An International Research Journal
• Design & Engineering
• Construction Technology
• Maintenance & Management


The entire submission and review process for Automation in Construction is handled electronically, which shortens publication times. All papers should be submitted electronically through http://ees.elsevier.com/autcon

Prior to submitting your paper, please follow the instructions given below. Please note that you must have an e-mail address to use the online submission system

Authors submit their article online simply by registering, logging-in and submitting. Editors will then invite potential reviewers by e-mail.

Online Submission
Overview
General

Manuscript Preparation:
Structure
Text Layout
Corresponding Author
Abstract
Keywords
Units
Maths
References
Illustrations
Colour Costs and Queries
Free online colour
Tables

Other:
Notification
Copyright
PDF Proofs
Author Benefits
Online paper tracking
Enquiries
Useful Links

Online Submission:
Articles intended for Automation in Construction should be submitted online using our Web-based submission tool. To submit your paper online, please go to http://ees.elsevier.com/autcon 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 is included.

The system will convert your manuscript to a PDF for the review process. Elsevier can accept text files in most standard word-processing formats but Microsoft Word is preferred. Alternatively, they can be in either LaTex or PostScript. Graphics should be high-resolution and the preferred formats are either TIFF or JPEG. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork please refer to the following website: http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

Once a paper has been accepted by the Editors 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 of papers:

Submission language: English (link to the Oxford English Dictionary http://dictionary.oed.com/entrance.dtl )

Language Editing: International Science Editing and Asia Science Editing can provide English language and copy editing services to authors who want to publish in scientific, technical and medical journals and need assistance before they submit their article or, before it is accepted for publication. Authors can contact these services directly: International Science Editing http://www.internationalscienceediting.com and Asia Science Editing http://www.asiascienceediting.com or, for more information about language editing services, please contact authorsupport@elsevier.com who will be happy to deal with any questions.

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 http://www.elsevier.com/termsandconditions.

Types of contributions: Original papers; review articles; short communications; letters to the editor; forthcoming meetings.

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.

Editor's requirements:
All contributions are read by two or more referees to ensure both accuracy and relevance, and revisions to the script may thus be required. On acceptance, contributions are subject to editorial amendment to suit house style. When a manuscript is returned for revision prior to final acceptance, the revised version must be submitted as soon as possible after the author's receipt of the referees' reports. Revised manuscripts returned after four months will be considered as new submissions subject to full re-review.

Detailed instructions on manuscript preparation and artwork instructions can be found below. The editor reserves the right to return, prior to refereeing, any manuscripts which do not conform to the instructions for manuscript preparation and artwork instruction, as well as papers which do not fit the scope of the journal.

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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/locate/latex.)
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Structure:
Follow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, Keywords, Main text, Acknowledgements, Appendix, References, Figures with Captions (unless embedded within the article text) and then Tables. If Figures are not embedded within the text, indicate their position. 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 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, use 12 or 10 pt font size and standard fonts. Print the entire manuscript on one side of the paper only.
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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 (100-150 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 a maximum of ten keywords (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible.
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Units:
Follow internationally accepted rules and conventions: use the international system of units (SI). If other quantities are mentioned, give their equivalent in SI.
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References:
All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript.
[1] A. Walker, Project Management in Construction, 4th ed., Blackwell, Oxford, 2002.
[2] C.J.Anumba, O.O. Ugwu, L. Newnham, A. Thorpe, Collaborative design of structures using intelligent agents, Automation in Construction 11 (1) (2002) 89-103.
[3] A.K. Lenstra and H.W. Lenstra, Jr., Algorithms in number theory, in: J. van Leeuwen (Ed.), Handbook of Computer Science, Vol. A, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1990, pp. 673-715.
[4] M. Li, Lower bounds by Kolmogorov complexity, in: Proc. ICALP '85, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 194, Springer, Berlin, 1985, pp. 383-393.
[5] A. Rajasekar, Semantics for logic programs, Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland, 1989.
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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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Supplying Final Accepted Text on Disk:
Once the paper has been accepted by the editor, 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. We accept most wordprocessing formats, but Word, WordPerfect or LaTeX (see also http://www.elsevier.com/locate/latex) is preferred. Always keep a backup copy of the electronic file for reference and safety. Label the disk with your name, the journal title and any software used. Save your files using the default extension of the program used. Electronic files can be stored on 3.5 inch diskette, ZIP-disk or CD (either MS-DOS or Macintosh).
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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 http://www.elsevier.com/copyright.
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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 http://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 Online Offprints:The corresponding author 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 except 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:

All author enquiries should be made to: authorsupport@elsevier.ie

Useful links: •Submission Checklist can be downloaded•Track a paper• If you are interested in submitting a book in this area, see http://www.elsevier.com/bookauthors
No changes from the accepted version are permissible, without the explicit approval by the Editors. The Publisher reserves the right to decide whether to use the author's file or not. If the file is sent by e-mail, the full name of the journal should be mentioned in the subject field of the message to identify the paper. Authors should include an ASCII table (available from the Publisher) in their files to enable the detection of transmission errors. The files should be mailed to Paulette de Boer, Elsevier B.V.,
P.O. Box 103, 1000 AC Amsterdam, Netherlands. Fax: +31 20 4852 616. For the purpose of further correspondence the manuscript should end with a complete mailing address, preferably including e-mail address, of at least one of the authors.

Submission on disk: Non-LaTeX documents
Only the final accepted manuscript can be submitted on disk, along with a paper-printed version which is identical to the file. Please label the disk with your name, and mention which word processor you have used. The word-processed text should be in single column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible; in particular, do not use the word-processor's options to justify the text or to hyphenate the words. The electronic text should be prepared in a way very similar to that of conventional manuscripts (see also Guide for Authors). The list of references, tables and figure legends should be compiled separately from the main text. Do not reserve space for the figures and tables in the text; instead, indicate their approximate locations, either directly in the electronic text or on the manuscript. The final text should be submitted both in manuscript form and on diskette. It is recommended to store the main text, list of references, tables and figure legends in separate text files with clearly identifiable file names (for example, with extensions .TXT, REF, .TBL, .FIG).

The format of the files depends on the word-processor used. In all other cases the preferred text format is ASCII. Essential is that name and version of the word-processing program and the type of computer on which the text was prepared is clearly indicated on the diskette label or the accompanying checklist. The manuscript may contain parts (e.g. formulas or complex tables) or last-minute corrections which are not included in the text on diskette; however, if this is the case then the differences with the diskette version should be clearly marked on the manuscript.

Illustrative material (original figures or high-quality glossy prints, or photographs showing a sharp contrast) should be included separately.

Keyword Instructions
Important Notice: please add one to five keywords to your article Keywords are essential for the accessibility and retrievability of your article. Keywords assigned to articles will be assembled in a keyword index which will be printed in the last issue of each volume for each journal, and in cumulative indexes. In addition, it is planned to make keywords available on Internet. To maximize the consistency with which such keywords are assigned by different authors, the following guidelines have been drawn up.
Each keyword (which can be a phrase of more than one word) should describe one single concept. Often words like "and" or "of" should be avoided. Avoid very general keywords which become meaningless once in a keyword list. Examples to avoid are "action", "computer", "mathematics". Check whether the keywords as a whole describe the outlines of the article.
Use natural language: for instance "automatic error recovery" rather than "error recovery, automatic".
Try to use nouns and adjectives as much as possible (i.e. use "automatic error recovery" rather than "recovering errors automatically"). Do not use nouns in the plural form.
Use English rather than American spelling (regardless of the spelling used for the article itself).
Avoid the use of abbreviations as much as possible, unless an abbreviation is so well-established that the full term is rarely used (e.g. use "laser" instead of "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation", but use "computer aided design" instead of "CAD").
Although these guidelines are not mandatory, they should be adhered to where possible.

Author Benefits
No page charges
25 offprints of each contribution free of charge to corresponding author
30% discount on Elsevier books

Author Enquiries:
For enquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission where available)please visit http://www.elsevier.com/authors.

Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, are provided after registration of an article for publication.