Submissions

Author Guidelines

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

This section provides detailed instructions for authors preparing and submitting their manuscripts, ensuring adherence to the professional standards observed across leading academic publishers. Compliance with these guidelines is essential for a successful submission and efficient review process.

General Submission Requirements

Manuscript preparation is a critical first step in the publication journey, and adherence to specific formatting and content standards is paramount for ensuring clarity, facilitating the peer review process, and enhancing discoverability.

Language and Clarity

All manuscripts submitted to must be written in clear, concise, and grammatically correct English. Authors are encouraged to minimize the use of specialized jargon. Where technical terms are unavoidable, they should be clearly defined upon their first mention in the text. This approach ensures that the content remains accessible and comprehensible to a broad audience, including researchers from interdisciplinary fields and individuals for whom English may not be their primary language.

File Formats and Technical Specifications

For initial submissions, manuscripts may be provided in common editable formats such as DOC, DOCX, or RTF. While PDF format may be accepted for preliminary review, authors should be prepared to provide editable files for subsequent stages of the review and production process. Figures, tables, and any supplementary materials should be uploaded as separate, high-resolution files to ensure optimal quality and flexibility during typesetting. For photographic or halftone images, a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) is required, while bitmapped line drawings necessitate a minimum of 1000 dpi.

Manuscript Preparation (Font, Spacing, Page/Line Numbers, Headings)

Manuscripts should be utilizing a 12-point standard font such as Times New Roman. Margins of at least one inch (2.54 cm) on all sides are required. To aid the review process, continuous line numbers must be included throughout the entire manuscript, alongside page numbers. The organization of the manuscript should be structured using a maximum of three heading levels, with each level clearly indicated within the text to maintain logical flow. Footnotes are generally not permitted within the main text; any information typically conveyed in footnotes should be integrated into the main narrative or, if appropriate, into the reference list.

The consistent application of these formatting and content standards is not merely an aesthetic preference; it serves a crucial functional purpose. Standardized presentation significantly streamlines the peer review process by making manuscripts easier to read and evaluate. Furthermore, clear and structured abstracts and titles are vital for improving the discoverability of published research, as they allow indexing services to accurately capture and categorize metadata. Failure to adhere to these fundamental requirements can lead to delays in the review process or, in some cases, the withdrawal of a submission from consideration. This emphasis on meticulous preparation ensures that the platform maintains high standards of efficiency and quality control, benefiting both authors and the broader academic community.

Title, Authors, Affiliations, and Keywords

The full title of the manuscript must be specific, descriptive, concise, and readily comprehensible to readers both within and outside the immediate subject field. It should ideally be limited to 200-250 characters and formatted in sentence case, with specialist abbreviations avoided where possible. A shorter, running title (e.g., maximum 70 characters) should also be provided for indexing and navigational purposes.

All authors must be listed with their full names (First Name, Middle Name/Initial, Last Name) and their primary institutional affiliation. The corresponding author’s full contact information, including an active email address, is mandatory. The corresponding author is also required to provide an ORCiD iD at the time of submission, and all co-authors are strongly encouraged to include their respective ORCiD iDs. This unique identifier helps ensure accurate attribution and links researchers to their scholarly output. Finally, authors should include 5-10 alphabetized keywords that accurately represent the core content and themes of their manuscript, aiding in search and discoverability.

Abstract Structure and Content

The abstract should serve as a concise, standalone summary of the entire study. For Original Research Articles and Systematic Reviews, the abstract must be structured using clear sub-headings such as Objective(s), Methods, Results, and Conclusion. For these article types, the abstract should not exceed 250-300 words. Other article types may have unstructured abstracts or, in some cases, no abstract at all. It is important that abstracts do not contain subheadings, undefined abbreviations, or direct citations.

Beyond the fundamental structural requirements, the inclusion of "Highlights" for Original Research Articles and Systematic Reviews is strongly encouraged. These consist of 3-5 concise bullet points, each limited to a maximum of 85 characters (including spaces), designed to summarize the main findings of the article. This feature, adopted by leading publishers, significantly enhances the discoverability and impact of the research. Highlights provide a quick overview for busy readers, making the article's core contributions immediately apparent, and can be particularly valuable for sharing on digital platforms and for rapid information retrieval. This approach demonstrates a forward-thinking commitment to maximizing the reach and engagement of published content.

Detailed Article Types and Word Count Limits

Note: The "Recommended Word Count (Main Text)" excludes the abstract, references, figures, and tables. For final publication, figures and tables may contribute to an overall length assessment.

Formatting and Style Conventions

Beyond content, adherence to specific reporting guidelines for certain study types is a hallmark of scientific rigor and aligns with ethical publishing practices. This commitment to standardized reporting enhances the reproducibility and transparency of research.

Citation and Referencing Style

Authors must adhere to a consistent citation and referencing style throughout their manuscript. While specific style guides (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, AMA) are common in academia, will specify a preferred style in the detailed author instructions. All in-text citations must correspond to an entry in the reference list, which should be accurately formatted according to the chosen style. References should be numbered and called out in numerical order in the text where applicable.

Figures and Tables

Figures and tables should be strategically embedded within the manuscript text, ideally near their first mention, to ensure logical flow and immediate context for the reader. Each figure and table must be accompanied by a clear, concise, and descriptive legend that allows it to be understood independently of the main text. High-resolution images are crucial for print and digital clarity; for example, TIFF or JPG formats with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi for photographs and 1000 dpi for line drawings are recommended. For the purpose of overall manuscript length assessment, each figure will be considered equivalent to approximately 300 words, and each table to 250 words.

Supplemental Material

Authors are encouraged to submit supplementary files that support the main manuscript but are not essential for understanding the core argument. This may include large datasets, additional figures, video files, or detailed methodologies. These materials should be clearly referenced in the main text and uploaded as separate files during submission. The platform supports the inclusion of unlimited additional files to enrich the published research.

Publication Fees and Payment Policy

Standard Publication Fee

A standard Article Publication Charge (APC) of 40 Euros is required for all accepted articles. This fee covers the essential costs associated with the publication process, including the administration of peer review, editorial oversight, copy editing, typesetting, and the long-term online hosting and archiving of the final article. This model is standard for Gold Open Access publishing, ensuring that the article is immediately and freely available to the global research community upon publication.

Limited-Time Promotional Discount

To encourage early submissions and support researchers, a special promotional discount will be applied to the standard APC. For articles submitted and accepted within the timeframe of now until August 31, 2025, the APC will be reduced to 20 Euros. This limited-time offer is designed to provide an accessible entry point for authors to publish their work on.

Additional Charges for Extended Word Counts

To account for the increased editorial and production resources required for longer manuscripts, an additional charge will apply. An amount of 2 Euros will be charged for every 100 words (or part thereof) exceeding a base manuscript word count of 5,000 words. This base word count refers exclusively to the main text of the manuscript, explicitly excluding the abstract, references, figures, and tables. For example, a manuscript with 5,150 words of main text would incur an additional 4 Euros (2 Euros for the first 100 words over 5,000, and 2 Euros for the remaining 50 words, which constitute a "part thereof" of 100 words). This structured approach to additional charges ensures fairness and transparency, directly addressing the increased costs associated with processing and publishing more extensive works.

The detailed breakdown of the fee structure is presented in the table below:

The explicit presentation of the publication fee structure is crucial for transparent financial dealings with authors. The pricing model, which combines a base APC with a per-word overage charge, requires precise definition to prevent any financial disputes. By clearly establishing the 5,000-word threshold for the additional charge, the platform eliminates ambiguity, ensuring authors understand precisely how their total publication cost is calculated. This level of clarity is vital for author satisfaction and reinforces the platform's commitment to professional and transparent practices.

Payment Methods and Currency

Payment for Article Publication Charges can be securely made via credit card through the designated online payment platform. All fees are denominated in Euros. Authors are responsible for any additional bank charges, currency conversion fees, or taxes (e.g., VAT, GST) that may be levied by their financial institution or country on international payments.4 An invoice will be provided upon acceptance of the manuscript, with payment due prior to publication.

Waivers and Discounts (Drawing from Industry Best Practices) 

recognizes the importance of equitable access to scholarly publishing and is committed to supporting researchers globally. While a comprehensive waiver and discount program will be developed over time, the platform will, in line with leading publishers, consider implementing a waiver policy for authors from low- and middle-income countries or those who can demonstrate genuine financial need and lack of research funding, on a case-by-case basis.21 This approach aims to reduce financial barriers and ensure that high-quality research from all regions can be disseminated. This commitment to supporting researchers, particularly those facing financial constraints, aligns with the broader academic community's efforts towards inclusivity and diversity in science.

Contact Information and Support

For any inquiries, clarifications regarding these guidelines, assistance with the submission process, or other support needs, authors are encouraged to contact the editorial office directly. Detailed contact information will be provided on the website's "Contact Us" or "Author Support" page. The platform is committed to providing timely and helpful assistance to ensure a seamless and positive publishing journey for all authors.