Authors can now submit their manuscript online via the Elsevier Editorial System, EES. Prior to submission, authors are encouraged
to read the instructions available by following this link and clicking on the 'help' icon in the top right hand corner of the page. Online
submission considerably shortens the overall publication time.
Online: Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscript online via the Elsevier Editorial System
at http://www.ees.elsevier.com/commat
Submission Language: English
Types of contributions: Original
research papers, reviews, letters to the editor, commentaries are welcome.
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. 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is approved by all authors and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language,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Editor's requirements: If a submitted paper relies heavily on unpublished
material it will be helpful to have a copy of that material for the use of the referee. Papers should contain a Conclusions section,
which particularly in the case of theoretical papers, translates the results into terms readily accessible to most readers. Authors
are kindly requested to include in their cover letter suggestions of three possible experts in the area, whom the Editors may contact
to ask for advice regarding potential referees. It would also be helpful if authors would mention any researchers who should not be considered
as reviewers, due to conflict of interest. This information will be completely confidential.
English Language: Manuscripts
should be proof-read and have English language errors corrected before submission as we may have to return papers due to poor language
usage. Elsevier has negotiated with five different language editing companies to provide their services to our authors at favourable
rates. You will find a listing of these companies which provide pre-submission language editing on http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/authorsview.authors/languageediting/.
Detailed instructions on manuscript preparation and artwork instructions can be found below. The editor reserves the right to
return manuscripts that do not conform to the instructions for manuscript preparation and artwork instruction, as well as paper that
do not fit the scope of the journal, prior to refereeing.
Structure: Follow this order when typing manuscripts: Title, Authors, Affiliations, Abstract, PACS codes, Keywords, Main
text, Acknowledgements, Appendix, References, Figure Captions and then Tables. Do not import figures into the text - see Illustrations.
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. Back to the contents list
Text
Layout: Use double spacing and wide (3 cm) margins. 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 12pt font size and standard fonts. Back
to the contents list
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. Full
postal addresses must be given for all co-authors. Please consult a recent journal paper for style if possible. Back
to the contents list
Abstract: A self-contained abstract
(of up to 200 words) outlining in a single paragraph the aims, scope and conclusions of the paper must be supplied. Back
to the contents list
Keywords: Immediately after the abstract,
provide 6-8 keywords (avoid, for example, 'and', 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field
may be eligible.
Equations: Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly
in the text).
References: All publications cited in the text should be
presented in a list of references following the text of the manuscript.
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. Back to the contents list
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. Back to the contents list
Tables: Tables should be numbered consecutively and given suitable caption
and each table is laid out 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. Back to the contents list
You will be notified by the Editor of the journal of the acceptance of your article and invited
to supply an electronic version of the accepted text, if this is not already available.
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' proprietory 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 copyright from the holder permission to
reproduce any figures for which copyright exists. Elsevier has preprinted forms for use in these cases, available at http://www.elsevier.com/copyright.
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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 only correct
factual errors, or errors introduced by typesetting. For more information on proofreading please go to www.elsevier.com/locate/guidepublication.
Please note that once your paper has been proofed we publish the identical paper online as in print. Back
to the contents list
No page charges:
Publications in this journal is free of charge.
Free Offprints: Twenty-five offprints will be supplied free of charge. Corresponding
authors will be given the choice to buy extra offprints before printing of the article. Authors who pay for colour illustrations will
receive an extra fifty offprints free of charge.
Author Discount: Contributors to Elsevier journals are entitled to a 30%
discount on all Elsevier books. Click
here for more information.
