Submission of Papers
The entire publication process is handled electronically, which shortens publication times. All papers should be submitted electronically through http://ees.elsevier.com/ccc/


Prior to submitting your paper, please follow the instructions given below. Please note that you must have an email 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 email.


Detailed instructions on the use of the online submission system are available at http://ees.elsevier.com/ccc/ 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 at: authorsupport@elsevier.com


All submissions will be reviewed by two referees.

Submission of a paper implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that if accepted it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher. The use of proprietary names should be avoided. Papers essentially of an advertising nature will not be accepted.

Types of Contributions
Original papers; review articles; short communications/technical notes; reports of conferences and meetings; book reviews; letters to the editor.

Manuscript Preparation

Abstracts: Each paper should be provided with an abstract of 100-150 words reporting concisely on the purposes and results of the paper.

Text: Follow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Main text, Acknowledgements, Appendix, References, Figure Captions and then Tables. Do not import the Figures or Tables into your text. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk and footnote. All other footnotes should be avoided. The title of the paper should unambiguously reflect its contents.

Abbreviations & 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 should not be used.

Abbreviations for units should follow the suggestions of the British Standards publication BS 1991. The full stop should not be included in abbreviations, e.g. m (not m.), ppm (not ppm), % and '/' should be used in preference to 'per cent' and 'per'. Where abbreviations are likely to cause ambiguity or may not be readily understood by an international readership, units should be put in full.

References: All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript. In the text refer to references by a number in square brackets on the line (e.g. Since Cox[1]), and the full reference should be given in a numerical list at the end of the paper.
References should be given in the following form:

1. Cox HL. The elasticity and strength of paper and other fibrous materials. British J Appl Phys 1952;3(1):72-79.
2. Caston JH, Bracey E. Crack arrest of concrete. UK Patent 57175, 13 February 1965.
3. Oakley DR, Proctor BA. Tensile stress-strain behaviour of glass fibre reinforce cement. In: Neville A, editor. Proceedings RILEM Symposium. Lancaster: Construction Press, 1975. p. 347-359.
4. Neville AM. Properties of concrete. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1973.
5. Smith JL. Epoxy-repaired concrete. PhD thesis. Sheffield, Sheffield University, 1983.

Illustrations:

Online: For online submission upload one copy of the full paper including graphics and all figures as graphics file separately at the online submission site. 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.

A detailed guide on electronic artwork is available on our website: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions
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Colour Costs and Queries:
For colour illustrations to be produced in the print journal, 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. ' 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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Proofs
Proofs will be sent to the author (first named author if no corresponding author is identified of multi-authored papers) and should be returned within 48 hours of receipt. Corrections should be restricted to typesetting errors; any others may be charged to the author. Any queries should be answered in full. Please note that authors are urged to check their proofs carefully before return, since the inclusion of late corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofs are to be returned to the Log-in Department, Elsevier Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, UK.

Offprints
The corresponding author will be provided with a PDF of the article via e-mail or, alternatively, with twenty-five paper offprints, at no cost in either case. In cases where colour is paid for, authors will receive an additional one hundred free offprints. Additional offprints can be ordered using the order form sent to the corresponding author after the manuscript has been accepted. Orders for reprints (produced after publication) will incur a 50% surcharge.

Copyright
All authors must sign the "Transfer of Copyright" agreement before the article can be published. This transfer agreement enables Elsevier Ltd to protect the copyrighted material for the authors, but does not relinquish the author's 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. This includes the right to adapt the article for use in conjunction with computer systems and programs, including reproduction or publication in machine-readable form and incorporation in retrieval systems. Authors are responsible for obtaining from the copyright holder permission to reproduce any figures for which copyright exists.

Author Enquiries:
For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available) please visit this journal's homepage at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/cemconcomp. 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, as well as copyright information, frequently asked questions and more.