IAFOR > Publications > IAFOR Journal of Sustainability, Energy & the Environment > Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

Thaddeus Pope on January 16, 2017

Articles should be submitted through the online submission form in Microsoft Word format. Before submitting your article please ensure that it is prepared in accordance with the Author Guidelines below.

For further information please also view details of the journal review process, copyright and licencing policy, and publication ethics statement.

If you have any queries about how to prepare your article for submission, please contact publications@iafor.org.

Article Structure

Title

Ensure that your title accurately reflects the contents of your paper and is free of errors.

Abstract

A concise and factual abstract is required (maximum length of 250 words). The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, provide a minimum of three keywords.

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Collate any acknowledgements in a separate section at the end of the article before the references and do not, therefore, include them on the title page, as a footnote to the title or otherwise. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proofreading the article.).

Footnotes

Footnotes should be used sparingly. Insert them using Word's footnote function, ensuring that they are numbered consecutively throughout the article in superscript Arabic numerals. Please do not insert footnotes manually.

References

In-text citations

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa).

Reference Style

Within the text: Citations in the text should follow the referencing style used by the American Psychological Association (APA). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition, ISBN 978-1-4338-0561-5.

List at end of paper: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. Please single-space, and indent after the first line of each.

Reference to a journal publication:

Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton, R. A. (2010). The art of writing a scientific article. Journal of Scientific Communications, 163, 51–59.

Reference to a book:

Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style. (4th ed.). New York: Longman, (Chapter 4).

Reference to a chapter in an edited book:

Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (2009). How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In B. S. Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.), Introduction to the electronic age (pp.281–304). New York: E-Publishing Inc.

For more details about referencing, please read our APA Referencing Style Guide.

Style Checklist

  • Please use APA style – APA Referencing Style Guide.
  • 12-point Times New Roman font.
  • All paragraphs and body text justified and single-spaced.
  • One line should separate paragraphs or sections. Do not indent paragraphs.
  • Set page size to A4.
  • Margins: Top and bottom – 2.54cm; left and right – 3.17cm (Microsoft Word "Normal").
  • Main headings, subheadings and sub-subheadings should be formatted as in the Article Template below. We recommend a maximum of three levels of headings.
  • All figures and images must be inserted in a JPEG image format, within the page margins. Centre images. Do not insert loose objects such as arrows, lines or text boxes. Please include figure number and caption below the figure (Figure 1: Caption), centre aligned. Please ensure that all figures are referenced at least once in the main body of the text.
  • Tables should be created within the Microsoft Word document, should fit onto one A4 page and should be numbered and captioned below the table, centre aligned. Please do not insert tables as images. Please ensure that all tables are referenced at least once in the main body of the text.
  • Do not use any page headers, footers or page numbers (footers are acceptable if they contain footnotes).
  • Use only portrait layout. Do not include any pages in landscape layout.
  • Corresponding author contact email address should be added to the end of the paper after the reference list as in the article template below. IAFOR is not responsible for unsolicited emails received.
  • An optional Acknowledgments section may be included as the last section before the reference list. Please ensure this is as concise as possible.
  • References should be single-spaced. Each reference should be indented after the first line with a 1-cm hanging indent.
  • Title page should include:
    • Title of the paper.
    • Author names and affiliations: Provide affiliations for all authors (where the work was done) including full institution name and country.
    • Corresponding author: Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, including post-publication. Ensure that telephone numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the email address and the complete institutional postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
    • Abstract: A concise and factual abstract not exceeding 250 words is required.
    • Keywords: Immediately following the abstract provide a minimum of three keywords.
  • Each submission must include a cover letter (MS Word) indicating the main subject covered. Please indicate a subject from the list under Aims and Scope, but also a narrower topic of your choice. Even though the submission of a paper implies the following, the authors must also make explicit statements in the cover letter:
    • The paper has not been published in, submitted to or under consideration by any other journal, that the research described by the paper is original, and the presentation of other materials does not violate any other author’s rights.
    • The contents of the paper is known and approved by all authors, who contributed to writing the paper and/or carrying out the research described. There is no inappropriate or offensive content.
    • The authors assume the full responsibility for the contents, correctness and originality of the submissions, including plagiarism and auto-plagiarism.
    • The ethical constraints are observed (experiments involving human and animal subjects, etc.).

    Article Template

    Please use this template as a guide when preparing your article.

    Download Article Template