Prepared on 15 November, 2005
Note: This instruction is for those who submit a paper written in English. Those who write a paper in Japanese should follow the original instruction in Japanese (27 July, 2001.)
1. Authors
Authors must follow the “Journal of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (Journal JSCE) -- Guidelines for Authors” when submitting papers. Only individual persons but not company or organization can be author(s). As JSCE consists mainly of personal members, authors are required to submit their papers in their personal names.
Once the paper is submitted, the name of authors cannot be changed, added or deleted.
2. Deadline
No deadline for paper submission is specified.
3. Manuscripts
3.1 Paper categories
The paper categories consist of i) Research Paper, ii) Report, iii) Research Note, iv) Discussion Paper and v) Committee Report.
3.2 Manuscript Requirements
The manuscripts should meet requirements, which are:
1) to be accurate
2) to be described in objective way
3) to have been fully reviewed contents and wording
4) not to have been published elsewhere
A special note on the requirement #4 above – manuscripts containing articles that have been published before can be submitted if it applies to one of the following:
1) Research paper that is made by restructuring published papers with new findings
2) Paper that is made by restructuring the articles published on journals/proceedings with limited readers.
The division committee is responsible for deciding if each paper meets these requirements. To ensure accuracy and efficiency of their decision-making process, if any part of your paper has already been published or is related to any published articles, please specify clearly in your paper which part of the paper was published before and to what extent the submitted paper owes to the published one.
Note that a paper should be submitted as a completed one. Simply dividing a large research into small pieces of paper and submitting them in serial are not acceptable.
3.3 How to Prepare a Manuscript
Please follow the instructions mentioned below when preparing your manuscript.
1) Clearly state the objective, making sure your wording allows readers to easily find the most important arguments.
2) Clarify the relation of the submitted paper and the past researches/technologies referenced, that is, show what part of the past researches/technologies have been further explored and what is unique and new contribution in your paper.
3) Describe the scope of the paper clearly and accurately.
Here is an example of the structure of a paper:
(i) Research Objectives
(ii) Methods
(iii) Results and Discussion
(iv) Conclusion
4) The title should be simple and clearly representing the content of the paper. Series of papers of common title with serial numbers (e.g., Part I, Part II, etc.) are not acceptable.
3.4 Publication Charge: Publication charge for a paper is to be referred to the table below.
|
|
Number of pages |
Charge |
|
1-4 |
15,000 Japanese Yen |
|
|
|
5-6 |
25,000 Japanese Yen |
|
7-8 |
40,000 Japanese Yen |
|
9-10 |
45,000 Japanese Yen |
|
11 to 20 |
10,000 Japanese Yen extra charge per page |
Note: 1) If the principal author is a non - JSCE member, the extra charge of 10,000 Japanese Yen is applied to each paper.
2) If an author has difficulty to cover a publication charge, he/ she can ask finalized the committee for exemption of charge with relevant reasons upon the submission of the final manuscript after his/ her submitted paper is accepted for publication. If the reasons, are considered reasonable by the committee, the author may be exempt from the charge.
4. Paper Reviewing Process
4.1 Purpose of Reviewing
The submitted paper is peer-reviewed to judge its qualification for Journal JSCE. The Division Committee may ask authors to make revisions of the paper to satisfy the requirement.
It should be noted, however, that the author is inherently responsible for the quality of the published paper.
4.2 Paper Reviewing Division
The Journal JSCE consists of seven divisions. Every paper is reviewed by the division the author has chosen. For further information on the categories and their definitions, see the Guidelines for Authors. The committee may ask the author to change the chosen division if the committee judges irrelevant.
4.3 Reviewer
The division committee assigns three reviewers for each paper.
4.4 Reviewing Methods
4.4.1 Evaluation
Each reviewer evaluates the paper based on the criteria shown below in objective manner.
(1) Novelty: Not to be easily derived from well-known or already published findings.
For example, a paper is evaluated as having novelty when it has the following characteristics:
a) The topic, contents or methods are original.
b) Important issue has been raised to academia or society.
c) It greatly contributes to the clarification of a phenomenon.
d) It consists of valuable technological discussion and experiences about very original planning, design and construction.
e) Valuable results obtained through difficult research/technological discussion are presented.
f) A comprehensive systemization of a timely topic with new finding and insights.
(2) Usefulness: Beneficial in the engineering or industrial practice.
For example, a paper is evaluated as being useful when it has the following characteristics:
a) The topic and the content are timely and useful.
b) The research/technological findings have great potential of application, use or development.
c) The research/technological findings serve as useful information.
d) A good systemization of research/technology in the respective field is suggested, giving future exploration opportunities.
e) The research/technological findings are worth being put into practice.
f) Worth being applied to future experiments, investigations, planning, design or construction works.
g) It brings up an issue or a discussion and/or offers beneficial opinion on them.
h) The test/measurement data can serve as reference data for other researches or construction works.
i) It proposes new figures, tables and diagrams that are useful for application.
j) It brings up an issue or a discussion and/or offers beneficial opinion on them.
(3) Level of Completeness: Clear and neat paper structure to allow readers to understand the content easily. Elegant style of writing is unnecessary. The following criteria are applied for evaluation:
a) The overall structure is appropriate.
b) The purpose and the results are clearly described.
c) The relationship with past research/technology is clearly shown.
d) Wording is appropriate.
e) Figures/tables are easy to understand.
f) The paper is not redundant.
g) The number of figures/ tables is acceptable.
(4) Credibility: Free from any significant mistake in the content, serving readers as a reliable literature.
For example, all calculation processes are not reviewed in detail, the following points are considered in credibility evaluation:
a) Whether every single important reference is dealt with and evaluated in a fair manner.
b) Whether comparison is made and evaluation carried out with reference to past researches/technologies and appropriate conclusions are derived.
c) Whether test/analytical conditions are clearly described.
4.4.2 Judgment by reviewer
Based on the results of the evaluation described in Section 4.4.1 and comparison with past published papers in Journal JSCE, the reviewer judges if the paper is to be accepted or rejected.
Please note that a paper is not necessarily rejected if it fails to meet just one of the criteria described in Section 4.4.1. The reviewer should try to accept a paper that can contribute to the future academic/technological development, even if it has some drawbacks. When the reviewer recommends rejection, reasons should be given according to the items mentioned below in the Paper Review Report. The results of review are to be described in detail regardless of its acceptance or rejection.
Reason of paper rejection
Research papers & Reports
I. Mistakes
a) Arguments or consideration processes have fatal mistake.
b) Calculation and data compilation are wrong.
c) The discussion is constituted with obviously irrelevant logic in phenomenon analysis.
d) The discussion is constituted with obviously unfair logic based on only biased data and literatures.
e) There are too many fundamental faults that need corrections.
II. Past publication
f) It is obvious that the paper was published before.
g) The paper is divided into smaller pieces in serial, and thus cannot be regarded as a complete research paper or report.
h) The discussion framework is presented as if derived from the author’s own development though it is actually based on the research/technological achievements by other researchers.
III. Low Quality
i) A mere presentation of a well-known theory with no new knowledge or findings whatsoever.
j) Some useful information is included but is not adequate to make the paper to be worth reading as a research paper or a report at all.
k) It is clear that research/technological explorations have not reached to a level to serve as a complete research paper or report.
l) The concept is poor so that the obtained results are obvious.
m) The study/technology presented is just an imitation of development in other field, thus has no value at all.
IV. Overall Content and Direction
n) The content is highly political or highly publicity oriented.
o) The overall description is dogmatic and bound with highly prejudiced ideas.
p) The paper consists of mere subjective ideas, failing to serve as a logical/empirical paper or report.
q) There is a highly personal interest behind the logic, which is too problematic to be published in the Journal.
r) The paper does not conform to the principles of editorial committee of the JSCE.
Research Notes
s) A fatal mistake is found in the foundation of the note.
t) No new knowledge or findings whatsoever is shown.
u) As being completely dogmatic; it can not be regarded beneficial to JSCE members and readers
v) It is clearly political or publicity oriented.
w) There are too many basic faults that need corrections.
x) Other reasons (See also the rejection criteria for a research paper/report)
4.4.3 Decision by Division Committee
The Division Committee judges if paper is to be accepted based on the reports by three reviewers. In principle, if two or more of the three reviewers recommend the acceptance, the paper will be accepted. If any reviewer requires a revision on the paper, the division committee may request author to revise the paper. The division committee will review the revised paper to judge whether the author has given satisfactory revision and response to the comments by reviewer. The reviewer may be requested to re-review the paper for this purpose. The Division Committee has responsibility in its final judgment, and notifies the decision promptly.
4.5 Discussion Papers
The submitted discussion paper is reviewed by the person who had reviewed the paper on which the discussion is made. If the discussion paper is deemed relevant, the Division Committee sends the discussion paper to the author of addressed paper and requests to reply to it. When he/she submits a reply paper, discussion and reply are reviewed together. These two papers will then be published together if both are deemed appropriate.
5. How to Prepare a Manuscript in English
5.1 How to Submit a Manuscript
A manuscript file must be submitted through the web site of JSCE (http://www.jsce.or.jp). A manuscript file should be converted into a PDF file. For additional information, please refer to “Electronic submission of a manuscript to JSCE Journal” seen at http://www…. for more detailed information when submitting your paper.
5.2 Number of Pages
Papers to be published in Journal JSCE should meet the page number requirements set forth for each paper category as shown in the table below. No extra pages exceeding these limits are allowed.
Paper category |
Maximum number of pages |
Extra number of pages accepted |
|
Research Paper/Report |
Up to 10 |
10 |
|
Research note |
Up to 4 |
2 |
|
Review paper |
Up to 4 |
0 |
|
Committee Report |
Up to 6 |
4 |
5.3 Author Indications and Contact Information
1) Make sure to write down the affiliation and contact information at the time of submission. Should there be any change in affiliation, address or other contact information, it can be indicated at the time of final manuscript submission. E-mail addresses can be given in the space provided if necessary; however, please refrain from indicating them for authors who are expected to have contact information changes in the near future.
2) English translations for job positions used in your organization are accepted.
5.4 Abstract, Keywords and E-mail addresses
1) English paper needs English abstract only.
2) List three to five keywords that well represent the content in the location specified.
3) E-mail addresses of the authors may be included where necessary. Avoid listing e-mail address that is expected to change near future.
5.5 Wording and Chapter/Section/Sub-section
Keep simple and clear wording and avoid redundancy throughout the paper. Avoid including any highly personal remarks and expressions of an advertisement or a publicity nature.
Use the numbering specified below in bold letters. Make sure not to use any other form of numbering.
1., 2., 3., … Chapters
(1), (2), (3), … Sections
a), b), c), … Sub-sections
Headings should all be in bold and left justified.
5.6 Equations and Symbols
Use common fonts, symbols and unit expressions in equations and figures where possible. Provide a list of symbols in an attachment where necessary. Try to make equations as simple as possible. Try not to show the detailed development or induction of equations, but to explain them by words. Give the definitions of symbols used in equations by words where they first appear. Also avoid using a same symbol for signifying two or more different definitions.
5.7 Unit Systems
Use the SI units in principle. When using other unit systems, show that unit in parenthesis as well.
Examples:
Unit weight 9.8 kN/m3 (1 tf/m3)
0.49 MPa (5 kgf/cm2)
5.8 Figures/Tables/Photographs
1) Keep the characters in figures, tables and photographs consistent with the main text.
2) In principle, figures, tables or photographs should be grouped and inserted at the top or bottom of the page containing the part of the main text that first refers to them. Do not insert figures, tables or photographs between the texts.
3) Color figures and color photos are acceptable. The resolutions recommended are 1200 dpi for black and white images and 300 dpi for color images. Note that too large files resulting from high resolution of the manuscript are not preferable for the readers of the.
4) When referring to figures, tables and photographs appeared in existing literature, make sure to state the source and obtain authorization from the author or copyright holder of the originals beforehand.
5) When drawing figures, character size should usually be 1.5 to 2 mm, and symbols should be drawn just a little larger than you would think appropriate so as to avoid them from becoming too small.
5.9 References
An accepted paper is published in an electronic journal and each reference in the paper has a cross-reference function. To prevent the mistakes of links to the references, we ask for your cooperation in carefully observing the following regulations and guidelines.
a) References should be numbered in the order of appearance and listed after the main text. In the main text, identify the references by right-hand-side superscript numbers that correspond to those in the reference list at the end.
b) In the reference list, state the name(s) of the author(s), name of the article, name of the journal/book, volume/number, pages and year/month/date of publication in this order. The date and month of publication can be omitted. In the case of an English journal, spell out the family name with the initial of the first name. List all the names of contributing authors in the reference list regardless of the number of authors involved. However, when referring to 3 or more contributing authors in the main text, the authors can state only the first author and use et al.
In the case of a book in an independent volume, state the name(s) of the author(s), book title, pages, publisher and year of publication.
The name of an English book in an independent volume should be written with all first letters in capitals. The name of an English journal or article should be in Italics. Follow the examples below that show formats.
[Reference List Example]
1) Jacob Bear: Hydraulics of Groundwater, 567 p., McGraw-Hill International Book Co., 1979.
2) Miles, J. W.: On the generation of surface waves by shear flows, J. Fluid Mech., Vol. 3, Pt. 2, pp. 185-204, Aug. 1957.
3) Koening, H. W.: Energiumwand-lungsanlagen der Biggetalsperre, Wasserwirtschaft, Heft 1, S. 25-28, Jan., 1967.
4) Miche, M.: Amortissement des houles dans le do-maine de l’eau peu profonde, La Houile Blanche, No. 5, pp. 726-745, Now., 1956.
5) Gresho, P. M., Chan, S. T., Lee, R. L. and Upson, C. D.: A modified finite element method for solving the time-dependent incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, part 1, Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids, Vol. 4, pp. 557-598, 1984.
6) Kokubu, M. and Okamura, H.: A basic research on fatigue of reinforced concrete beams with high-strength deformed bars, Transaction of JSCE, No.122, pp. 29-42, 1965 (in Japanese).
7) Shepard, F. P. and Inman, D. L.: Nearshore water circulation related to bottom topography and wave refraction, Trans. AGU., Vol. 31, No. 2, 1950.
8) Okamura, H. and Makawa,K.: Non-linear finite element analysis of reinforced concrete, journal of Materials, Concrete Structures and Pavements, JSCE, No.360/V-3, pp.1-10, 1985. (in Japanese)
9) Smith, W., et al : Cellular phone positioning and travel times estimates, Proc. of 8th ITS World Congress, CD-ROM, 2000.
5.10 Footnotes
Avoid using footnotes to the main text but include the explanation in the main text instead. Should a digressive explanation be needed, give it as an appendix at the end of the main text.
5.11 Formats of Manuscripts/Camera-ready Materials
Follow the formats shown in the examples of English camera-ready material given in a later section.
6. Correction of Misprints in Published Papers
For minor misprints incurred as results of the author's own fault and found after printing, no correction information is published in principle. Pay every attention when preparing a manuscript. For Serious ones, an article for correction should be published after the discussion of the editorial committee of journal JSCE.
7. Copyright Attribution (Transfer of Copyright):
Upon decision of acceptance of the paper, the copyright is attributed (transferred) to JSCE. Thus, the copyright (including the rights under Articles 27 and 28 of the Japanese Copyright Law) of all literary works in the Journal JSCE is attributed (transferred) to the JSCE.
Note that signatures in a copyright transfer and page charge agreement are required for all the authors. Authors are asked to submit the form as soon as the manuscript is accepted for publication.
In principle, the JSCE will not prevent authors from using the whole or part of their articles in the form of photocopy, translation or adaptation. However, authors should inform the JSCE if they publish their articles in full on their own web sites or other similar media on the Internet.When a third person applies for the photocopying of the whole or part of an article (including for translation purposes), the JSCE can give him/her permission on its own discretion unless deemed inappropriate. In such a case, the JSCE later notifies the author of how his/her literary work will be used.
8. Other Instructions
(1) The date of receipt of manuscript submitted through the web site of JSCE is defined as the date when JSCE acknowledges it.
(2) A received manuscript is checked if it satisfies minimum format requirements. Those failing to meet them are off the procedure for a while to be returned to the sender or to spare time for making an inquiry to the author.
(3) If a paper is accepted for publication, the manuscript will not be returned.
(4) Information on the details of reviewing process of individual papers is not disclosed.
(5) All inquiries on receipt of materials should be addressed to the contact below. Note however that the secretariat cannot answer to any questions related to: (i) when the Editorial Committee meeting will be held, and (ii) details of the review. The author can inquire the status of reviewing process.
Secretariat, Journal JSCE
Japan Society of Civil Engineers
1-chome, Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0004, Japan
TEL. 03-3355-3435
FAX. 03-5379-0125
Notes on Preparation of Materials
(English version prepared on 16 September, 2005)
The Editorial Committee on JSCE Journals
When preparing your material for submission after the publication acceptance, refer to English examples shown in a later section. Please help maintain consistency of the journal by sticking to the required format. Note that a material with substantial mistakes in its format or quality will result in resubmission.
The reason JSCE asks is that the desktop publishing technology has made it possible to create high quality materials. However, it is also true that slight discrepancies in font size/shape and layout dimensions are incurred by variations in operating systems and software programs. JSCE admits such discrepancies, and therefore accepts materials that do not precisely match the dimensions or other requirements shown in the format examples. If your software programs do not allow you to meet the format requirements described below, please provide an explanation in the remarks column on the contribution screen when sending the material. If your material is not far from the required format, it will be published as it is.
1. Fonts
1.1 English Materials
Basically use standard Roman types such as Times.
Use Roman fonts in bold for: the title of the paper, headings to chapters/sections/subsections, “Table 1”, “Fig. 2”, “Acknowledgements”, “Appendix” and “References”, the date of manuscript receipt.
Use all capital letters for: the title of the paper, family name(s) of the author(s), headings to chapters, “Acknowledgements”, “Appendix” and “References”. (All in bold except the family name(s) of the author(s))
1.2 Keywords
Keywords should be in italics. Heading “Key Words” are in bold-italics. Do not begin keywords with capital letters unless they are proper names.
1.3 Font Size
The examples shown here have been created with Windows software programs (MS Word, Word Perfect) and Macintosh software programs (MS Word, Word Perfect, Solo Writer). The font sizes used here, e.g. 9pt and 20pt are used as the standard in Windows and Macintosh machines. Variations in operating systems and software result in slight discrepancies in the actual size of 9pt fonts, which are acceptable.
2. Layout
2.1 Number of lines per page
Use a top margin of 19 mm and bottom margin of 24 mm. In principle, the number of lines should be 56 in English. However, some software programs have functions that automatically adjust line spacing above and below symbols with superscript notation or fractional numbers, or automatically widen overall line spacing on page to avoid a heading from appearing at the bottom. A reduction in the number of lines in such a case would be acceptable.
2.2 Keywords
Keywords should not exceed 2 lines.
2.3 Miscellaneous notes
Texts should be justified and aligned both left and right end. Use hyphenations properly in English texts to avoid any unnecessary blank space between words.
When using symbols or equations with superscript notations, consider script size should not be larger than ordinary characters.
Good example: Resisting force is represented by CＤ.
Bad example: Resisting force is represented by cD.
3. Common Mistakes
Here are some formatting mistakes commonly found in actual materials submitted. Please make sure not to overlook them.
- - Make sure commas “,” and periods “.” or a superscript notation, e.g. “3)” are not positioned at the beginning of a line.
- - Make sure parentheses are not positioned at the end of a line.
- - Make sure numbers and symbols (esp. those with superscript notations) do not split between lines.
- - Make sure headings to chapters/sections do not appear at the bottom of a page. Insert a blank line to move the heading location to the top of the next page or column as necessary.
- - Headings to figures, e.g. Fig. 1, Table 2 and Photograph 3 should be in bolds.
- - Numbering of equations in the main text should follow the following style: Equation (1) and Equation (2).
- - Center equations on page. Do not draw leaders between an equation and its number.
Bad example (leaders inserted): A=B+C………….(1)
- - Equation numbers should be right justified.
- - No italicization of units.
Good example: m/s
Bad example: m/s
- - Superscript notations for references should not look 1,5) but 1), 5).
- - Italicize the names of journals/books in the reference list in the English text.
- - Where an entry in the reference list splits between 2 or more lines, indent the second line and others that follow, as shown in the format example.
- - State the date/month/year of manuscript receipt on the last page.
- - Keywords should be in italics; they should not begin with capital letters and the first keyword is no exception, except for proper names that should begin with capital letters.
- - There is a clear difference between italic letters and slanted letters. Try to keep using italics where possible.