Chemical

Open access
Engineering Journal Advances

Guide for authors

About the journal
Aims and scope
Language
Article types
Peer review
Open access
Ethics and policies
Ethics in publishing
Submission declaration
Authorship
Changes to authorship
Declaration of interests
Funding sources
Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Preprints
Use of inclusive language
Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses
Jurisdictional claims
Writing and formatting
File format
Title page
Abstract
Keywords
Highlights
Graphical abstract
Math formulae
Tables
 Figures, images and artwork
Generative AI and Figures, images and artwork
Supplementary material
Video
Research data
Data statement
Data linking
Research Elements
Article structure
References
Submitting your manuscript
Submission checklist
Submit online
After receiving a final decision
Article Transfer Service
Publishing agreement
License options
Open access
Permission for copyrighted works
Proof correction
Share Link
Responsible sharing
Resources for authors
Elsevier Researcher Academy
Language and editing services
Getting help and support
Author support

About the journal

Aims and scope
Now Indexed in Web of Science.
Chemical Engineering Journal Advances, a partner title to the highly-regarded Chemical Engineering
Journal, is a new online only, open access, peer reviewed journal.
Chemical Engineering Journal Advances focuses upon five aspects of Chemical Engineering: Control,
Treatment, Remediation of Environmental Hazards; Chemical Reaction Engineering; Environmental
Chemical Processes and Engineering; Novel Materials and Applications; Advanced Technology.
Control, Treatment, Remediation of Environmental Hazards
Separation technology
Desalination
Advanced oxidation processes
Resource Recovery
Waste to energy
CO2 capture and utilization
Membrane science and technology
Bioremediation
Chemical Reaction Engineering
Reaction Kinetics
Transport Phenomenon
Micro-nano Fluidic Reactor Engineering
Process Systems Engineering
Electrochemical Reactor Engineering
(Microbial) Fuel-cells
Novel reactor designs
Environmental Chemical Processes and Engineering
 Environmental Interfaces
Aquatic Chemistry
Contaminant Fate and Transport
Adsorption Processes
Chemical speciation and transformation
Novel Materials and Nanotechnology Applications
Environmental Nanotechnology
Advanced Energy Materials
CO2 reduction materials
Environmental Catalysis
Reactive Functional Membrane
Biomass Materials
Advanced Technologies
Nanotechnologies
Novel Sensing and Detection Technologies
Novel Energy Technologies
Low Carbon Technologies
Multidisciplinary Technologies
Language
All papers submitted to the journal should be written in good English. Authors for whom English is not
their native language are encouraged to have their paper checked before submission for grammar and
clarity. English language and copyediting services can be provided by: International Science Editing
and Asia Science Editing. Please note Elsevier neither endorses nor takes responsibility for any
products, goods or services offered by outside vendors through our services or in any advertising. For
more information about language editing services please visit our Support Center.
Article types
The editors make every effort to ensure that manuscripts are fairly and independently reviewed.
Submissions which describe novel theory and its application to practice are welcome, as are those
which illustrate the transfer of techniques from other disciplines. Reports of carefully executed
experimental work which is soundly interpreted are also welcome. Manuscripts of routine studies,
however, presenting experimental data but without any significant new interpretation or novelty, or
that are very specific and applied in their scope, will be rejected by the editors as "lacking in novel
content".
Original papers - these should be complete and authoritative accounts of work, which has a special
significance and must be presented clearly and concisely.

Review articles - We expect our reviews to be authoritative pieces of work, aimed at describing recent
progress in relevant research areas within the scope of the Journal, with the non-expert reader in mind.
Rather than attempting a thorough review of the field, authors should concentrate on essential
developments, to give a balanced account of the state of the art, discuss key results and provide
insight on the perspectives for that research field. Prospective authors of a review article may consult
with the Review Editor or one of the other Editors to check the suitability of their topic and material
before submitting their review. To keep the review manuscripts concise and readable, as a general rule
they should be limited to 10,000 words, 10 figures and up to 150 references.

Short communications - will be accepted for the early communication of important and original
advances. Such accounts may be of a preliminary nature but should always be complete and should
not exceed the equivalent of 3000 words, including figures and tables.

Perspectives - Perspectives are a new type of contribution in the Chemical Engineering Journal. They
are meant as short opinion papers addressing a key, often emerging, research area. They should
balance the personal view of the author and a reasoned discussion of recent results of great
importance. While they often examine the evolution of the field, they are not meant as a mini-review,
but as a scholarly discussion that helps to identify new trends and developments in a given field. In
general, Perspective manuscripts should contain no more than 3000 words, up to three figures and 60
references, but other configurations can be an option for multidisciplinary subjects. They are always
commissioned by the Editor in charge."
Peer review
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by
our editors to determine suitability for publication in this journal. If your submission is deemed
suitable, it will typically be sent to a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment
of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected will be taken by
our editors.
Read more about peer review.
Our editors are not involved in making decisions about papers which:
they have written themselves.
have been written by family members or colleagues.
relate to products or services in which they have an interest.
Any such submissions will be subject to the journal's usual procedures and peer review will be handled
independently of the editor involved and their research group. Read more about editor duties.
Authors may submit a formal appeal request to the editorial decision, provided the it meets the
requirements and follows the procedure outlined in Elsevier’s Appeal Policy. Only one appeal per
submission will be considered and the appeal decision will be final.
Special issues and article collections
The peer review process for special issues and article collections follows the same process as outlined
above for regular submissions, except, a guest editor may send the submissions out to the reviewers
and may recommend a decision to the journal editor. The journal editor oversees the peer review
process of all special issues and article collections to ensure the high standards of publishing ethics
and responsiveness are respected and is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or
rejection of articles.
Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Ethics and policies
Ethics in publishing
Authors must follow ethical guidelines stated in Elsevier's Publishing Ethics Policy.
Submission declaration
When authors submit an article to an Elsevier journal it is implied that:
 the work described has not been published previously except in the form of a preprint, an abstract,
a published lecture, academic thesis or registered report. See our policy on multiple, redundant or
concurrent publication.
the article is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
the article's publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible
authorities where the work was carried out.
if accepted, the article will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other
language, including electronically, without the written consent of the copyright-holder.
To verify compliance with our journal publishing policies, we may check your manuscript with our
screening tools.
Authorship
All authors should have made substantial contributions to all of the following:
1. The conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of
data.
2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval of the version to be submitted.
Authors should appoint a corresponding author to communicate with the journal during the editorial
process. All authors should agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work to ensure that the
questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated
and resolved.
Changes to authorship
The editors of this journal generally will not consider changes to authorship once a manuscript has
been submitted. It is important that authors carefully consider the authorship list and order of authors
and provide a definitive author list at original submission.
The policy of this journal around authorship changes:
All authors must be listed in the manuscript and their details entered into the submission system.
Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should only be
made prior to acceptance, and only if approved by the journal editor.
 Requests to change authorship should be made by the corresponding author, who must provide
the reason for the request to the journal editor with written confirmation from all authors,
including any authors being added or removed, that they agree with the addition, removal or
rearrangement.
All requests to change authorship must be submitted using this form. Requests which do not
comply with the instructions outlined in the form will not be considered.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the journal editor consider the addition, deletion or
rearrangement of authors post acceptance.
Publication of the manuscript may be paused while a change in authorship request is being
considered.
Any authorship change requests approved by the journal editor will result in a corrigendum if the
manuscript has already been published.
Any unauthorised authorship changes may result in the rejection of the article, or retraction, if the
article has already been published.
Declaration of interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations
that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests
include:
Employment
Consultancies
Stock ownership
Honoraria
Paid expert testimony
Patent applications or registrations
Grants or any other funding
The Declaration of Interests tool should always be completed.
Authors with no competing interests to declare should select the option, "I have nothing to declare".
The resulting Word document containing your declaration should be uploaded at the "attach/upload
files" step in the submission process. It is important that the Word document is saved in the .doc/.docx
file format. Author signatures are not required.
We advise you to read our policy on conflict of interest statements, funding source declarations, author
agreements/declarations and permission notes.
Funding sources
Authors must disclose any funding sources who provided financial support for the conduct of the
research and/or preparation of the article. The role of sponsors, if any, should be declared in relation to
the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the report and decision to
submit the article for publication. If funding sources had no such involvement this should be stated in
your submission.
List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:
Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace
[grant number aaaa].
It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants, scholarships and
awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or
other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.
If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence:
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-
for-profit sectors.
Declaration of generative AI in scientific writing
Authors must declare the use of generative AI in scientific writing upon submission of the paper. The
following guidance refers only to the writing process, and not to the use of AI tools to analyse and
draw insights from data as part of the research process:
Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies should only be used in the writing process to improve
the readability and language of the manuscript.
The technology must be applied with human oversight and control and authors should carefully
review and edit the result, as AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect,
 incomplete or biased. Authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the contents of the
work.
Authors must not list or cite AI and AI-assisted technologies as an author or co-author on the
manuscript since authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and
performed by humans.
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in scientific writing must be declared by adding
a statement at the end of the manuscript when the paper is first submitted. The statement will appear
in the published work and should be placed in a new section before the references list. An example:
Title of new section: Declaration of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing
process.
Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order
to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed
and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the published article.
The declaration does not apply to the use of basic tools, such as tools used to check grammar, spelling
and references. If you have nothing to disclose, you do not need to add a statement.
Please read Elsevier’s author policy on the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies, which can
be found in our GenAI Policies for journals.
Please note: to protect authors’ rights and the confidentiality of their research, this journal does not
currently allow the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies such as ChatGPT or similar services
by reviewers or editors in the peer review and manuscript evaluation process, as is stated in our GenAI
Policies for journals. We are actively evaluating compliant AI tools and may revise this policy in the
future.
Preprints
Preprint sharing
Authors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on
a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.
We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication.
Free preprint posting on SSRN
In support of open science this journal offers authors a free preprint posting service on SSRN to ensure
early registration and dissemination of research and facilitate early citations and collaboration.
Posting to SSRN is subject to SSRN's standard checks.
You will be provided with the option to release your manuscript on SSRN during the submission
process. Agreeing to this option will have no effect on the editorial process or outcome, and your
manuscript will remain publicly available and free to read on SSRN whether our editors accept or
reject your manuscript.
You will receive an email when your preprint is posted online on SSRN and a Digital Object Identifier
(DOI) is assigned.
Corresponding authors must seek approval from all co-authors before agreeing to release a
manuscript publicly on SSRN.
We advise you to read about SSRN, including the SSRN Terms of Use and SSRN FAQs before selecting
this option.
Use of inclusive language
Inclusive language acknowledges diversity, conveys respect to all people, is sensitive to differences,
and promotes equal opportunities. Authors should ensure their work uses inclusive language
throughout and contains nothing which might imply one individual is superior to another on the
grounds of:
age
gender
race
ethnicity
culture
sexual orientation
disability or health condition
We recommend avoiding the use of descriptors about personal attributes unless they are relevant and
valid. Write for gender neutrality with the use of plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") as default.
Wherever possible, avoid using "he, she," or "he/she."
No assumptions should be made about the beliefs of readers and writing should be free from bias,
stereotypes, slang, reference to dominant culture and/or cultural assumptions.
These guidelines are meant as a point of reference to help you identify appropriate language but are
by no means exhaustive or definitive.
Reporting sex- and gender-based analyses
There is no single, universally agreed-upon set of guidelines for defining sex and gender. We offer the
following guidance:
Sex and gender-based analyses (SGBA) should be integrated into research design when research
involves or pertains to humans, animals or eukaryotic cells and when sex and gender is relevant for
the study outcome. This should be done in accordance with any requirements set by funders or
sponsors and best practices within a field.
Sex and/or gender dimensions of the research should be addressed within the article or declared as
a limitation to the generalizability of the research.
Definitions of sex and/or gender applied should be explicitly stated to enhance the precision, rigor
and reproducibility of the research and to avoid ambiguity or conflation of terms and the
constructs to which they refer.
We advise you to read the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines and the SAGER
checklist (PDF) on the EASE website, which offer systematic approaches to the use of sex and gender
information in study design, data analysis, outcome reporting and research interpretation.
For further information we suggest reading the rationale behind and recommended use of the SAGER
guidelines.
Definitions of sex and/or gender
We ask authors to define how sex and gender have been used in their research and publication. Some
guidance:
Sex generally refers to a set of biological attributes that are associated with physical and
physiological features such as chromosomal genotype, hormonal levels, internal and external
anatomy. A binary sex categorization (male/female) is usually designated at birth ("sex assigned at
birth") and is in most cases based solely on the visible external anatomy of a newborn. In reality,
sex categorizations include people who are intersex/have differences of sex development (DSD).
Gender generally refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors and identities of women, men and
gender-diverse people that occur in a historical and cultural context and may vary across societies
and over time. Gender influences how people view themselves and each other, how they behave
and interact and how power is distributed in society.
Jurisdictional claims
Elsevier respects the decisions taken by its authors as to how they choose to designate territories and
identify their affiliations in their published content. Elsevier’s policy is to take a neutral position with
respect to territorial disputes or jurisdictional claims, including, but not limited to, maps and
institutional affiliations. For journals that Elsevier publishes on behalf of a third party owner, the owner
may set its own policy on these issues.
Maps: Readers should be able to locate any study areas shown within maps using common
mapping platforms. Maps should only show the area actually studied and authors should not
include a location map which displays a larger area than the bounding box of the study area.
Authors should add a note clearly stating that "map lines delineate study areas and do not
necessarily depict accepted national boundaries”. During the review process, Elsevier’s editors may
request authors to change maps if these guidelines are not followed.
Institutional affiliations: Authors should use either the full, standard title of their institution or the
standard abbreviation of the institutional name so that the institutional name can be
independently verified for research integrity purposes.
Writing and formatting
File format
We ask you to provide editable source files for your entire submission (including figures, tables and text
graphics). Some guidelines:
Save files in an editable format, using the extension .doc/.docx for Word files and .tex for LaTeX
files. A PDF is not an acceptable source file.
Lay out text in a single-column format.
Remove any strikethrough and underlined text from your manuscript, unless it has scientific
significance related to your article.
Use spell-check and grammar-check functions to avoid errors.
We advise you to read our Step-by-step guide to publishing with Elsevier.
Title page
You are required to include the following details in the title page information:
 Article title. Article titles should be concise and informative. Please avoid abbreviations and
formulae, where possible, unless they are established and widely understood, e.g., DNA).
Author names. Provide the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author. The order of authors
should match the order in the submission system. Carefully check that all names are accurately
spelled. If needed, you can add your name between parentheses in your own script after the English
transliteration.
Affiliations. Add affiliation addresses, referring to where the work was carried out, below the
author names. Indicate affiliations using a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the
author's name and in front of the corresponding address. Ensure that you provide the full postal
address of each affiliation, including the country name and, if available, the email address of each
author.
Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence for your article at all
stages of the refereeing and publication process and also post-publication. This responsibility
includes answering any future queries about your results, data, methodology and materials. It is
important that the email address and contact details of your corresponding author are kept up to
date during the submission and publication process.
Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in your article was
carried out, or the author was visiting during that time, a "present address" (or "permanent
address") can be indicated by a footnote to the author's name. The address where the author
carried out the work must be retained as their main affiliation address. Use superscript Arabic
numerals for such footnotes.
Abstract
You are required to provide a concise and factual abstract which does not exceed 250 words. The
abstract should briefly state the purpose of your research, principal results and major conclusions.
Some guidelines:
Abstracts must be able to stand alone as abstracts are often presented separately from the article.
Avoid references. If any are essential to include, ensure that you cite the author(s) and year(s).
Avoid non-standard or uncommon abbreviations. If any are essential to include, ensure they are
defined within your abstract at first mention.
Keywords
You are required to provide 1 to 7 keywords for indexing purposes. Keywords should be written in
English. Please try to avoid keywords consisting of multiple words (using "and" or "of").
We recommend that you only use abbreviations in keywords if they are firmly established in the field.
Highlights
You are required to provide article highlights at submission.
Highlights are a short collection of bullet points that should capture the novel results of your research
as well as any new methods used during your study. Highlights will help increase the discoverability of
your article via search engines. Some guidelines:
Submit highlights as a separate editable file in the online submission system with the word
"highlights" included in the file name.
Highlights should consist of 3 to 5 bullet points, each a maximum of 85 characters, including
spaces.
We encourage you to view example article highlights and read about the benefits of their inclusion.
Graphical abstract
You are required to provide a graphical abstract at submission.
The graphical abstract should summarize the contents of your article in a concise, pictorial form which
is designed to capture the attention of a wide readership. A graphical abstract will help draw more
attention to your online article and support readers in digesting your research. Some guidelines:
Submit your graphical abstract as a separate file in the online submission system.
Ensure the image is a minimum of 531 x 1328 pixels (h x w) or proportionally more and is readable
at a size of 5 x 13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 96 dpi.
Our preferred file types for graphical abstracts are TIFF, EPS, PDF or MS Office files.
We encourage you to view example graphical abstracts and read about the benefits of including them.
Math formulae
Submit math equations as editable text, not as images.
Present simple formulae in line with normal text, where possible.
Use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms such as X/Y.
 Present variables in italics.
Denote powers of e by exp.
Display equations separately from your text, numbering them consecutively in the order they are
referred to within your text.
Tables
Tables must be submitted as editable text, not as images. Some guidelines:
Place tables next to the relevant text or on a separate page(s) at the end of your article.
Cite all tables in the manuscript text.
Number tables consecutively according to their appearance in the text.
Please provide captions along with the tables.
Place any table notes below the table body.
Avoid vertical rules and shading within table cells.
We recommend that you use tables sparingly, ensuring that any data presented in tables is not
duplicating results described elsewhere in the article.
Figures, images and artwork
Figures, images, artwork, diagrams and other graphical media must be supplied as separate files
along with the manuscript. We recommend that you read our detailed artwork and media instructions.
Some excerpts:
When submitting artwork:
Cite all images in the manuscript text.
Number images according to the sequence they appear within your article.
Submit each image as a separate file using a logical naming convention for your files (for example,
Figure_1, Figure_2 etc).
Please provide captions for all figures, images, and artwork.
 Text graphics may be embedded in the text at the appropriate position. If you are working with
LaTeX, text graphics may also be embedded in the file.
Artwork formats
When your artwork is finalized, "save as" or convert your electronic artwork to the formats listed below
taking into account the given resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone
combinations:
Vector drawings: Save as EPS or PDF files embedding the font or saving the text as "graphics."
Color or grayscale photographs (halftones): Save as TIFF, JPG or PNG files using a minimum of 300
dpi (for single column: min. 1063 pixels, full page width: 2244 pixels).
Bitmapped line drawings: Save as TIFF, JPG or PNG files using a minimum of 1000 dpi (for single
column: min. 3543 pixels, full page width: 7480 pixels).
Combinations bitmapped line/halftones (color or grayscale): Save as TIFF, JPG or PNG files using a
minimum of 500 dpi (for single column: min. 1772 pixels, full page width: 3740 pixels).
Please do not submit:
files that are too low in resolution (for example, files optimized for screen use such as GIF, BMP,
PICT or WPG files).
disproportionally large images compared to font size, as text may become unreadable.
Figure captions
All images must have a caption. A caption should consist of a brief title (not displayed on the figure
itself) and a description of the image. We advise you to keep the amount of text in any image to a
minimum, though any symbols and abbreviations used should be explained.
Provide captions in a separate file.
Color artwork
If you submit usable color figures with your accepted article, we will ensure that they appear in color
online.
Please ensure that color images are accessible to all, including those with impaired color vision. Learn
more about color and web accessibility.
Generative AI and Figures, images and artwork
Please read our policy on the use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in figures, images and artwork,
which can be found in Elsevier’s GenAI Policies for Journals. This policy states:
We do not permit the use of Generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in
submitted manuscripts.
The only exception is if the use of AI or AI-assisted tools is part of the research design or methods
(for example, in the field of biomedical imaging). If this is the case, such use must be described in a
reproducible manner in the methods section, including the name of the model or tool, version and
extension numbers, and manufacturer.
The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools in the production of artwork such as for graphical
abstracts is not permitted. The use of generative AI in the production of cover art may in some
cases be allowed, if the author obtains prior permission from the journal editor and publisher, can
demonstrate that all necessary rights have been cleared for the use of the relevant material, and
ensures that there is correct content attribution.
Supplementary material
We encourage the use of supplementary materials such as applications, images and sound clips to
enhance research. Some guidelines:
Supplementary material should be accurate and relevant to the research.
Cite all supplementary files in the manuscript text.
Submit supplementary materials at the same time as your article. Be aware that all supplementary
materials provided will appear online in the exact same file type as received. These files will not be
formatted or typeset by the production team.
Include a concise, descriptive caption for each supplementary file describing its content.
Provide updated files if at any stage of the publication process you wish to make changes to
submitted supplementary materials.
Do not make annotations or corrections to a previous version of a supplementary file.
Switch off the option to track changes in Microsoft Office files. If tracked changes are left on, they
will appear in your published version.
Video
This journal accepts video material and animation sequences to support and enhance your scientific
research. We encourage you to include links to video or animation files within articles. Some
guidelines:
When including video or animation file links within your article, refer to the video or animation
content by adding a note in your text where the file should be placed.
Clearly label files ensuring the given file name is directly related to the file content.
Provide files in one of our recommended file formats. Files should be within our preferred
maximum file size of 150 MB per file, 1 GB in total.
Provide "stills" for each of your files. These will be used as standard icons to personalize the link to
your video data. You can choose any frame from your video or animation or make a separate
image.
Provide text (for both the electronic and the print version) to be placed in the portions of your
article that refer to the video content. This is essential text, as video and animation files cannot be
embedded in the print version of the journal.
We publish all video and animation files supplied in the electronic version of your article.
For more detailed instructions, we recommend that you read our guidelines on submitting video
content to be included in the body of an article.
Research data
We are committed to supporting the storage of, access to and discovery of research data, and our
research data policy sets out the principles guiding how we work with the research community to
support a more efficient and transparent research process.
Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings,
which may also include software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods and other useful
materials related to the project.
Please read our guidelines on sharing research data for more information on depositing, sharing and
using research data and other relevant research materials.
For this journal, the following instructions from our research data guidelines apply.
Option C: Research data deposit, citation and linking
You are required to:
Deposit your research data in a relevant data repository.
Cite and link to this dataset in your article.
If this is not possible, make a statement explaining why research data cannot be shared.
Data statement
To foster transparency, you are encouraged to state the availability of any data at submission.
Ensuring data is available may be a requirement of your funding body or institution. If your data is
unavailable to access or unsuitable to post, you can state the reason why (e.g., your research data
includes sensitive or confidential information such as patient data) during the submission process. This
statement will appear with your published article on ScienceDirect.
Read more about the importance and benefits of providing a data statement.
Data linking
Linking to the data underlying your work increases your exposure and may lead to new collaborations.
It also provides readers with a better understanding of the described research.
If your research data has been made available in a data repository there are a number of ways your
article can be linked directly to the dataset:
Provide a link to your dataset when prompted during the online submission process.
For some data repositories, a repository banner will automatically appear next to your published
article on ScienceDirect.
You can also link relevant data or entities within the text of your article through the use of
identifiers. Use the following format: Database: 12345 (e.g. TAIR: AT1G01020; CCDC: 734053; PDB:
1XFN).
Learn more about linking research data and research articles in ScienceDirect.
Research Elements
This journal enables the publication of research objects (e.g. data, methods, protocols, software and
hardware) related to original research in Elsevier's Research Elements journals.
Research Elements are peer-reviewed, open access journals which make research objects findable,
accessible and reusable. By providing detailed descriptions of objects and their application with links
to the original research article, your research objects can be placed into context within your article.
You will be alerted during submission to the opportunity to submit a manuscript to one of the Research
Elements journals. Your Research Elements article can be prepared by you, or by one of your
collaborators.
Article structure
Article sections
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. Number subsections 1.1 (then 1.1.1,
1.1.2, ...), then 1.2, etc.
Use the numbering format when cross-referencing within your article. Do not just refer to "the
text."
You may give subsections a brief heading. Headings should appear on a separate line.
Do not include the article abstract within section numbering.
Glossary
Please provide definitions of field-specific terms used in your article, in a separate list.
Footnotes
We advise you to use footnotes sparingly. If you include footnotes in your article, ensure that they are
numbered consecutively.
You may use system features that automatically build footnotes into text. Alternatively, you can
indicate the position of footnotes within the text and present them in a separate section at the end of
your article.
Acknowledgements
Include any individuals who provided you with help during your research, such as help with language,
writing or proof reading, in the acknowledgements section. Acknowledgements should be placed in a
separate section which appears directly before the reference list. Do not include acknowledgements on
your title page, as a footnote to your title, or anywhere else in your article other than in the separate
acknowledgements section.
Author contributions: CRediT
Corresponding authors are required to acknowledge co-author contributions using CRediT (Contributor
Roles Taxonomy) roles:
Conceptualization
Data curation
Formal analysis
Funding acquisition
Investigation
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Resources
Software
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Writing – original draft
Writing – review and editing
Not all CRediT roles will apply to every manuscript and some authors may contribute through multiple
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We advise you to read more about CRediT and view an example of a CRediT author statement.
Funding sources
Authors must disclose any funding sources who provided financial support for the conduct of the
research and/or preparation of the article. The role of sponsors, if any, should be declared in relation to
the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the report and decision to
submit the article for publication. If funding sources had no such involvement this should be stated in
your submission.
List funding sources in this standard way to facilitate compliance to funder's requirements:
Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers xxxx, yyyy]; the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA [grant number zzzz]; and the United States Institutes of Peace
[grant number aaaa].
It is not necessary to include detailed descriptions on the program or type of grants, scholarships and
awards. When funding is from a block grant or other resources available to a university, college, or
other research institution, submit the name of the institute or organization that provided the funding.
If no funding has been provided for the research, it is recommended to include the following sentence:
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-
for-profit sectors.
Appendices
We ask you to use the following format for appendices:
Identify individual appendices within your article using the format: A, B, etc.
Give separate numbering to formulae and equations within appendices using formats such as Eq.
(A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc. and in subsequent appendices, Eq. (B.1), Eq. (B. 2) etc. In a similar way, give
separate numbering to tables and figures using formats such as Table A.1; Fig. A.1, etc.
References
References within text
Any references cited within your article should also be present in your reference list and vice versa.
Some guidelines:
References cited in your abstract must be given in full.
We recommend that you do not include unpublished results and personal communications in your
reference list, though you may mention them in the text of your article.
Any unpublished results and personal communications included in your reference list must follow
the standard reference style of the journal. In substitution of the publication date add "unpublished
results" or "personal communication."
References cited as "in press" imply that the item has been accepted for publication.
Linking to cited sources will increase the discoverability of your research.
Before submission, check that all data provided in your reference list are correct, including any
references which have been copied. Providing correct reference data allows us to link to abstracting
and indexing services such as Scopus, Crossref and PubMed. Any incorrect surnames, journal or book
titles, publication years or pagination within your references may prevent link creation.
We encourage the use of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) as reference links as they provide a
permanent link to the electronic article referenced.
Reference style
Indicate references by adding a number within square brackets in the text. You can refer to author
names within your text, but you must always give the reference number, e.g., "as demonstrated [3,6].
Barnaby and Jones [8] obtained a different result ....".
Number references in the order they appear in your article.
Abbreviate journal names according to the List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA).
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
[1] J. van der Geer, T. Handgraaf, R.A. Lupton, The art of writing a scientific article, J. Sci. Commun. 163
(2020) 51 – 59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sc.2020.00372.
Reference to a journal publication with an article number:
[2] J. van der Geer, T. Handgraaf, R.A. Lupton, 2022. The art of writing a scientific article. Heliyon. 19,
e00205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e00205.
Reference to a book:
[3] W. Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth ed., Longman, New York, 2000.
Reference to a chapter in a book:
[4] G.R. Mettam, L.B. Adams, How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: B.S. Jones, R.Z.
Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age, E-Publishing Inc., New York, 2020, pp. 281 - 304.
Reference to a website:
[5] Cancer Research UK, Cancer statistics reports for the UK.
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/aboutcancer/statistics/cancerstatsreport/, 2023 (accessed 13 March
2023).
Reference to a dataset:
[6] M. Oguro, S. Imahiro, S. Saito, T. Nakashizuka, Mortality data for Japanese oak wilt disease and
surrounding forest compositions [dataset], Mendeley Data, v1, 2015.
https://doi.org/10.1234/abc12nb39r.1.
Reference to software:
[7] E. Coon, M. Berndt, A. Jan, D. Svyatsky, A. Atchley, E. Kikinzon, D. Harp, G. Manzini, E. Shelef, K.
Lipnikov, R. Garimella, C. Xu, D. Moulton, S. Karra, S. Painter, E. Jafarov, S. Molins, Advanced Terrestrial
Simulator (ATS) v0.88 [software], Zenodo, March 25, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1234/zenodo.3727209.
Web references
When listing web references, as a minimum you should provide the full URL and the date when the
reference was last accessed. Additional information (e.g. DOI, author names, dates or reference to a
source publication) should also be provided, if known.
You can list web references separately under a new heading directly after your reference list or include
them in your reference list.
Data references
We encourage you to cite underlying or relevant datasets within article text and to list data references
in the reference list.
When citing data references, you should include:
author name(s)
dataset title
data repository
version (where available)
year
global persistent identifier
Add [dataset] immediately before your reference. This will help us to properly identify the dataset. The
[dataset] identifier will not appear in your published article.
Preprint references
We ask you to mark preprints clearly. You should include the word "preprint" or the name of the
preprint server as part of your reference and provide the preprint DOI.
Where a preprint has subsequently become available as a peer-reviewed publication, use the formal
publication as your reference.
If there are preprints that are central to your work or that cover crucial developments in the topic, but
they are not yet formally published, you may reference the preprint.
Reference management software
Most Elsevier journals have their reference template available in popular reference management
software products. These include products that support Citation Style Language (CSL) such as
Mendeley Reference Manager.
If you use a citation plug-in from these products, select the relevant journal template and all your
citations and bibliographies will automatically be formatted in the journal style. We advise you to
remove all field codes before submitting your manuscript to any reference management software
product.
If a template is not available for this journal, follow the format given in examples in the reference style
section of this Guide for Authors.
Submitting your manuscript
Submission checklist
Before completing the submission of your manuscript, we advise you to read our submission checklist:
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Spelling and grammar checks have been carried out.
All references in the article text are cited in the reference list and vice versa.
 Permission has been obtained for the use of any copyrighted material from other sources,
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Open access
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Share Link
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Responsible sharing
We encourage you to share and promote your article to give additional visibility to your work, enabling
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Resources for authors
Elsevier Researcher Academy
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Getting help and support
Author support
We recommend that you visit our Journal Article Publishing Support Center if you have questions about
the editorial process or require technical support for your submission. Some popular FAQs:
How can I track the status of my submitted article?
When will my article be published?
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