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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, or RTF document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • 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.

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  1. Format. 1. Length: Although there is no page limit for a Regular Paper, it is strongly suggested that a complete manuscript be no less than 5 pages and no more than 20 pages (10 pt, double-spaced, including figures, tables, and references).
  2. Reviews and Mini-reviews. Article Title, Authors' names and institutional affiliations, Abstract, and Keywords, Introduction, Main text (divided into subheadings), Conclusions, Acknowledgements (if any), References.
  3. Research Articles. Article Title, Authors' names and institutional affiliations, Abstract and Keywords, Introduction, Research Approach, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgements (if any), References.
  4. Title (). The title should clearly and concisely reflect the emphasis and content of the paper. The title must be brief and grammatically correct. Titles do not normally include numbers, acronyms, abbreviations, or punctuation. The title should be no more than 20 words in length and should be bolded.
  5. Authors' names and institutional affiliations. This should include the full author names (with no titles or qualifications), institutional addresses (Department, Institute, City, Post/Zip code, Country), and email addresses for all authors. Authors and affiliations must be linked using superscript numerals. The corresponding author should also be indicated.
  6. Abstract. The abstract should be comprehensive but concise consisting of no more than 300 words and should be structured to give a brief introduction to the study, main findings of the study, conclusions drawn from the study and their significance. Do not include references, headings and non-standard abbreviation. While the abstract is conceptually divided into three sections (Background, Methodology/Principal Findings, and Conclusions/Significance), please do not apply these distinct headings to the abstract within the article file. Please do not include any citations and avoid specialist abbreviations.
  7. Research Approach. Study/Experimental procedures should be given in sufficient detail to allow these to be replicated by other researchers. The source of the various reagents and materials used in the study should be given, where possible.
  8. Results. The results section should provide details of all of the experiments that are required to support the conclusions of the paper. There is no specific word limit for this section, but details of experiments that are peripheral to the main thrust of the article and that detract from the focus of the article should not be included. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading. Large datasets, including raw data, should be submitted as supporting files; these are published online alongside the accepted article. The results section should be written in past tense.
  9. Discussion. This section should present comprehensive analysis of the results in the light of any previous research. Discussion may also be combined with results.
  10. Conclusions. Conclusion section should bring out the significance of your research or review paper, show how you have brought closure to the research problem/issue, and point out remaining gaps in knowledge by suggesting issues for further research.
  11. Acknowledgements. The authors should acknowledge the source of funding for the research presented in their article and any other contribution.
  12. Statement of Competing Interests. Include an explicit disclosure of any competing interests (financial or others) that may have influenced the study or the conclusions drawn from the study. If none, state 'the authors have no competing interests'.
  13. References. The reference list appears at the end of your paper. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper (with the exception of personal communications) must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text. Only published or accepted manuscripts should be included in the reference list. Papers that have been submitted but not yet accepted should not be cited. Limited citation of unpublished work should be included in the body of the text only as "unpublished data".
  14. Citation. As you write your paper, you will cite your references. A citation to a reference in the body of the text is indicated in brackets by indicating the author could be single authorship, shared or multiple responsibility shared or corporate body, separated by a comma and followed by a year of publication. Full details should be provided in the References section.
  15. Reference Formats. A complete reference should contain the name(s) of the author(s) and/or editor(s), year of publication and a full stop. Then the title of the article, the name of the book or conference proceedings where appropriate, and bibliographic information about the article such as the name of the publisher, the city of publication, and the page numbers. The basic concept is that the reference should be sufficiently complete so that the reader could readily find the reference and can judge the authority and objectivity of the reference. All author names appear as Last name, Initials. For example, if Margaret Ssonko is the primary author and Alice Agogino is the second author, the correct appearance of the author names would be: Ssonko, M.& Agogino, A. 2012.
  16. Books - Standard format. Authors, Year of publication, Title, Publisher, City of Publication, page numbers(if appropriate). Example: 1. Fogg, B.J. 2013. Persuasive technology: using computers to change what we think and do, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Boston, pp. 30-35.
  17. Articles - Standard format. Authors, year of publication, Title of the article,Journal name(in italics), Volume (Issue), Pages. Example: Hirsh, H., Coen, M.H., Mozer, M.C., Hasha, R. &Flanagan, J.L. 2002. Room service, AI-style. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 14 (2):8-19.
  18. Conference Proceedings - Standard format Authors, year of publication, Title of the article. In: Title of conference (in ital), Publisher, Pages. Example: Leclercq, P. & Heylighen, A. 2013. Analogies per hour: A designer's view on analogical reasoning, in: 7th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Design, Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 285-303.
  19. E-Books - Standard format. Authors, year of publication, Title of E-book(in italics),Publisher, Date of original publication. [Format] Available: Source. Example: Eckes, T. 2000. The Developmental Social Psychology of Gender, Lawrence Erlbaum. [E-book] Available: netLibrary e-book.
  20. E-journal - Standard format. Authors, "Title of Article," Title of Journal(in italics), Volume (Issue), pages, month year. [Format] Available: Database Name (if appropriate), article number (if given), internet address. [Accessed date of access]. Example: Altun,A. 2003. Understanding hypertext in the context of reading on the web: Language learners' experience, Current Issues in Education, 6(12),pp. [Online]. [Online]. Available from: http://cie.ed.asu.edu/volume6/number12/. [Accessed Dec. 2, 2004].
  21. Tables. The table title should be concise, no more than one sentence. The rest of the table legend and any footnotes should be placed below the table. Footnotes can be used to explain abbreviations. Tables must be cell-based, such as would be produced in a spreadsheet program or in Microsoft Word. Do not provide tables as graphic objects. Tables must be no larger than one printed page (7inches x 9.5inches). Larger tables can be published as online supporting information. Bold and italics formatting will be preserved in the published version; however, more extensive formatting will be lost. Do not include color, shading, lines, rules, text boxes, tabs, returns, or pictures within the table. All tables must be numbered consecutively (in Arabic numbers). Table headings should be placed (centered) above the table. All Tables should be referred to in the text as Table 1, Table 2, etc.
  22. Figures. Figures should be as small and simple as is compatible with clarity. The goal is for figures to be comprehensible to readers in other or related disciplines, and to assist their understanding of the paper. Unnecessary figures and parts (panels) of figures should be avoided: data presented in small tables or histograms, for instance, can generally be stated briefly in the text instead. Avoid unnecessary complexity, coloring and excessive detail. All illustrations should be original drawings or photographic prints of originals. Photographs should be glossy prints. Photocopies are often not good enough and should be avoided. All illustrations must be numbered consecutively, as Fig. 1, Fig. 2. Center figure captions beneath the figure. Do not assemble figures at the back of your article, but place them as close as possible to where they are mentioned in the main text. No part of a figure should go beyond the typing area.
  23. Figure Legends. The aim of the figure legend should be to describe the key messages of the figure, but the figure should also be discussed in the text. Each legend should have a concise title of no more than 15 words. The legend itself should be succinct, while still explaining all symbols and abbreviations. Avoid lengthy descriptions of methods.
  24. Equations. Number equations consecutively. Equation numbers, within parentheses, are to position flush right, as in Eq. (1) or equation (1), using a right tab stop. Note that the formula is centered using a center tab stop. Be sure that the symbols in your formula have been defined before or immediately following the equation. Use "Eq. (1)" or "equation (1)", not "(1)", in the sentences. Notation must be legible, clear, compact, and consistent with standard usage. In general, acronyms should be defined at first use.
  25. Variables and Vectors

Set single-letter variables in italics (e.g. m). Set vectors in boldface (e.g. E). Derivative "d," abbreviations, and multi-letter identifiers should be set in roman (plain) type (e.g. cos, ...dx). 20. Use standard units of measurement, and italicise all Latin words and scientific names. Use numerals before standard units of measurements, e.g., 4 g, 3 days, 24 hr, 15 kg ha-1, metric tonnes or t, otherwise use words from numbers one to nine and numerals for larger numbers.

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