The Journal for Information Professionals

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As of 01 February 2004, all new manuscripts must be submitted through the International Journal of Information Management online submission and review Web site (http://ees.elsevier.com/ijim/). Authors are requested to submit the text, tables, and artwork in electronic form to this address. In an accompanying letter, authors should state that the manuscript, or parts of it, have not been and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication. Authors are highly encouraged to include a list of three or more potential reviewers for their manuscript, with complete contact information.

Submission items include a cover letter, suggested reviewers, the manuscript (including title page, abstract, manuscript text, references, and table/figure legends), tables, and figures. Revised manuscripts should also be accompanied by a unique file (separate from the covering letter) with responses to reviewers' comments. The preferred order of files is as follows: cover letter, suggested reviewers, response to reviews (revised manuscripts only), manuscript file(s), table(s), figure(s). Files should be labelled with appropriate and descriptive file names (e.g., SmithText.doc, Fig1.eps, Table3.doc). Upload text, tables and graphics as separate files. Do not import figures or tables into the text document. For in-depth information about submitting electronic artwork visit http://elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.

Authors who are unable to provide an electronic version or have other circumstances that prevent online submission must contact the Editorial Office prior to submission to discuss alternate options. The Publisher and Editors regret that they are not able to consider submissions that do not follow these procedures.



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). (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. A font size of 12 or 10 pt is required. Papers should normally be 4000-6000 words long. 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.
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 authors. 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 150-200 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.
Keywords. Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 3-5 keywords, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and' , 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

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.
References. See separate section, below.
Biography. Include in the manuscript a short (maximum 100 words) biography of each author.
Tables. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
Tables. Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
Preparation of supplementary data. Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com. In order to ensure that your submitted material is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format together with the article and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please refer to http://authors.elsevier.com.

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. Un published 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. Please also give the date on which the web reference was accessed .
Text: Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the American Psychological Association. You are referred to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition, ISBN 1-55798-790-4, copies of which may be ordered from http://www.apa.org/books/4200061.html or APA Order Dept., P.O.B. 2710, Hyattsville, MD 20784, USA or APA, 3 Henrietta Street, London, WC3E 8LU, UK. Details concerning this referencing style can also be found at http://humanities.byu.edu/linguistics/Henrichsen/APA/APA01.html.

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 de Greer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J.,&Lupton R. A. (2000). The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51-59.

Reference to a book: Strunk, W., & White, W. B. (1979). The elements of style. (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan, (Chapter 4). Reference to a chapter in an edited book: Mettam,, G. R.,& Adams, L. B. (1994)How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S. Jones, & R. Z Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp. 281-304). New York: E-Publishing Inc.

Note that journal names are not to be abbreviated.

Electronic format requirements for accepted articles General points: We accept most wordprocessing formats, but Word, WordPerfect or LaTeX is preferred. 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 3 1/2 inch diskette, ZIP-disk or CD (either MS-DOS or Macintosh).
Wordprocessor document:.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, id 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, used tabs, not spaces, to align columns. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also: http://authors.elsevier.com). 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.




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.

• 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
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.


Files can be stored on 31/2 inch diskette, ZIP-disk or CD (either MS-DOS or Macintosh).

A detailed guide on submitting electronic artwork is available on our website: http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork

You are urged to visit this site; some excerpts from the detailed information are given here.


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.


Ensure that each illustration has a caption. A caption should comprise a brief title and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.


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. For in-depth information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork. 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.

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.

Fifty offprints will be supplied free of charge to the corresponding author of the paper, who will be responsible for distributing an appropriate number to any fellow authors. 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. Enquiries should be addressed directly to the publisher, not to the Editors.

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 visiting http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle. 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.