As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission’s compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word document file format.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.

Author Guidelines

1. Submission Acknowledgement

When you submit a manuscript online, you will receive a submission acknowledgment letter sent by the online system automatically. For email submission, the editor or editorial assistant sends an e-mail confirmation to the submission’s author within one to three working days. If you fail to receive this confirmation, please check your bulk email box or contact the editorial assistant.

2. Basic Review

The editor or editorial assistant determines whether the manuscript fits the journal’s focus and scope. Next, a check for the similarity rate is done using dotRED. Any manuscripts out of the journal’s scope or containing plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, are rejected.

3. Decision Is Made

The decision to accept or reject an article is based on the suggestions of reviewers. If differences of opinion occur between reviewers, the editor-in-chief will weigh all comments and arrive at a balanced decision based on all comments, or a second round of peer review may be initiated.

4. Peer Review

We use a double-blind system for peer review; both reviewers’ and authors’ identities remain anonymous. The submitted manuscript will be reviewed by at least two experts: one editorial staff member as well as one to three external reviewers. The review process may take 4 to 9 working days.

5. Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.