The journal of policy, planning and futures studies
Guide for Authors
Submission of Papers
Authors are requested to submit their original manuscript and figures with two copies to Professor Ziauddin
Sardar, 1 Orchard Gate, London NW9 6HU, UK (E-mail: futures@ziasardar.com). Contributions can also be accepted by E-mail.
General
To stimulate the systematic use and growth of futures literature, one of the criteria for article publication in this
journal is an indication of how the article relates to others in
the futures literature. Articles submitted for publication in FUTURES
must show awareness of the futures field and make original contribution to advancement of knowledge in futures studies.
It is essential
to give a fax number and e-mail address when submitting a manuscript. Articles must be written in good English. Authors should also submit
an electronic copy of their paper with the final version of the manuscript. The electronic copy should match the hard copy exactly. Always
keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Full details of electronic submission and acceptable formats can
be obtained from http://authors.com or from Author Services at Elsevier.
Submission
of an article implies that the work 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, and 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and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published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, without the written consent of the Publisher. Translated material which
has not previously been published in English will also be considered.
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to transfer
copyright (for more information on copyright see http://www.elsevier.com/authors). This transfer will ensure the widest
possible dissemination of information. A letter will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript. A form
facilitating transfer of copyright will be provided. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain
written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use by authors
in these cases: contact ES Global Rights Department, P.O. Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; Tel: + 44 (0) 1865 843830; fax: +44 (0) 1865 853333;
e-mail: permissions@elsevier.com
Types of Contributions
Main papers submitted are subject to peer review.
The editors of FUTURES also welcome reviews of books, films, CD-Roms and web-sites as well conference reports related to topics and issues
of broad relevance to futures studies. Letters to the editor intended for publication should be so marked.
Manuscript Preparation
General
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these). Italics
are not to be used for expressions of Latin origin, for example, in vivo, et al., per se. Use decimal points (not commas); use a space
for thousands (10 000 and above). Print the entire manuscript on one side of paper only, using double spacing and 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. Good quality print-outs with a font size of 12 or 10 pt are required.
Paper length. The recommended length for a paper is 5000-8000 words, plus illustrations; the preferred length for reviews and conference
reports is 2500 words.
Provide the following data on the title page (in the order given).
Title. Concise and informative. Titles are
often used in information-retrieved systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. The title should not exceed 50 characters
(including spaces). Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g.., a double name), please
indicate this clearly. Present the author's affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations
with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal
address of each affiliation including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each author. Corresponding author.
Clearly indicate who is willing to handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure
the telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at
the time, a "Present address" (or "Permanent address") may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the
author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
Abstract. A concise and factual abstract is required (maximum length 200 words). The abstract should state briefly the purpose
of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separate from the article, so it must be
able to stand alone. References should therefore be avoided, but if essential, they must be cited in full, without reference to the reference
list. Non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract
itself.
N.B. Acknowledgements. Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article and do not,
therefore, include them on the title page, as footnote to the title or otherwise.
Arrangement of the article
Subdivision
of the article. Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1.,
1.1.2.), 1.2., etc, (the abstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also for internal cross-referencing: do not
just refer to 'the text'. Any subsections may be given a brief heading. Each heading on its own separate line.
Text. Follow
this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Main text, Acknowledgements, Appendix, References,
Figure Captions, Tables (and figures) should be kept separate from the rest of the manuscript (see instructions for illustrations below).
The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk and footnote. All other footnotes (except table footnotes) should be identified
with superscript Arabic numerals.
Appendices. If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc.
Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: (Eq. A.1), (Eq. A.2), etc.: in a subsequent appendix, (Eq. B.1)
and so forth.
Acknowledgements. Place acknowledgements, including information on grants received, before the references,
in a separate section, and not as a footnote on the title page.
References. See separate section, below.
Figure legends,
tables, figures, schemes. Present these, in this order, at the end of the article. They are described in more details below. High-resolution
graphics files must always be provided separate from the main text file (see Preparation of illustrations).
References
Responsibility for the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the authors.
Citations in the text. Please
ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract
must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications should not be in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the
text. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
Citing and listing of web
references. As a minimum, the full URL should be given. Any further information, if known (author names, dates, reference to a source
publication, etc.), should also be given. Web references can be listed separately (e.g., after the reference list) under a different
heading if desired, or can be included in the reference list.
Text. Indicate references by number (s) in square brackets
in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.
Example: "..... as demonstrated
[3,6]. Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result ...."
List. Number the references (numbers in square brackets) in
the list in the order in which they appear in the text.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
[1] J. van der
Geer, J.A.J. Hanraads, R.A. Lupton, The art of writing a scientific article, J. Sci. Commun. 163 (2000) 51-59.
Reference to a book:
[2]
W. Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, third ed., Macmillan, New York, 1979.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
[3]
G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the
Electronic Age, E-Publishing Inc., New York, 1999, pp. 281-304.
Electronic format requirements for accepted articles
General
points.We accept most wordprocessing formats, but Word, WordPerfect or LaTeX is preferred. An electronic version of the text should
be submitted together with the final hardcopy of the manuscript. The electronic version must match the hardcopy exactly. Always keep
a backup copy of the electronic file. Label storage media with your name, journal title, and software used. Save your files using the
default extension of the program used. No changes to the accepted version are permissible without the explicit approval of the Editor.
Electronic files can be stored on diskette, ZIP-disk or CD (either MS-DOS or Macintosh).
Wordprocessor documents. It is
important that the file saved in the native format of the wordprocessor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout
of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not
use the wordprocessor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts,
etc. Do not embed 'graphically designed' equations or tables, but prepare these using the wordprocessor's facility. When preparing tables,
if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each individual table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs,
not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts ( see
also the Author Gateway's Quickguide: http://www.elsevier.com/authors). Do not import the figures into the text file but,
instead, indicate their approximate locations directly in the electronic text and on the manuscript. See also the section on Preparation
of electronic illustrations. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the 'spellchecker' function of your wordprocessor.
Although Elsevier can process most wordprocessor file formats, should your electronic file prove to be unusable, the article will be
typeset from the hardcopy printout.
Preparation of illustrations
Submitting your artwork in an electronic format helps
us to produce your work to the best possible standards, ensuring accuracy, clarity and a high level of detail.
• Always supply
high-quality printouts of your artwork, in case conversion of the electronic artwork is problematic.
• Make sure you use uniform
lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
• Only
use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Courier, Times, Symbol.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence
in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files, and supply a separate listing of the files and the software
used.
• Provide all illustrations as separate files and as hardcopy printouts on separate sheets.
• Provide captions
to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
Files can be stored on diskette,
ZIP-disk or CD (either MS-DOS or Macintosh). A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalised, please "save as" or convert the images to one of the
following formats (Note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations are given below.):
EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as "graphics".
TIFF: Colour or greyscale photographs (halftones): always use
a minimum of 300dpi.
TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings line drawings: use a minimum of 1000dpi.
TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone
(colour or greyscale): a minimum of 500
dpi is required.
DOC, XLS, or PPT: If your electronic artwork is created in any of these
Microsoft Office
applications please supply "as is".
Please do not:• Supply embedded graphics in your wordprocessor
(spreadsheet, presentation) documentation;• Supply files that are optimised for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution
is too low;• Supply files that are too low in resolution;• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Non-electronic illustrations
Provide all illustrations as high-quality printouts, suitable for reproduction (which may
include reduction) without retouching. Number illustrations consecutively in the order in which they are referred to in the text. They
should accompany the manuscript, but should not be included within the text. Clearly mark all illustrations on the back (or - in case
of line drawings - on the lower front side) with the figure number and the author's name and, in cases of ambiguity, the correct orientation.
Mark the appropriate position of a figure in the article.
Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply
captions on a separate sheet, not attached to the figure. A caption should compromise a brief title (not on the figure itself)
and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations
used.
Line drawings. Supply high-quality printouts on white paper produced with black ink. The lettering and symbols, as
well as other details, should have proportionate dimensions, so as to become illegible or unclear after possible reduction; in general,
the figures should be designed for a reduction factor of two to three. The degree of reduction will be determined by the Publisher. Illustrations
will not be enlarged. Consider the page format of the journal when designing the illustration.
Photocopies are not suitable for reproduction.
Do not use any type of shading on computer-generated.
Photographs (halftones). Please supply original photographs for reproduction,
printed on glossy paper, very sharp and with good contrast. Remove non-essential areas of a photograph. Do not mount photographs unless
they form part of a composite figure. Where necessary, insert a scale bar in the illustration (not below it), as opposed to giving a
magnification factor in the legend. Note that photocopies of photographs are not acceptable.
Colour illustrations. Submit
colour illustrations as original photographs, high-quality computer prints or transparencies, close to the size expected in publication,
or as 35 mm slides. Polaroid colour prints are not suitable. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable colour 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. For colour reproduction in print,
you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of your accepted article. Further information on the preparation
of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions. Please note: Because of technical complications
which can arise by converting colour figures to 'grey scale' (for the printed version should you not opt for colour in print) please
submit in addition usable black and white prints corresponding to all the colour illustrations.
Proofs
When your manuscript
is received by the Publisher it is considered to be in its final form. Proofs are not to be regarded as 'drafts'. One set of page proofs
in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author, to be checked for typesetting/editing. No changes in, or additions
to, the accepted (and subsequently edited) manuscript will be allowed at this stage. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. A form
with queries from the copyeditor may accompany your proofs. Please answer all queries and make any corrections or additions required.
Elsevier will do everything possible to get your article corrected and published as quickly and accurately as possible. In order to do
this we need your help. When you receive the (PDF) proof of your article for correction, it is important to ensure that all of your corrections
are sent back to us in one communication. Subsequent corrections will not be possible, so please ensure your first sending is complete.
Note that this does not mean you have any less time to make your corrections, just that only one set of corrections will be accepted.
Offprints
Fifty offprints will be supplied free of charge. Additional offprints can be ordered at a specially reduced rate
using the order form sent to the corresponding author after the manuscript has been accepted. Orders for reprints (produced after publication
of an article) will incur a 50% surcharge.
Author enquiries
Authors can keep a track on the progress of their accepted
article, and set up e-mail alerts informing them of changes to their manuscript's status, by using the "Track a Paper" feature of Elsevier's
Author Gateway http://www.elsevier.com/authors. For privacy, information on each article is password-protected The author
should key in the "Our Reference" code (which is in the letter of acknowledgement sent by the Publisher on receipt of the accepted article)
and the name of the corresponding author. In case of problems or questions, authors may contact the Author Support Department,
e-mail:authorsupport@elsevier.com.
