Author Guidelines

Prior to submission, please carefully read and follow the submission guidelines detailed below. Manuscripts that do not conform to the submission guidelines may be returned without review.

  • All manuscripts must include an abstract typed on a separate page. After the abstract, please supply up to five keywords or brief phrases.
  • Authors are required to provide a short statement of one to two sentences to summarize the article’s findings and significance to the educated public. This description should be included within the manuscript on the abstract/keywords page.
  • Regular articles are limited to 8,000 words (including references, but not including tables and figures). In exceptional circumstances, word-length may be relaxed upon request of the author and approval of the Editor prior to manuscript submission. Please contact the editor’s office.
  • Brief reports may contain up to 1,500 words, up to 3 tables or figures, a 150 word abstract, and up to 10 references. However, the Editor may provide specific requirements for individual papers.
  • We strongly encourage you to use MathType (third-party software) or Equation Editor 3.0 (built into pre-2007 versions of Word) to construct your equations, rather than the equation support that is built into Word 2007 and Word 2010. Equations composed with the built-in Word 2007/Word 2010 equation support are converted to low-resolution graphics when they enter the production process and must be rekeyed by the typesetter, which may introduce errors.
  • Use Equation Editor 3.0 or MathType only for equations or for formulas that cannot be produced as Word text using the Times or Symbol font.
  • Use Word’s Insert Table function when you create tables. Using spaces or tabs in your table will create problems when the table is typeset and may result in errors.
  • Preferred formats for graphics files are TIFF and JPG, and preferred format for vector-based files is EPS. Graphics downloaded or saved from web pages are not acceptable for publication. Multi-panel figures (i.e., figures with parts labeled a, b, c, d, etc.) should be assembled into one file. When possible, please place symbol legends below the figure instead of to the side.
  • List references in alphabetical order. Each listed reference should be cited in text, and each text citation should be listed in the References section.

There is no set restriction on the number of authors for a manuscript. Authors are encouraged to thoroughly review and finalize the order of authorship before submitting their manuscript. The roles of the first and last authors are significant, and if two or more authors have made equal contributions, this should be explicitly mentioned. Individuals who are not listed as authors but have assisted with proofreading or evaluation should be acknowledged in the ‘Acknowledgments’ section. Any changes, additions, removals, or reordering of authors in the authorship list can only be made prior to the manuscript’s acceptance, and such changes require the approval of the journal’s Editor in Chief.

The journal only publishes original research. Manuscripts that have previously been published as a Working Paper are not eligible, unless substantially changed. Such changes should be explicitly acknowledged.