Guidelines for Authors

Manuscript Content

All manuscripts submitted to the inSTEMM Journal must meet specific standards for substance and presentation as judged by rigorous review by editors and referees. 

Validity. Work is valid if it is free of detectable error and is presented in sufficient detail that its validity may be determined. Manuscripts that advance new theoretical views on fundamental principles or theories must contain convincing arguments that the new predictions and interpretations are distinct from existing knowledge and do not contradict experiment.

Importance. Important results are those that notably advance a field, open a significant new area of research, or solve—or take a crucial step toward solving—an outstanding problem and thus facilitate notable progress in an existing field. A new experimental or theoretical method may be a suitable basis for an inSTEMM Journal article, but only if it facilitates the advances presented above. Studies validating the reproducibility of the existing literature will also be considered.

Interest. Work is of interest if it represents a significant advance in any STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, or Medicine) field or has relevant implications across subfield boundaries.

Presentation. The diversity of inSTEMM Journal’s readership places special demands on style. An inSTEMM Journal article must begin with an introduction that states the issues it addresses and its primary achievements in language understandable across subjects, disciplines, and fields of study. Each inSTEMM Journal article should present a complete discussion of the background, results, implications, and limitations of the study within the constraints of a short communication. inSTEMM Journal articles must be clearly written, devoid of unnecessary jargon, with symbols defined, figures well drawn, and tables and figures thoroughly captioned. All submissions should use the article template(s) provided. 

Importance of Introductory Paragraphs. inSTEMM Journal is unique in its commitment to keep broadly interested readers well informed on vital current research in all STEMMA fields. This goal is achieved with introductory paragraphs that state the issues addressed in the manuscript and the primary achievements. These paragraphs should be clearly written and comprehensible to non-experts. To assure compliance, referees are instructed to pay particular attention to the introductory section.

Use of Previously Published Material. Reproduction of previously published figures, tables, and text material should be kept to a minimum and must be properly referenced. In order to reproduce figures, tables, etc., from another journal, authors must show that they have complied with the copyright or licensing requirements of the paper’s publisher.

Terminology

New terminology should be introduced only when it is clearly needed. Excessive use of acronyms should be avoided. The proliferation of specialised jargon can serve to inhibit communication. New terminology should convey to the reader an accurate impression of its meaning. It should not be frivolous, hard to pronounce, or based on a private joke. New terminology should not be introduced in titles.

Referencing

Manuscripts must provide proper citations to pertinent earlier work and credit significant contributions by non-authors. Readers benefit from complete referencing, which correctly contextualises the work in regards to related research. Authors should make every effort to ensure that their citations to previously published work are comprehensive at the time of submission. These citations can include references to books and references to published conference proceedings that contain more than abstracts. Prior to publication, authors should add citations to works published during the course of the review process.

Authors may cite unpublished work, such as e-prints, preprints, internal reports, or results that have been reported only orally at meetings (even though an abstract may have been published). Unpublished work that appears during the review process may require a citation. Unpublished work has not been fully vetted by the community - editorial judgment will be employed in determining the need to cite such work.

Violations and Plagiarism

Authors may not present data and results obtained by others as if they were their own. Nor may authors incorporate text from another work (by themselves or others) without attribution, even when summarising past results or background material. If a direct quotation is appropriate, the quotation should be clearly indicated as such, and the original source should be properly cited. Manuscripts that have been found to be in violation of this rule will be rejected. In such cases, resubmission of the manuscript, even with the plagiarised text removed, is not ordinarily allowed. However, the editors may allow exceptions to this policy if warranted by special circumstances.

Responsibility of the Corresponding Author

When a manuscript has several authors, one of them, the corresponding author, should be designated to receive and respond to correspondence from the editors. This designation can be changed by notifying the editors. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to represent all those involved with the manuscript.

By submitting a manuscript, the corresponding author certifies:

  • The manuscript presents the original work of the listed authors.
  • The manuscript accurately reflects the scientific results.
  • All of the authors contributed significantly to the concept, design, execution, or interpretation of the research study.
  • All those who made significant contributions were offered the opportunity to be listed as authors.
  • All of the listed authors are aware of and agree to the submission of the manuscript.
  • The manuscript has not been published and is not being and will not be considered by another journal while it is considered here.
  • The authors have provided information to the editors about relevant unpublished manuscripts, including any previous versions of this manuscript submitted to the inSTEMM journal.
  • The authors accept the established procedures for selecting manuscripts for publication.