A Journal of IFAC, the International Federation of Automatic Control



Short Overview

Manuscript Preparation:
General
Structure
Text Layout
Corresponding Author
Abstract
Keywords
Symbols
Units
Maths
References
Illustrations
Colour Costs and Queries
Free Online Colour
Tables
Electronic Annexes

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



Submission of papers:

Authors are requested to submit their original papers to Professor Ian K. Craig using the submission website. To submit your paper online, please go to http://ees.elsevier.com/conengprac and upload your article and its associated artwork. A PDF will be generated and the reviewing process will be carried out using that PDF. All correspondence between editor and author is performed by e-mail, and paper copies are not required at the original submission stage. Detailed information on how to submit your article online are included. A submission checlist can be found here http://www.elsevier.com/framework products/promis misc/CEP checklist.doc

Once a paper has been accepted by the Editor and received by Elsevier, authors can track its progress through the system to publication, via the online author tracking system. To do this go to http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle

Submission language: English

Language services: Authors who require information about language editing and copyediting services pre- and post-submission please visit language or contact authorsupport@elsevier.com for more information. Please note Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. For more information please refer to our Terms and Conditions terms

Types of contributions: Original research papers that illustrate the direct application of control theory and its supporting tools in all possible areas of automation. As a result, the journal only contains papers that can be considered to have made significant contributions to the application of control techniques. It is normally expected that practical results should be included, but where simulation only studies are available, it is necessary to demonstrate that the simulation model is representative of a genuine industrial application. Strictly theoretical papers will find a more appropriate home in Control Engineering Practice's sister publication, Automatica. Control Engineering Practice papers will tend to be shorter, and relevant to industrial readers. In addition to purely technical applications papers the journal carries papers on topics linked to the application of automation, including social effects, cultural aspects, project planning and system design, and economic and management issues.

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.

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.

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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. An electronic copy of the manuscript on disk should accompany the final accepted version. 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.)
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Structure:
Follow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Main text, Acknowledgements, Appendix, References, Figure Captions and then Tables. For online submission, please supply figures imported into the text AND also separately as original graphics files. Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article and do not include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise.
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Text Layout:
Use wide (3 cm) margins. (Avoid full justification, i.e., do not use a constant right-hand margin.) Ensure that each new paragraph is clearly indicated. Present tables and figure legends on separate pages at the end of the manuscript. If possible, consult a recent issue of the journal to become familiar with layout and conventions. Number all pages consecutively, use 12 or 10 pt font size and standard fonts.
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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.
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Abstract:
A self-contained abstract (50-100 words) outlining in a single paragraph the aims, scope and conclusions of the paper must be supplied.
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Keywords:
Immediately after the abstract, provide 5-10 keywords.
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Units:
The SI system should be used for all scientific and laboratory data; if, in certain instances, it is necessary to quote other units, these should be added in parentheses. Temperatures should be given in degrees Celsius. The unit 'billion' (10⁹ in America, 10¹² in Europe) is ambiguous and must not be used.
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Maths:
Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).

References:
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. One to two authors: the author/s name/s (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the year of publication;
2. Three to five authors: all names and the year of publication for the first instance the reference is mentioned. For subsequent references use first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the year of publication;
3. More than five 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 in wheat (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.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
Van der Geer J, Hanraads JAJ, Lupton RA. The art of writing a scientific article. J Sci Commun 2000;163:51-9.
Reference to a book:
Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan; 1979.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age. New York: E-Publishing Inc; 1994. p. 281-304.
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Colour Costs and Queries:
For colour illustrations, a colour printing fee is charged to the author per colour page. Further information concerning colour illustrations and costs is available from Author Support at authorsupport@elsevier.ie, and at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
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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.
Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting colour figures to "grey scale" (for the black/white printed version of e-colour) please submit in addition usable black and white versions of all the colour illustrations. Also make sure that in your captions and text you do not refer to colour, as the images will be black and white in print, and references to colour will not make any sense to the reader of the print journal.
'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.
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Tables:
Tables should be numbered consecutively and given suitable captions and each table should begin on a new page. No vertical rules should be used. Tables should not duplicate results presented elsewhere in the manuscript (for example, in graphs). Footnotes to tables should be typed below the table and should be referred to by superscript lowercase letters.
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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. If you are submitting on hardcopy, please supply 3 disks/CD-ROMs containing the electronic annex to the editor for review. 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.
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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.
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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 page www.elsevier.com/locate/guidepublication
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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 www.elsevier.com/locate/guidepublication Please note that once your paper has been proofed we publish the identical paper online as in print.
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Author Benefits:

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

Free offprints: The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.

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

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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.

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Author enquiries:

For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available) please visit this journal's homepage at homepage. You can track accepted articles at tracker and set up e-mail alerts to inform you of when an article's status has changed. Also accessible from here is information on copyright, frequently asked questions and more. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher.

Useful links: •" A submissions 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