Submissions

Author Guidelines

Before proceeding, please ensure that your manuscript has been prepared in strict accordance with our step-by-step instructions and the provided template. In addition, authors are required to read the journal’s Publishing and Editorial Policies in full and confirm that every applicable requirement has been met prior to submission. Manuscripts that do not comply with these policies may be returned or rejected without review.

Format

• File type: MS Word.
• Language: clear, concise English (British or American spelling acceptable); limit non-English terms.
• If unsure about language quality, have the paper checked by a native speaker or professional editing service.
• Select the correct article type from the list provided.

Cover Letter (uploaded separately)
Concisely state:

1. Current knowledge,
2. Novel advance,
3. Broad significance.
   Visible only to editors; not sent to reviewers.

Text

Title
≤15 words (preferred); accurately reflects the main theme.

Authors

• Full given names + surnames; order by the degree of contribution (largest first).
• Mark corresponding author(s) with *.
• Affiliations: department, institution, city with postal code, country.
• Supply at least one corresponding e-mail.
• All authors must read and approve the final manuscript; adhere to the Authorship Policy.

Abstract
Supply a single paragraph of no more than 300 words that allows readers to decide whether the full article is relevant. Below the abstract, list 5–8 keywords that do not repeat words already used in the title.

Main text
Submit the file in Microsoft Word. A research article normally contains: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion (optionally) and Conclusion, Back Matters, References. Submitted papers should normally be no fewer than 4,000 words.

Headings
Use no more than four numbered levels, all in bold. Primary headings: 1., 2., 3., etc. Sub-headings: 1.1., 1.2., 2.1., 2.2., etc. Further divisions: 1.1.1., 1.1.2., 2.1.1., 2.1.2., etc.

Introduction

The introduction ought to offer background information, enabling a wide range of readers to gain a comprehensive understanding of the relevant field and the research conducted. It should identify a specific problem and explain why the problem matters, linking it to the study’s significance. Additionally, the introduction may end with a short statement outlining the work’s objectives and a note on whether those objectives were accomplished.

Materials and Methods

This part describes the overall experimental design and the methodologies employed. Its purpose is to provide sufficient details so that other researchers can fully replicate your results. It is also necessary to include such details to help readers better understand the results obtained. For new methods, the corresponding protocols and procedures must be detailed thoroughly to allow the reproduction of the experiments.

Results

This section can be split into subheadings. Its focus is on presenting the outcomes of the experiments that were carried out.

Discussion

In this section, you should elaborate on the significance of the results and clarify the research’s impact within a broader context. It should not be repetitive, nor should its content overlap with that of the results section.

Conclusion

The conclusion section should only be used for interpreting the research findings. It should not be used to summarize information that has already been presented in the main text or the abstract.

Back Matters

The order of the back matter elements in an article is listed below. Back matter headings do not have numerical labels, and some of these elements are optional.

Supplementary Materials (Optional)
Provide a brief overview of any supplementary materials. Full details should be included in separate files, clearly labeled with “supp. file” in the filename. These materials should support the article but are not essential for understanding the main content. Videos may also be submitted as supplementary files.

Author Contributions
For single-author papers, this section is not required. For multi-author papers (only for research articles), include a short paragraph describing each author’s specific contribution to the research and manuscript. Use the following format:

Conceptualization, XX and YY; methodology, XX; software, XX; validation, XX, YY and ZZ; formal analysis, XX; investigation, XX; resources, XX; data curation, XX; writing—original draft preparation, XX; writing—review and editing, XX; visualization, XX; supervision, XX; project administration, XX; funding acquisition, YY. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding
If applicable, place any financial-support information at the end of the article. If given, follow the template exactly, e.g. “This research received no external funding.” Or “This research was funded by [Agency] grant [number]; the APC was covered by [source].”
Verify agency names at https://search.crossref.org/funding; inaccuracies can jeopardise future grants.

Acknowledgements (optional)
Recognise individuals who helped but do not meet authorship (language editing, proof-reading, etc.). Omit the section if not needed.

Ethical approval
State whether ethics-committee approval was obtained. If yes, supply the committee’s full name and reference number (e.g. “Approved by XXX, No. XXXX”). If exempt, explain why.

Informed consent
For research involving humans, obtain written consent from every participant. For minors, vulnerable adults or the deceased, consent from next of kin or legal guardians should be obtained.

Conflict of interest
Disclose any competing interests (personal, financial, professional). If none, insert “The author(s) declare no conflicts of interest.” Adhere to the journal’s Conflict-of-Interest policy.

Illustrations

Figures and Tables

Figures (including photographs, images, graphs, charts, and schematic diagrams) and tables must be mentioned in the main text. They should be numbered sequentially, such as Figure 1, Figure 2, Table 1, Table 2, and so on. These elements should be positioned as near as possible to their first citation and aligned to the center. Both figure captions and table captions need to be center-aligned—figure captions should be placed below the figures, while table captions should be above the tables. If a caption is longer than one line, it should be left-aligned instead.

Figures may include multiple panels. These panels should be labeled with Latin letters enclosed in parentheses, for example, (a), (b), (c) or (A), (B), (C). The labels can be placed either below the image or directly within the image.

Tables should be created using MS Word or Excel table formats. If a table contains an excessive amount of information, it can be provided as supplementary material instead of being included in the main text.

To ensure images are clear and readable for both reviewers and readers, image submission must meet the following requirements:

1. File Formats and Resolution

Images should be submitted in preferred formats like PNG, JPG, or SVG, with a resolution higher than 300 dpi. Vector formats (e.g., SVG) are recommended for scalable images such as graphs and line drawings. Line drawings require a higher resolution than photographic images, as each line needs to be rendered with precision.

2. Aesthetic and Technical Quality

Images should not only have a pleasing appearance but also appropriate brightness and contrast levels. This ensures all details are clear and easy to distinguish.

3. Abbreviations

Any abbreviations or symbols used in figures must be clearly defined in their corresponding legends. This does not apply to abbreviations already mentioned elsewhere in the article.

Note: If images are not submitted in the specified format or resolution, their quality and readability may be seriously affected. An overly large individual image could cause slow loading or system timeouts. To improve the user reading experience, it is recommended that the total size of each article’s PDF file remains under 10 MB.

Lists & Equations

• Bullet or numbered lists are allowed (see template).
• Centre equations; number them flush-right. Cite as “Equation (1)” etc.

In-text Citations
Number references in order of appearance; cite them with square brackets, e.g., [3,4] or [1–5,7].

Appendix (optional)
Placed after References on a new page. One appendix = “Appendix”; several = “Appendix A”, “Appendix B”, etc. Cite in the text; label its tables/figures/equations with prefix A (Figure A1, Table A1, etc.).

References (required)
List only published or in-press works actually cited in the paper; personal communications are omitted from the References section. Format surnames first: Smith D. Place the list at the end of the manuscript; footnotes are not a substitute. Choose sources directly relevant to the topic, favour primary over secondary references, and avoid plagiarism, over-dependence on one source, or excessive self-citation to maintain scientific integrity.

Journal

Journals in English:

• Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, et al. Title of the article. Journal Name. Year; Volume(Issue) (if available): Firstpage–Lastpage. doi (if available)

Journals in languages other than English:

• Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, et al. English title of the article (original language). Journal Name. Year; Volume(Issue) (if available): Firstpage–Lastpage. doi (if available)

Book

A book without editors:

• Author AA, Author BB. Chapter (optional). Title of the Book, Edition (if available). Publisher; Year. pp. Page range (optional).

A book with editors:

• Author AA, Author BB. Title of the contribution. In: Editor CC, Editor DD (editors). Title of the Book, Edition (if available). Publisher; Year. Volume (optional), pp. Page range (optional).

For a translated book, the translators' names should be placed after the editors' names: "Translator AA (translator)" or "Translator AA, Translator BB (translators)".

If the editors and translators are the same, the format should be as follows:

• Author AA, Author BB. Title of the contribution. In: Editor CC, Editor DD (editors and translators). Title of the Book, Edition (if available). Publisher; Year. Volume (optional), pp. Page range (optional).

Conference

Full citations of published abstracts (proceedings):

In most cases, proceedings will be simply called "Proceedings of the Name of the Conference (full name)" without a book title. In this case, please only add the conference name in the proceedings' title and keep that in regular font (i.e., do not italicize):

• Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, et al. Title of presentation. In: Proceedings of the Name of the Conference; Date of Conference (Day Month Year) (if available); Location of Conference (City, Country) (if available). Abstract Number (optional), Pagination (optional).

If the proceedings are published as a book with a separate title (i.e., not "Proceedings of the Name of the Conference (full name)" as the title), the book title should be included:

• Author AA, Author BB, Author CC. Title of presentation. In: Editor DD, Editor EE (editors) (if available). Title of Collected Work, Proceedings of the Name of the Conference; Date of Conference (Day Month Year) (if available); Location of Conference (City, Country) (if available). Publisher; Year. Abstract Number (optional), Pagination (optional).

Oral presentations without published material:

• Author AA, Author BB, Author CC. Title of presentation (if any). Presented at the Name of Conference; Date of Conference (Day Month Year) (if available); Location of Conference (City, Country) (if available); Paper number (if available).

Thesis/Dissertation

• Author AA. Title of Thesis [Level of thesis]. Degree‐Granting University; Year.

The level of thesis can be called "XX thesis" or "XX dissertation". Thesis types include but are not limited to the following:

• PhD thesis
• Master's thesis
• Bachelor's thesis
• Licentiate thesis
• Diploma thesis

Newspaper

• Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, et al. Title of article. Title of Periodical, Complete Date, Pagination (if available).

Patent

• Patent Owner AA, Patent Owner BB, Patent Owner CC. Title of Patent. Patent Number, Date (Day Month Year, the Application granted date).

Unpublished work

• Author AA, Author BB. Title of unpublished work. Journal Title. Year (if available); Phrase Indicating Stage of Publication (submitted, in press, etc.).

Online resources

• Author (if available). Title of content (if available). Available online: http://URL (accessed on Day Month Year).

For a homepage, the access date is not required.