Guide for Authors - Contents list:

Short Overview

Ethics in publishing

Submission declaration and verification

Manuscript Preparation:
General
Structure
Text Layout
Corresponding Author
Author Names
Abstract
Keywords
Research Highlights
Units
Maths
References
Illustrations
Colour Costs and Queries
Free Online Colour
Tables
Electronic Annexes
Supplying the Final Accepted Print Version with Disk

Other:
Notification
Copyright
Checklist
PDF Proofs
Author Benefits
Online Paper Tracking
Enquiries
Useful Links

Short Overview

Ethics in publishing

For information on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and http://www.elsevier.com/ethicalguidelines.

Submission declaration and verification

For information on Ethics in publishing and Ethical guidelines for journal publication see http://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics and http://www.elsevier.com/ethicalguidelines.Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint, see http://www.elsevier.com/postingpolicy), 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and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. To verify originality, your article may be checked by the originality detection service CrossCheck http://www.elsevier.com/editors/plagdetect.

Submission of papers:

The entire submission and review process for Energy Policy is handled electronically, which shortens publication times. All papers should be submitted electronically through http://ees.elsevier.com/jepo

Prior to submitting your paper, please follow the instructions given below. Please note that you must have an e-mail address to use the online submission system.

Authors submit their article online by simply registering, logging-in, and submitting. Editors will then invite potential reviewers by e-mail.

Detailed instructions on the use of the online submission system are available at http://ees.elsevier.com/jepo . Please read the "Hints" for information on how to register, and review the "Tutorial for Authors" for a run-through of the submission process. If you need any further help, please do not hesitate to contact our Author Support Department: authorsupport@elsevier.ie

Submission language: English (Link to the Oxford English Dictionary http://dictionary.oed.com/entrance.dtl)

English language help service: Upon request Elsevier will direct authors to an agent who can check and improve the English of their paper (before submission). Please contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for further information.

Types of contributions: Full Length Articles, leaders, viewpoints, short communications, book reviews, conference reports, calendar events and notification of recent publications and reports, contributions to Forum section.

Corresponding author: Clearly indicate who is responsible for correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, including post-publication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Full postal addresses must be given for all co-authors. Please consult a recent journal paper for style if possible.

Original material: Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher.

Editor's requirements: Full Length Articles should be 6000-8000 words long (not including abstract, footnotes, figure/tables legends or appendices) although articles longer than 8000 words will be accepted on an occasional basis, if the topic demands this length of treatment. Authors are responsible for ensuring that all manuscripts (whether original or revised) are accurately typed before final submission. Manuscripts will be returned to the author with a set of instructions if they are not submitted according to our style.

All articles are refereed to ensure both accuracy and relevance, and amendments to the script may thus be required before final acceptance. On acceptance contributions are subject to editorial amendment to suit house style, but authors will receive proofs for approval before publication.

Shorter Items: Shorter items are also encouraged and may take the form of Leaders (by invitation only), Viewpoints and Communications. Conference reports and Book reviews are invited from time to time. Calendar events and notification of recent publications and reports should be sent to the journal office at energypolicy@elsevier.com. Energy Policy also welcomes contributions to a Forum section which may include short (upto 1000 words) rejoinders, comments and insights, relating to published papers, on-going differences of opinion, or letters to the Editor.

Leaders (approximately 1000 to 2000 words) are usually invited,opinion-based and not necessarily subject to peer review. However, theeditor will also consider submitted Leaders, which will be subject toeditorial review. They should reflect the author's insights into currentevents or policy proposals.

Viewpoints (1000 to 3000 words) may be expressions of opinion and notnecessarily subject to peer review. This section also allows authors tosubmit material which might not be appropriate for a full-length paper andis subject to peer review.

Communications (up to 3000 words) are subject to peer review and provide asection for displaying on-going research or summaries of work publishedelsewhere. The section also allows publication of work not suitable for alonger presentation.

Book reviews (800-1200 words), and Conference reports (1000-1500 words) arewelcomed by invitation from the Editor.

For all Article types, authors will be asked at submission stage to provide the word count for their paper.

Detailed instructions on manuscript preparation and artwork instructions can be found below. The editor reserves the right to return manuscripts that do not conform to the instructions for manuscript preparation and artwork instruction, as well as papers that do not fit the scope of the journal, prior to refereeing.

Back to the contents list

Manuscript Preparation:

General:
Editors reserve the right to adjust style to certain standards of uniformity. Original manuscripts are discarded one month after publication unless the Publisher is asked to return original material after use. Please use Word, Word Perfect or LaTeX files for the text of your manuscript. (For further information about LaTeX submission, please go to http://www.elsevier.com/latex.)
Back to contents list

Structure:
You are strongly advised to look at the sample layout fileFollow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Main text, References, Footnotes, Appendix.

At submission stage all figures and tables should be embedded in the text in the location that they should appear. For example, if figure 1 is required to illustrate a point on page 4, then figure 1 should appear on page 4. The source files of figures and tables should not be provided.

If a revise decision is made on your paper, we will request the source files at this stage as well as asking that the figures be embedded in your text. However, this request is no indication as to whether the paper will be accepted.

Please note that no PDF files of your manuscript, figures or tables will be accepted for submissions of a new or revised paper.

Additional questions may also be asked at submission stage and all questions must be answered by the author. Failure to meet any of the guidelines listed in the Guide for Authors will result in your manuscript being sent back to the submission stage to make the changes.
Back to the contents list

Text Layout:
Manuscripts must be typed in single column format on one side only of International Standard Size A4 paper, with a left-hand margin of 40 mm. The text should be double-spaced. Number every sheet. The text should be in 12pt font and the references should be provided in 10pt format.
Back to the contents list

Corresponding author:
Clearly indicate who is responsible for correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, including post-publication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Full postal addresses must be given for all co-authors. Please consult a recent journal paper for style if possible.
Back to the contents list

Changes to authorship:
This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts:Before the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will be forwarded by the Journal Manager to the corresponding author, who must follow the procedure as described above. Note that: (1) Journal Managers will inform the Journal Editors of any such requests and (2) publication of the accepted manuscript in an online issue is suspended until authorship has been agreed.
After the accepted manuscript is published in an online issue: Any requests to add, delete, or rearrange author names in an article published in an online issue will follow the same policies as noted above and result in a corrigendum.
Back to the contents list

Abstract:
A self-contained abstract of up to 150 to 200 words outlining in a single paragraph the aims, scope and conclusions of the paper must be supplied; acknowledgements (if any); article title abbreviated appropriately for use as a running headline. Please note that your abstract may not be any longer than 200 words and will be sent back at submission stage if it is longer than allowed.
Back to the contents list

Keywords:
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of three keywords (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible.
Back to the contents list

Research highlights:
With the exception of Viewpoint articles and Review articles, Research highlights are mandatory for this journal. They consist of a short collection of bullet points that convey the core findings of the article and should be submitted in a separate file in the online submission system. Please use 'Research highlights' in the file name and include 3 to 5 bullet points (maximum 85 characters per bullet point including spaces). See http://www.elsevier.com/researchhighlights for examples.

Units:
Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI.
Back to the contents list

Maths:
Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

References and Footnotes:
All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript.

Text: All citations in the text should refer to:
1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;
2. Two authors: both authors' names and the year of publication;
3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication.
Citations may be made directly (or parenthetically). Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically.
Examples: "as demonstrated (Allan, 1996a, 1996b, 1999; Allan and Jones, 1995). Kramer et al. (2000) have recently shown ...."

List: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters "a", "b", "c", etc., placed after the year of publication. Full journal titles should be used.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J.A.J., Lupton, R.A., 2000. The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Science Communication, 163, 51-59.
Reference to a book:
Strunk Jr., W., White, E.B., 1979. The Elements of Style, third ed. Macmillan, New York.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Mettam, G.R., Adams, L.B., 1999. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: Jones, B.S., Smith , R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281-304.
Footnotes, should be avoided whenever possible and their content incorporated into the text but, where unavoidable, should be indicated in the text by superior Arabic numerals which run consecutively through the paper. They should be grouped together in a section at the end of the text in numerical order and double spaced.
Back to the contents list

Colour Costs and Queries:
For colour illustrations, a colour printing fee is charged to the author per colour unit. Further information concerning colour illustrations and costs is available from Author Support at authorsupport@elsevier.ie, and at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Back to the contents list

FREE ONLINE COLOUR
If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour and black/white figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. ' Usable' means the formats comply with our instructions. See the information about Illustrations at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. For colour illustrations in the print journal see Colour Costs above.
Back to the contents list

Tables:
Tables should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and given a suitable caption. Notes and references within tables should be included with the tables, separately from the main text. Notes should be referred to by superscript letters. All table columns should have an explanatory heading. Tables should not repeat data available elsewhere in the article, eg, in an illustration.
Back to the contents list

Electronic Annexes
We strongly encourage you to submit electronic annexes, such as short videos, computer-enhanced images, audio clips and large databases. Please refer to the Artwork Instructions (Multimedia files) at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions for details on file types to be used. In the text of your article you may wish to refer to the annex. This is not mandatory, however, if you do wish to refer to the annex in the text then please do so using this example: "?see Electronic Annex 1 in the online version of this article." Production will insert the relevant URL at the typesetting stage after this statement.
Back to the contents list

Notification:

Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their paper by the editor. The Publisher will also send a notification of receipt of the paper in production.
Back to the contents list

Copyright:

All authors must sign the Transfer of Copyright agreement before the article can be published. This transfer agreement enables Elsevier to protect the copyrighted material for the authors, but does not relinquish the authors' proprietary rights. The copyright transfer covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article, including reprints, photographic reproductions, microfilm or any other reproductions of similar nature and translations. Authors are responsible for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any figures for which copyright exists.
For more information please go to our copyright pagehttp://www.elsevier.com/copyright
Back to the contents list

Checklist:

•Have you told readers, at the outset, what they might gain by reading your paper?•Have you made the aim of your work clear?•Have you explained the significance of your contribution?•Have you set your work in the appropriate context by giving sufficient background (including a complete set of relevant references) to your work?•Have you addressed the question of practicality and usefulness?•Have you identified future developments that may result from your work?•Have you structured your paper in a clear and logical fashion?

PDF Proofs:

One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. The corrections should be returned within 48 hours. No changes in, or additions to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely the author's responsibility. Any queries should be answered in full. Please correct factual errors only, or errors introduced by typesetting.
For more information on proofreading please go to our proofreading page http://www.elsevier.com/authors.Please note that once your paper has been proofed we publish the identical paper online as in print.
Back to the contents list

Author Benefits:

No page charges: Publication in this journal is free of charge.

Free offprints: An e-offprint will be supplied free of charge.

Author discount: Contributors to Elsevier journals are entitled to a 30% discount on all Elsevier books. See http://www.elsevier.com/homepage/booksbutler for more information.

Back to the contents list

Online Paper Tracking:

Authors can track the status of their accepted paper online at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle using the reference supplied by the Publisher.

Back to the contents list

Author enquiries:

All author enquiries should be made to: authorsupport@elsevier.ie

Useful links:
•A submission checklist can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/guidepublication
•Register for free to receive email updates from the article tracking service at http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle
•If you are interested in submitting a book in this area, go to http://www.elsevier.com/bookauthors