Computers & Security is the most comprehensive, authoritative survey of the key issues in computer
security today. It aims to satisfy the needs of managers and experts involved in the computer security field by providing a combination
of leading edge research developments, innovations and sound practical management advice for computer security professionals worldwide.
Computers & Security provides detailed information to the professional involved with computer security, audit, control and data integrity
in all sectors - industry, commerce and academia.
Submissions
Original
submissions on all computer security topics are welcomed, especially those of practical benefit to the computer security practitioner.
All
authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal or other relationships
with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived
to influence, their work. See also http://www.elsevier.com/conflictsofinterest.
Submission
Declaration
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 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that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent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 copyright-holder.
Contributors
Each author is required to declare
his or her individual contribution to the article: all authors must have materially participated in the research and/or article preparation,
so roles for all authors should be described. The statement that all authors have approved the final article should be true and included
in the disclosure.
Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will
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Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding
author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement' form or a link to the online version of this
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Funding
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Submission
Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. Use the following guidelines to prepare
your article. Via the homepage of this journal (http://www.elsevier.com/journals) you will be guided stepwise through the
creation and uploading of the various files. The system automatically converts source files to a single Adobe Acrobat PDF version of
the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF at submission
for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence, including notification
of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail and via the author's homepage, removing the need for a hard-copy
paper trail.
Referees
Please submit, with the manuscript, the names and
addresses of 3 potential referees.
PREPARATION
Language
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture
of these). Use decimal points (not decimal commas); use a space for thousands (10 000 and above).
Use
of Word Processing Software
t is important that the file be 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 Guide to Publishing with Elsevier: http://www.elsevier.com/guidepublication).
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 Electronic illustrations. To avoid unnecessary errors you are strongly advised to use the
"spell-check" and "grammar-check" functions of your wordprocessor.
Article Structure
Subdivision - numbered sections
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 subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear
on its own separate line.
Introduction
State the objectives of the work
and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
Material and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published
should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.
Theory/calculation
A
Theory section should extend, not repeat, the background to the article already dealt with in the Introduction and lay the foundation
for further work. In contrast, a Calculation section represents a practical development from a theoretical basis.
Results
Results should be clear and concise.
Discussion
This
should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate.
Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
Conclusions
The
main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion
or Results and Discussion section.
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.
Vitae
For
Full Length Articles a Biographical Sketch for each author (50-100 words) is required.
Essential
Title Page Information
Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval 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 authors' 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 that 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. 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. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential,
they must be cited in full, without reference to the reference list. Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided,
but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Keywords
Immediately
after the abstract, provide 5-10 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.
Abbreviations
Define abbreviations that are not standard in
this field in a footnote to be placed on the first page of the article. Such abbreviations that are unavoidable in the abstract must
be defined at their first mention there, as well as in the footnote. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references
and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided
help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proofreading the article, etc.).
Math Formulae
Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible. In principle, variables
are to be presented in italics. Use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line, e.g., X/Y rather than X Y Powers
of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separate from the text
(if referred to explicitly in the text).
Footnotes
Footnotes should be
used sparingly. Number them consecutively throughout the article, using superscript Arabic numbers. Many wordprocessors build footnotes
into the text, and this feature may be used. Should this not be the case, indicate the position of footnotes in the text and present
the footnotes themselves separately at the end of the article. Do not include footnotes in the Reference list. Table footnotes Indicate each footnote in a table with a superscript lowercase letter.
Electronic
Artwork
General points • 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,
Helvetica, Times, Symbol. • Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text. • Use a logical naming
convention for your artwork files. • Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files, and supply a separate listing of
the files and the software used. • Provide captions to illustrations separately. • Produce images near to the desired
size of the printed version. • Submit each figure as a separate file.
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 given below): EPS: Vector drawings. Embed the font or save the text as "graphics". TIFF:
color or grayscale photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi. TIFF: Bitmapped line drawings: use a minimum of 1000
dpi. TIFF: Combinations bitmapped line/half-tone (color or grayscale): 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) document; • 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.
Color Artwork
Please
make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (TIFF, EPS or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together
with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will
appear in color on the Web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color
in the printed version. For color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt
of your accepted article. Please indicate your preference for color in print or on the Web only. For 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 color figures to "gray scale" (for the printed version should you not opt for color in print) please submit
in addition usable black and white versions of all the color illustrations.
Figure
Captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should
comprise 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.
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. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables
do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
References
Citation in 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 are not
recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should
follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either "Unpublished
results" or "Personal communication" Citation of a reference as "in press" implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
Web References
As a minimum, the full URL should be given. Any further information, if known (DOI, 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.
References
in Special Issue
Please ensure that the words 'this issue' are added to any references in the list (and any citations in
the text) to other articles in the same Special Issue.
Reference Style
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.
Elsevier 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. Video files:
please supply 'stills' with your files: you can choose any frame from the video or make a separate image. These will be used instead
of standard icons and will personalize the link to your supplementary information. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork
instruction pages at http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions.
Submission
Checklist
It is hoped that this list will be useful during the final checking of an article prior to sending it to the journal's
Editor for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors for further details of any item. Ensure that the following items are
present: One Author designated as corresponding Author: • E-mail address • Full postal address • Telephone
and fax numbers All necessary files have been uploaded • Keywords • All figure captions • All tables (including
title, description, footnotes) Further considerations • Manuscript has been "spellchecked" and "grammar-checked" •
References are in the correct format for this journal • All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text,
and vice versa • Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web) •
color figures are clearly marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print or to be reproduced
in color on the Web (free of charge) and in black-and-white in print • If only color on the Web is required, black and white
versions of the figures are also supplied for printing purposes For any further information please visit our customer support site
at http://epsupport.elsevier.com.
AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Use of the Digital Object Identifier
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) may be used to cite and link to
electronic documents. The DOI consists of a unique alpha-numeric character string which is assigned to a document by the publisher upon
the initial electronic publication. The assigned DOI never changes. Therefore, it is an ideal medium for citing a document, particularly
'Articles in press' because they have not yet received their full bibliographic information. The correct format for citing a DOI is shown
as follows (example taken from a document in the journal Physics Letters B): doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2003.10.071 When
you use the DOI to create URL hyperlinks to documents on the web, they are guaranteed never to change.
Proofs
One set of page proofs in PDF format will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author (if we do
not have an e-mail address then paper proofs will be sent by post). Elsevier now sends PDF proofs which can be annotated; for this you
will need to download Adobe Reader version 7 (or higher) available free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.
Instructions on how to annotate PDF files will accompany the proofs. The exact system requirements are given at the Adobe site: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/acrrsystemreqs.html#70win. If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and
return to Elsevier in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark
the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by fax, or scan the
pages and e-mail, or by post. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness and correctness of the text,
tables and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will only be considered at this stage with permission
from the Editor. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately. Therefore, it is important to ensure
that all of your corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as inclusion of any subsequent
corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of
your article if no response is received.
Offprints
The corresponding author,
at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, 25 free paper offprints. 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 INQUIRIES
For inquiries relating to the submission
of articles (including electronic submission where available) please visit this journal's homepage. You can track accepted articles at
http://www.elsevier.com/trackarticle 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.
