustration should be minimal, e.g., do not use 8-pt type on an axis and 20-pt type for the axis label.
  • Avoid effects such as shading, outline letters, etc.
  • Do not include titles or captions within your illustrations.

Figure Numbering

  • All figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
  • Figures should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
  • Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).
  • If an appendix appears in your article and it contains one or more figures, continue the consecutive numbering of the main text. Do not number the appendix figures,"A1, A2, A3, etc." Figures in online appendices [Supplementary Information (SI)] should, however, be numbered separately.

Figure Captions

  • Each figure should have a concise caption describing accurately what the figure depicts. Include the captions in the text file of the manuscript, not in the figure file.
  • Figure captions begin with the term Fig. in bold type, followed by the figure number, also in bold type.
  • No punctuation is to be included after the number, nor is any punctuation to be placed at the end of the caption.
  • Identify all elements found in the figure in the figure caption; and use boxes, circles, etc., as coordinate points in graphs.
  • Identify previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference citation at the end of the figure caption.

Figure Placement and Size

  • Figures should be submitted within the body of the text. Only if the file size of the manuscript causes problems in uploading it, the large figures should be submitted separately from the text.
  • When preparing your figures, size figures to fit in the column width.
  • For large-sized journals the figures should be 84 mm (for double-column text areas), or 174 mm (for single-column text areas) wide and not higher than 234 mm.
  • For small-sized journals, the figures should be 119 mm wide and not higher than 195 mm.

Permissions

If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format. Please be aware that some publishers do not grant electronic rights for free and that Springer will not be able to refund any costs that may have occurred to receive these permissions. In such cases, material from other sources should be used.

Accessibility

In order to give people of all abilities and disabilities access to the content of your figures, please make sure that

  • All figures have descriptive captions (blind users could then use a text-to-speech software or a text-to-Braille hardware)
  • Patterns are used instead of or in addition to colors for conveying information (colorblind users would then be able to distinguish the visual elements)
  • Any figure lettering has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1

Generative AI Images

Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein.

Page Charges

The journal makes no page charges. Reprints are available to authors, and order forms with the current price schedule are sent with proofs.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

This journal is committed to upholding the integrity of the scientific record. As a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) the journal will follow the COPE guidelines on how to deal with potential acts of misconduct.

Authors should refrain from misrepresenting research results which could damage the trust in the journal, the professionalism of scientific authorship, and ultimately the entire scientific endeavour. Maintaining integrity of the research and its presentation is helped by following the rules of good scientific practice, which include*:

  • The manuscript should not be submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration.
  • The submitted work should be original and should not have been published elsewhere in any form or language (partially or in full), unless the new work concerns an expansion of previous work. (Please provide transparency on the re-use of material to avoid the concerns about text-recycling (‘self-plagiarism’).
  • A single study should not be split up into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions and submitted to various journals or to one journal over time (i.e. ‘salami-slicing/publishing’).
  • Concurrent or secondary publication is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. Examples include: translations or a manuscript that is intended for a different group of readers.
  • Results should be presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation (including image based manipulation). Authors should adhere to discipline-specific rules for acquiring, selecting and processing data.
  • No data, text, or theories by others are presented as if they were the author’s own (‘plagiarism’). Proper acknowledgements to other works must be given (this includes material that is closely copied (near verbatim), summarized and/or paraphrased), quotation marks (to indicate words taken from another source) are used for verbatim copying of material, and permissions secured for material that is copyrighted.

Important note: the journal may use software to screen for plagiarism.

  • Authors should make sure they have permissions for the use of software, questionnaires/(web) surveys and scales in their studies (if appropriate).
  • Research articles and non-research articles (e.g. Opinion, Review, and Commentary articles) must cite appropriate and relevant literature in support of the claims made. Excessive and inappropriate self-citation or coordinated efforts among several authors to collectively self-cite is strongly discouraged.
  • Authors should avoid untrue statements about an entity (who can be an individual person or a company) or descriptions of their behavior or actions that could potentially be seen as personal attacks or allegations about that person.
  • Research that may be misapplied to pose a threat to public health or national security should be clearly identified in the manuscript (e.g. dual use of research). Examples include creation of harmful consequences of biological agents or toxins, disruption of immunity of vaccines, unusual hazards in the use of chemicals, weaponization of research/technology (amongst others).
  • Authors are strongly advised to ensure the author group, the Corresponding Author, and the order of authors are all correct at submission. Adding and/or deleting authors during the revision stages is generally not permitted, but in some cases may be warranted. Reasons for changes in authorship should be explained in detail. Please note that changes to authorship cannot be made after acceptance of a manuscript.

*All of the above are guidelines and authors need to make sure to respect third parties rights such as copyright and/or moral rights.

Upon request authors should be prepared to send relevant documentation or data in order to verify the validity of the results presented. This could be in the form of raw data, samples, records, etc. Sensitive information in the form of confidential or proprietary data is excluded.

If there is suspicion of misbehavior or alleged fraud the Journal and/or Publisher will carry out an investigation following COPE guidelines. If, after investigation, there are valid concerns, the author(s) concerned will be contacted under their given e-mail address and given an opportunity to address the issue. Depending on the situation, this may result in the Journal’s and/or Publisher’s implementation of the following measures, including, but not limited to:

  • If the manuscript is still under consideration, it may be rejected and returned to the author.
  • If the article has already been published online, depending on the nature and severity of the infraction:

    - an erratum/correction may be placed with the article

    - an expression of concern may be placed with the article

    - or in severe cases retraction of the article may occur.

The reason will be given in the published erratum/correction, expression of concern or retraction note. Please note that retraction means that the article is maintained on the platform, watermarked “retracted” and the explanation for the retraction is provided in a note linked to the watermarked article.

  • The author’s institution may be informed
  • A notice of suspected transgression of ethical standards in the peer review system may be included as part of the author’s and article’s bibliographic record.

Fundamental errors

Authors have an obligation to correct mistakes once they discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published article. The author(s) is/are requested to contact the journal and explain in what sense the error is impacting the article. A decision on how to correct the literature will depend on the nature of the error. This may be a correction or retraction. The retraction note should provide transparency which parts of the article are impacted by the error.

Suggesting / excluding reviewers

Authors are welcome to suggest suitable reviewers and/or request the exclusion of certain individuals when they submit their manuscripts. When suggesting reviewers, authors should make sure they are totally independent and not connected to the work in any way. It is strongly recommended to suggest a mix of reviewers from different countries and different institutions. When suggesting reviewers, the Corresponding Author must provide an institutional email address for each suggested reviewer, or, if this is not possible to include other means of verifying the identity such as a link to a personal homepage, a link to the publication record or a researcher or author ID in the submission letter. Please note that the Journal may not use the suggestions, but suggestions are appreciated and may help facilitate the peer review process.

Authorship principles

These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to.

Authorship clarified

The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before the work is submitted.

The Publisher does not prescribe the kinds of contributions that warrant authorship. It is recommended that authors adhere to the guidelines for authorship that are applicable in their specific research field. In absence of specific guidelines it is recommended to adhere to the following guidelines*:

All authors whose names appear on the submission

1) made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or the creation of new software used in the work;

2) drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content;

3) approved the version to be published; and

4) agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

* Based on/adapted from:

ICMJE, Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors,

Transparency in authors’ contributions and responsibilities to promote integrity in scientific publication, McNutt at all, PNAS February 27, 2018

Disclosures and declarations

All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate).

The decision whether such information should be included is not only dependent on the scope of the journal, but also the scope of the article. Work submitted for publication may have implications for public health or general welfare and in those cases it is the responsibility of all authors to include the appropriate disclosures and declarations.

Data transparency

All authors are requested to make sure that all data and materials as well as software application or custom code support their published claims and comply with field standards. Please note that journals may have individual policies on (sharing) research data in concordance with disciplinary norms and expectations.

Role of the Corresponding Author

One author is assigned as Corresponding Author and acts on behalf of all co-authors and ensures that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately addressed.

The Corresponding Author is responsible for the following requirements:

  • ensuring that all listed authors have approved the manuscript before submission, including the names and order of authors;
  • managing all communication between the Journal and all co-authors, before and after publication;*
  • providing transparency on re-use of material and mention any unpublished material (for example manuscripts in press) included in the manuscript in a cover letter to the Editor;
  • making sure disclosures, declarations and transparency on data statements from all authors are included in the manuscript as appropriate (see above).

* The requirement of managing all communication between the journal and all co-authors during submission and proofing may be delegated to a Contact or Submitting Author. In this case please make sure the Corresponding Author is clearly indicated in the manuscript.

Author contributions

In absence of specific instructions and in research fields where it is possible to describe discrete efforts, the Publisher recommends authors to include contribution statements in the work that specifies the contribution of every author in order to promote transparency. These contributions should be listed at the separate title page.

Examples of such statement(s) are shown below:

• Free text:

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [full name], [full name] and [full name]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [full name] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Example: CRediT taxonomy:

• Conceptualization: [full name], …; Methodology: [full name], …; Formal analysis and investigation: [full name], …; Writing - original draft preparation: [full name, …]; Writing - review and editing: [full name], …; Funding acquisition: [full name], …; Resources: [full name], …; Supervision: [full name],….

For review articles where discrete statements are less applicable a statement should be included who had the idea for the article, who performed the literature search and data analysis, and who drafted and/or critically revised the work.

For articles that are based primarily on the student’s dissertation or thesis, it is recommended that the student is usually listed as principal author:

A Graduate Student’s Guide to Determining Authorship Credit and Authorship Order, APA Science Student Council 2006

Affiliation

The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was done. If an author has subsequently moved, the current address may additionally be stated. Addresses will not be updated or changed after publication of the article.

Changes to authorship

Authors are strongly advised to ensure the correct author group, the Corresponding Author, and the order of authors at submission. Changes of authorship by adding or deleting authors, and/or changes in Corresponding Author, and/or changes in the sequence of authors are not accepted after acceptance of a manuscript.

  • Please note that author names will be published exactly as they appear on the accepted submission!

Please make sure that the names of all authors are present and correctly spelled, and that addresses and affiliations are current.

Adding and/or deleting authors at revision stage are generally not permitted, but in some cases it may be warranted. Reasons for these changes in authorship should be explained. Approval of the change during revision is at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. Please note that journals may have individual policies on adding and/or deleting authors during revision stage.

Author identification

Authors are recommended to use their ORCID ID when submitting an article for consideration or acquire an ORCID ID via the submission process.

Deceased or incapacitated authors

For cases in which a co-author dies or is incapacitated during the writing, submission, or peer-review process, and the co-authors feel it is appropriate to include the author, co-authors should obtain approval from a (legal) representative which could be a direct relative.

Authorship issues or disputes

In the case of an authorship dispute during peer review or after acceptance and publication, the Journal will not be in a position to investigate or adjudicate. Authors will be asked to resolve the dispute themselves. If they are unable the Journal reserves the right to withdraw a manuscript from the editorial process or in case of a published paper raise the issue with the authors’ institution(s) and abide by its guidelines.

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Authors should treat all communication with the Journal as confidential which includes correspondence with direct representatives from the Journal such as Editors-in-Chief and/or Handling Editors and reviewers’ reports unless explicit consent has been received to share information.

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Authors should include the following statements (if applicable) in a separate section entitled “Compliance with Ethical Standards” when submitting a paper:

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Please note that standards could vary slightly per journal dependent on their peer review policies (i.e. single or double blind peer review) as well as per journal subject discipline. Before submitting your article check the instructions following this section carefully.

The corresponding author should be prepared to collect documentation of compliance with ethical standards and send if requested during peer review or after publication.

The Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the above-mentioned guidelines. The author will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned guidelines.

Competing Interests

Authors are requested to disclose interests that are directly or indirectly related to the work submitted for publication. Interests within the last 3 years of beginning the work (conducting the research and preparing the work for submission) should be reported. Interests outside the 3-year time frame must be disclosed if they could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted work. Disclosure of interests provides a complete and transparent process and helps readers form their own judgments of potential bias. This is not meant to imply that a financial relationship with an organization that sponsored the research or compensation received for consultancy work is inappropriate.

Editorial Board Members and Editors are required to declare any competing interests and may be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists. In addition, they should exclude themselves from handling manuscripts in cases where there is a competing interest. This may include – but is not limited to – having previously published with one or more of the authors, and sharing the same institution as one or more of the authors. Where an Editor or Editorial Board Member is on the author list they must declare this in the competing interests section on the submitted manuscript. If they are an author or have any other competing interest regarding a specific manuscript, another Editor or member of the Editorial Board will be assigned to assume responsibility for overseeing peer review. These submissions are subject to the exact same review process as any other manuscript. Editorial Board Members are welcome to submit papers to the journal. These submissions are not given any priority over other manuscripts, and Editorial Board Member status has no bearing on editorial consideration.

Interests that should be considered and disclosed but are not limited to the following:

Funding: Research grants from funding agencies (please give the research funder and the grant number) and/or research support (including salaries, equipment, supplies, reimbursement for attending symposia, and other expenses) by organizations that may gain or lose financially through publication of this manuscript.

Employment: Recent (while engaged in the research project), present or anticipated employment by any organization that may gain or lose financially through publication of this manuscript. This includes multiple affiliations (if applicable).

Financial interests: Stocks or shares in companies (including holdings of spouse and/or children) that may gain or lose financially through publication of this manuscript; consultation fees or other forms of remuneration from organizations that may gain or lose financially; patents or patent applications whose value may be affected by publication of this manuscript.

It is difficult to specify a threshold at which a financial interest becomes significant, any such figure is necessarily arbitrary, so one possible practical guideline is the following: "Any undeclared financial interest that could embarrass the author were it to become publicly known after the work was published."

Non-financial interests: In addition, authors are requested to disclose interests that go beyond financial interests that could impart bias on the work submitted for publication such as professional interests, personal relationships or personal beliefs (amongst others). Examples include, but are not limited to: position on editorial board, advisory board or board of directors or other type of management relationships; writing and/or consulting for educational purposes; expert witness; mentoring relations; and so forth.

Primary research articles require a disclosure statement. Review articles present an expert synthesis of evidence and may be treated as an authoritative work on a subject. Review articles therefore require a disclosure statement.Other article types such as editorials, book reviews, comments (amongst others) may, dependent on their content, require a disclosure statement. If you are unclear whether your article type requires a disclosure statement, please contact the Editor-in-Chief.

Please note that, in addition to the above requirements, funding information (given that funding is a potential competing interest (as mentioned above)) needs to be disclosed upon submission of the manuscript in the peer review system. This information will automatically be added to the Record of CrossMark, however it is not added to the manuscript itself. Under ‘summary of requirements’ (see below) funding information should be included in the ‘Declarations’ section.

Summary of requirements

The above should be summarized in a statement and placed in a ‘Declarations’ section before the reference list under a heading of ‘Funding’ and/or ‘Competing interests’. Other declarations include Ethics approval, Consent, Data, Material and/or Code availability and Authors’ contribution statements.

Please see the various examples of wording below and revise/customize the sample statements according to your own needs.

When all authors have the same (or no) conflicts and/or funding it is sufficient to use one blanket statement.

Examples of statements to be used when funding has been received:

  • Partial financial support was received from [...]
  • The research leading to these results received funding from […] under Grant Agreement No[…].
  • This study was funded by […]
  • This work was supported by […] (Grant numbers […] and […]

Examples of statements to be used when there is no funding:

  • The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.
  • No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.
  • No funding was received for conducting this study.
  • No funds, grants, or other support was received.

Examples of statements to be used when there are interests to declare:

  • Financial interests: Author A has received research support from Company A. Author B has received a speaker honorarium from Company Wand owns stock in Company X. Author C is consultant to company Y.

    Non-financial interests: Author C is an unpaid member of committee Z.

  • Financial interests: The authors declare they have no financial interests.

    Non-financial interests: Author A is on the board of directors of Y and receives no compensation as member of the board of directors.

  • Financial interests: Author A received a speaking fee from Y for Z. Author B receives a salary from association X. X where s/he is the Executive Director.

    Non-financial interests: none.

  • Financial interests: Author A and B declare they have no financial interests. Author C has received speaker and consultant honoraria from Company M and Company N. Dr. C has received speaker honorarium and research funding from Company M and Company O. Author D has received travel support from Company O.

    Non-financial interests: Author D has served on advisory boards for Company M, Company N and Company O.

Examples of statements to be used when authors have nothing to declare:

  • The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
  • The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
  • All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.
  • The authors have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.

Authors are responsible for correctness of the statements provided in the manuscript. See also Authorship Principles. The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to reject submissions that do not meet the guidelines described in this section.

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