Submissions

Article Length

Articles should be between 6000 and 20000 words in length. This includes all text including references and appendices. Please allow 280 words for each figure or table.

Article Title

A title of not more than eight words should be provided.

Author details

All contributing authors’ names should be added to the submission, and their names arranged in the correct order for publication.

• Correct email addresses should be supplied for each author in their separate author accounts
• The full name of each author must be present in their author account in the exact format they should appear for publication, including or excluding any middle names or initials as required
• The affiliation of each contributing author should be correct in their individual author account. The affiliation listed should be where they were based at the time that the research for the paper was conducted

Biographies and acknowledgements

Authors who wish to include these items should save them together in an MS Word file to be uploaded with the submission. If they are to be included, a brief professional biography of not more than 100 words should be supplied for each named author.

Research funding

Authors must declare all sources of external research funding in their article and a statement to this effect should appear in the Acknowledgements section. Authors should describe the role of the funder or financial sponsor in the entire research process, from study design to submission.

Structured Abstract

Authors must supply a structured abstract in their submission, set out under 4-7 sub-headings (see our "How to... write an abstract" guide for practical help and guidance):

• Purpose (mandatory)
• Design/methodology/approach (mandatory)
• Findings (mandatory)
• Research limitations/implications (if applicable)
• Practical implications (if applicable)
• Social implications (if applicable)
• Originality/value (mandatory)

Maximum is 250 words in total (including keywords and article classification, see below).

Authors should avoid the use of personal pronouns within the structured abstract and body of the paper (e.g. "this paper investigates..." is correct, "I investigate..." is incorrect).

Keywords

Authors should provide appropriate and short keywords in the submission that encapsulate the principal topics of the paper. The maximum number of keywords is 12.

Whilst the journal will endeavour to use submitted keywords in the published version, all keywords are subject to approval in house editorial team and may be replaced by a matching term to ensure consistency.

Headings

Headings must be concise, with a clear indication of the distinction between the hierarchy of headings.

The preferred format is for first level headings to be presented in bold format and subsequent sub-headings to be presented in medium italics.

Notes/Endnotes

Notes or Endnotes should be used only if absolutely necessary and must be identified in the text by consecutive numbers, enclosed in square brackets and listed at the end of the article.

Figures

All Figures (charts, diagrams, line drawings, web pages/screenshots, and photographic images) should be submitted in electronic form.

All Figures should be of high quality, legible and numbered consecutively with arabic numerals. Graphics may be supplied in colour to facilitate their appearance on the online database.

• Figures created in MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, Illustrator should be supplied in their native formats. Electronic figures created in other applications should be copied from the origination software and pasted into a blank MS Word document or saved and imported into an MS Word document or alternatively create a .pdf file from the origination software.
• Figures which cannot be supplied as above are acceptable in the standard image formats which are: .pdf, .ai, and .eps. If you are unable to supply graphics in these formats then please ensure they are .tif, .jpeg, or .bmp at a resolution of at least 300dpi and at least 10cm wide.
• To prepare web pages/screenshots simultaneously press the "Alt" and "Print screen" keys on the keyboard, open a blank Microsoft Word document and simultaneously press "Ctrl" and "V" to paste the image. (Capture all the contents/windows on the computer screen to paste into MS Word, by simultaneously pressing "Ctrl" and "Print screen".)
• Photographic images should be submitted electronically and of high quality. They should be saved as .tif or .jpeg files at a resolution of at least 300dpi and at least 10cm wide. Digital camera settings should be set at the highest resolution/quality possible.

Tables

The tables can be included in the text and must show the progressive numbering correctly cited in the text