Table of Contents
Detailed Manuscript Preparation Guidelines
Notes for Authors
Discipline Areas
The SURE-J Editorial Board invites submissions from across the entire Science spectrum, including, but not necessarily limited to; Analytical Science; Biology; Biopharmaceutical Science; Chemistry; Computing; Food Science; Health Science and Nutrition; Land Sciences; Mathematics; Nursing; Pharmaceutical Science; Physics;Sport Science. If you are unsure if your research fits into the scope of the journal, please contact the Editor in Chief (anne.friel@tus.ie).
Who Can Submit?
Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in SURE-J provided:
- the research that forms the basis of the submitted manuscript was carried out entirely by an undergraduate student at any point along their undergraduate studies.
- the submitted manuscript was substantially written by the undergraduate student.
- he or she owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner(s) to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer)
- Read and accept the Article Submission Agreement.
- Provide a short bio of all authors and/or the Institute represented.
- Upload your article and related items. Before you begin, please be sure you have the following items: Article title; An abstract / summary of the paper, between 300 and 500 words in length (separate from the article body); 3 to 5 Keywords for your article; Article in one of the following formats: Microsoft Word, or RTF. Articles must be submitted without a title page, or page numbers. These will be provided by the system. It is especially important that you do not include any identifying information about the authors, as the article you submit will be sent to reviewers.
- Please do not create your own PDF file.
- No part of submission is final until all steps have been completed and you click the final Submit button.
- The review process begins as soon as SURE-J receives a readable article, along with the abstract and article title. You may revise any of these elements later by clicking the submitted article’s title on your My Account page.
- All submissions must be in the SURE-J template.
- The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
- Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under Creative Commons Licenses: CC Attribution 4.0 International, CC Attribution–Share Alike 4.0 International, CC Attribution- No Derivative Works 4.0 International, CC Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, CC Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International, CC Attribution- Non Commercial- No Derivative Works 4.0 International, CC Attribution 3.0, CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0, CC Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0, CC Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0, CC Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 or CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0.
- the Work is the Author’s original work
- the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party
- the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher
- the Work has not previously been published
- the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold the Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in the Work, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
- Users of the ARROW@TU Dublin website and/or software agree not to misuse the ARROW@TU Dublin service or software in any way.
- The failure of ARROW@TU Dublin to exercise or enforce any right or provision in the policies or the Submission Agreement does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any term of the Submission Agreement or these policies is found to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavour to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Submission Agreement and these policies remain in full force and effect. These policies and the Submission Agreement constitute the entire agreement between ARROW@TU Dublin and the Author(s) regarding submission of the Article.
- Do not insert page numbers, headers, or footers in to the template file.
- Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as a single file (Word or RTF files are accepted).
- Do not change the page size (21 x 29.7cm; A4).
- All margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 2.5 cm; including your tables and figures.
- Insert line numbers in the initial submission (these must be removed at the proof stage).
- Do not indent paragraphs
- Do not alter the template line space.
- Do not insert extra space between paragraphs of text.
- If figures are included, use high-resolution figures, (the Editors may need to contact you directly at a later time if images are of insufficient quality).
- Please copy edit your manuscript – ensuring that it is produced to a very high standard of English.
- Make sure that all citations are included in the bibliography, and all items in the bibliography are cited (this is the work of the author(s) NOT the editor(s).
- Be written in good English. If you need guidance, you could use Elements of Style by Strunk and White, but other excellent guides (e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style) exist as well.
- Avoid the use of foreign words and phrases except for common foreign words and phrases. Whenever possible, foreign terms should be set in italics rather than underlined.
- Be written in UK English; authors should not mix with US English.
- Be ‘spell-checked’ and ‘grammar-checked’.
- All References are in the correct format for this journal (Harvard Style).
- All citations are included in the bibliography, and all items in the bibliography are cited.
- Complete references, with the necessary information, are provided.
- All references should appear directly at the end of the document - after the last sentence of your submission, please insert a line break - not a page break - and begin your references on the same page, if possible.
- All references should be left justified.
- All research involving human participants must have been approved by the authors' Institutional Ethics Committee(s) or equivalent, and must have been conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. This approval and the name of the Institutional Ethics Committee must be stated in the methods section of the article. Authors should be able to submit, upon request, a statement from the Institutional Ethics Committee indicating approval of the research.
- Subjects must have been properly instructed and have indicated that they consent to participate by signing the appropriate informed consent paperwork. Authors may be asked to submit a blank, sample copy of a subject consent form. Authors are required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal. If consent was verbal instead of written, or if consent could not be obtained, the authors must explain the reason in the manuscript, and the use of verbal consent or the lack of consent must have been approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee.
- All manuscripts reporting studies with humans or human data, including studies that involve primary collection of personal data such as surveys or interviews, must state the relevant Institutional Ethics Committee provided (or waived) approval. If ethics approval was obtained, please provide the name(s) of the Institutional Ethics Committee(s). If the study received exemption from ethics approval, please provide the name(s) of the Institutions Ethics Committee(s) or other authorized body and the reason for exemption. If ethics approval was not sought for the present study, please specify why it was not required and cite the relevant guidelines or legislation where applicable, for the benefit of an international readership.
- All manuscripts reporting on studies with animals must provide details of the relevant Institutional Animal Research Ethics Committee or equivalent approval, and studies must have been conducted according to applicable national and international guidelines.
General Submission Rules
Submitted articles cannot have been previously published, nor be forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic). Conference proceedings, or oral/written dissemination as required for their undergraduate studies does not normally constitute prior publication. By submitting material to SURE-J, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that (s)he will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at SURE-J. If you have concerns about the submission terms for SURE-J, please contact the Editor in Chief. Submissions must use the template provided and be accompanied by a completed Supervision Form (See Detailed Manuscript Preparation Guidelines section for both).
Screening Process
Submitted manuscripts may be pre-screened to ensure they fit the aims and scope of SURE-J. It is editorial policy that manuscripts are sent to two anonymous peer reviewers for blind review. SURE-J aims to make a decision on each manuscript within three months of original submission.
topCategories of Content
The main focus of SURE-J is peer-reviewed full academic papers; however, shorter ‘current’ research articles are also welcomed.
Academic Paper
These are manuscripts that theoretically and methodologically advance the subject area. They can be academic or industry focused and are submitted for blind expert peer review. They comprise approximately 4,000-6,000 words (see Detailed Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines).
Current Research
These are shorter than full academic papers. They focus on presenting a concept, idea, early research findings or even a current question as a ‘work in progress’. These papers will be thought provoking, interesting and challenging, and comprise of approximately 2,000-3,000 words.
topBrief Manuscript Guidelines
In the main, manuscripts for papers shall be based on primary research. Manuscripts will only be accepted for review if they are submitted in the SURE-J template. Submission of an article is taken to imply that it has not previously been published and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. This fact should be stated by the author in the submission cover letter.
Responsibility of Authors
Authors are expected to correct proofs in a timely fashion. The typescript finally accepted for publication must be regarded as definitive and subsequent corrections should be restricted to printer’s errors. Any alterations at this stage may be made only with the agreement of the editorial team. Changes in the text will not be considered at proof stage. It is the Author’s responsibility to ensure that permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web).
Referencing Style
The Harvard referencing style must be used (see guide)
References should be placed in alphabetical order at the end of the text.Submission Process
Copyright Notice
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
The Author represents and warrants that:
General Terms and Conditions of Arrow Use
Detailed Manuscript Preparation Guidelines
Only manuscripts that use the SURE-J template will be considered appropriate for review (https://bit.ly/SUREJTemplate). The corresponding author must also complete the SURE-J Authorship and Supervision Form and include this in the initial submission (http://bit.ly/SUREJ_AutSup). This section details important points on the typesetting and layout requirements pertaining to final manuscript submission to SURE-J.
Acknowledgments
Please do not complete the acknowledgment section in the manuscript Template. You may include an Acknowledgement in the space provided during the 'Submission Process'.
Formatting Requirements
Language & Grammar
All submissions must:
Article Length
Manuscripts should be between 4000-6,000 words in length, including figure/table legends and references.
Use of Colour
The font for the main body of text must be black. We encourage authors to take advantage of the ability to use colour in the production of figures, images, etc., however, authors should appreciate that this will cause some of your readers’ problems when they print the document on a black & white printer. For this reason, you are advised to avoid the use of colours in situations where their translation to black and white would render the material illegible or incomprehensible. Please ensure that there are no coloured mark-ups or comments in the final version, unless they are meant to be part of the final text.
Emphasized text
Whenever possible use italics to indicate text you wish to emphasize rather than underlining it. The use of colour to emphasize text is strongly discouraged.
Font faces
The SURE-J standard font is Times; except where special mathematical symbols are needed.
Font size
The main body of text should be set in 12pt. Avoid the use of fonts smaller than 6pt.
Headings
Headings (e.g., start of sections) should be distinguished from the main body text by their fonts: use the same font face for all headings and indicate the hierarchy by increasing / reducing the font size. There should be space above and below headings.
Footnotes
Because the recommended referencing is Harvard Style, in most instances, Footnotes should not be necessary. However, where used, Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page on which they are referenced rather than at the end of the paper. Footnotes should be in 10 pt. Times, they should be single spaced, and there should be a footnote separator rule (line). Footnote numbers in the text must follow, rather than precede, punctuation. Excessively long footnotes are probably better handled in an appendix. All footnotes should be left-justified (i.e., flush with the left margin).
Tables and Figures
To the extent possible, tables and figures should appear in the document near where they are referenced in the text, but not before. Large tables or figures can be arranged on pages by themselves. Avoid the use of overly small type in tables. In no case should tables or figures be in a separate document or file. All tables and figures must fit within the prescribed 2.5cm margins on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) in both portrait and landscape view.
Permissions
For authors:
If you plan to use any previously published figure, table, or text passage, you must formally request permission from the original publisher, even if the material is from your own (or your co-authors') past work. Since processing these requests can take time, start this process as early as possible. Submit the permission grant letters along with your final manuscript when you submit to SURE-J. Note that if you have redrawn figures to be “significantly different” from the originals, no permission is needed.
All reproduced figures must be cited in the text using either the original publisher's wording or a standard format. Include the full citation in your References.
Most permissions can be obtained by visiting the publisher’s website and completing an online form, or by using RightsLink. This is typically the quickest and easiest method to obtain permissions. The majority of publishers use this service. If the publisher of the figure you wish to reproduce does not use RightsLink, you can request permissions directly from the publisher.
References
Please ensure that:
Guidelines for Specific Study Types
Medical research:
Non-medical research involving human and human data:
Animal research: