Instructions for Authors – International Journal of Conservation Science

Accepted types of paper
IJCS publishes original research papers, review articles, survey articles and book and project reviews in all areas dedicated to conservation science.

IJCS topics cover all disciplines and branches of modern scientific conservation; environmental & materials science and engineering, cross-related problems concerning research applied to conservation science, biodiversity conservation.

Publishing ethics
See Ethics section.[ Download Printer friendly presentation and Publication Ethics, R.M. ]

GO TO Guidelines:[ for Authors] / [ for Editors ] / [ for Reviewers ]

Copyright
IJCS is an open access journal. The journal doesn’t charge for publication or submission. All content is freely available without charge to any user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.
Concerning the permission for copyrighted images used in your manuscript, this is entirely your responsibility (whether they’ll be screenshots – e.g. of a scene from a game, photos, figures, tables, graphics, etc.).
For other details see Ethics section.

Originality
Only ORIGINAL and PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED manuscripts will be accepted for publication in IJCS. Upon acceptance of your manuscript, you will be required to sign a warranty that your manuscript is original and has not been submitted for publication or published elsewhere.
All manuscripts will be evaluated by at least 2 independent reviewers and will be checked with a plagiarism detector software. Single blind peer review (Reviewers know the authors name, Reviewers are secret for authors).

Using artificial intelligence (AI) to create written or visual content

Authors should not include generative AI technology as a co-author or author on any submitted manuscript. Generative AI technologies cannot be held accountable for all aspects of a manuscript, and thus do not meet the criteria for authorship.

If the author of a submitted manuscript used written or visual content created or edited with generative AI technology, the use must adhere to all publishing guidelines and policies. Specifically, the author is responsible for verifying the factual accuracy of any content generated by generative AI technology. This includes, but is not limited to, all quotes, citations, and references. Figures created or edited with generative AI technology must be verified to ensure they accurately reflect the data presented in the manuscript. Authors must also ensure that any written or visual content created or edited using generative AI technology is plagiarism-free.

If the author of a submitted manuscript used written or visual content created or edited with generative AI technology, such use must be acknowledged in the manuscript’s acknowledgements section as well as the methods section, if applicable. This explanation must include the name, version, model, and source of the generative AI technology.
We encourage authors to include all input prompts and outputs received from generative AI technology in the manuscript’s supplementary files.

Style and Format
The papers shall be written entirely in English; they must have minimum 4000 and maximum 12000 words and must comply exactly with the instructions bellow.
Papers which do not comply with the formatting conditions described bellow will be returned to the authors and will only be taken into consideration for final reviewing when they fulfill the mentioned standards.
he papers must be written clearly, concise, without any ambiguities.

Funding body
You are requested to identify who provided financial support for the development of the research and/or preparation of the article. This will be included at the end of the paper.

Language
Please write your text in good English (American or British usage is accepted, but not a mixture of these).

Submission
Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. The main text is required in DOC file (Word) with the tables included. The figures are required to be inserted with captions at their indicated position in the text (JPEG/TIFF) with high resolution.
When submitting the manuscript, is please include, a cover letter to the editor, as separate file, or mention the following statements in the body of email:
– all the authors approved that the paper to be submitted to IJCS;
– the article is original and is the work of the authors;
– the novelty or the significance of results.
All correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revision, will be done by e-mail.

Preparation of the manuscript
*.DOC file for the manuscript is required. This should have the tables included, and the figures must me inserted with captions on their proper location in text. PLEASE USE PROVIDED TEMPLATE.
Standard Page is B5 (ISO): 176 x 250 mm (6.929 x 9.843 inch), margins of 2 cm (0.8 inch). Use paragraph spacing of 1 line.
The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the word processor’s options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts, etc. Please include figures in the text, with the caption under it. If image is composed please edit image into a single file. Please use as fonts only: Times New Roman.

Article structure
Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Each heading should appear on its own separate line.
The order is: Title, Authors, Affiliation, Abstract, Keywords, Introduction, Experimental (Materials and Methods), Results and Discussions, Conclusions, Acknowledgements, References, Appendices and Funding Body.
All text should be font size 10.

Title
Concise and informative. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible. Font: ALL CAPS BOLD, size 12.

Authors
Please write full names; family name will be written in CAPS (eg. John SMITH).
One Author must be clearly indicated as corresponding author (* as footnote) and it is compulsory to indicate e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers with country and area code. Font size 10.

Affiliation
Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript number immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each author. Font size 8.

Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. Use no more than 200 words.
The Abstract title: font bold italic, size 8; the abstract text – font italic, size 8.

Keywords
Provide a maximum of 8 keywords, avoid general and plural terms and use only abbreviations firmly established in the field. These keywords will be used for indexing purposes. The Keywords title: font bold italic, size 8; the keywords – font italic, size 8.

Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background from literature.

Experimental (or Materials and Methods)
The experimental methods should be described after the introductory material. Detailed experimental descriptions should be restricted to one section of the paper. Sufficient detail should be given to allow any experienced worker to implement the procedures described. Procedural steps should not be numbered.

Results and Discussions
Results should be clear and concise. This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.

Conclusions
This should include key findings of the research, quantitative analytical performance figures (if appropriate) and their significance.

Abbreviations
Define all abbreviations at their first appearance in the text. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.

Acknowledgements
Insert acknowledgements only in a separate section at the end of the article before the references. List here those individuals who provided help during the research.

Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc.

Math formulae
Present simple formulae in the line of normal text wherever possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., A/B. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text.

Nomenclature, abbreviations and symbols
Please use SI units (eg. L for liters). Always leave a space between units. Do not use abbreviations in the title or keywords. Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field at their first occurrence in both the abstract and the main text.

Artwork
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Save text in illustrations as “graphics” or enclose the font.
• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations: Arial, Times, Symbol.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Produce images near to the desired size of the printed version.
• Provide JPEG/TIFF files, NOT lower than 300DPI.
If with your accepted article you submit color figures then we assure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in color on electronic format.

Figures
The figures must be included on their position in the text. Use in line with text – setting for image (do not use text wrapping). Make sure that the figures to be cited in text (Fig. 1).
Provide captions of the figures next to them, use Times New Roman, size 8.
Example of figure caption: Fig. 1. SEM image of the surface: 500X

Tables
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article. Please use Times New Roman, size 8.
Example of table caption: Table 1. The EDX composition of the obtained layer.

References
Please make sure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text.
Please provide for Journals: Authors, Title of the paper, Journal title, volume(issue), year and pages from to.
Remember: Article/Chapter title with Italic,Journal/Book/Conferences/ Workshops with Bold,

Reference style
Text: Indicate references by number(s) in square brackets in line with the text. The actual authors can be referred to, but the reference number(s) must always be given.
Example: “….. the research done by by R. Donald [1], O. Michael and C. Ronald [2]. A. Pantiru et al [3] concluded that…. and other studies [4-6]”.
List: Number the references in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.

Examples:

Reference to a journal publication:
[1] L. Xu, C. Liu, Y. Wan, X. Wang, H. Xiao, Effects of heat treatments on microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg–4Y–2.5Nd–0.7Zr alloy, Materials Science and Engineering: A, 558, 2012, pp. 1-16.
Reference to a paper in a proceeding:
[2] M. Lobefaro, I.C.A. Sandu, Authentic versus faked iconography: a study on the behavior of painting materials, Proceedings of Science Meets Archaeology and Art History – Balkan Symposium on Archaeometry, 18-20 September 2008, Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia, p. 64.
Reference to a book:
[3] Z. Goffer, Archaeological Chemistry (second edition), John Wiley&Sons Inc., New Jersey, 2007, p. 155.
Reference to a patent:
[4] W. Fristad, K. Saad, Phosphate Conversion Coating Concentrate, Patent US2003209289, 2003.
Reference to a webpage:
[5] http://www.recycle.umich.edu/grounds/recycle/materials/

Do not write AND between the authors, please use comma (,).

Submission – Editorial Issues
Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. The main text is required in DOC file (Word 97-2003) with the tables included. The figures are required to be inserted with captions at their indicated position in the text (JPEG/TIFF) with high resolution.
Please send your manuscript via e-mail as a file attachment in Microsoft® Word to the Editor-in-Chief. The main body of the email message should contain the title of the paper and the names and addresses of all authors. Manuscripts must be sent in English.

Correspondence
All correspondence, including notification of the Editor’s decision and requests for revision, will be done by e-mail.
An acknowledgment e-mail regarding the receipt of your manuscript will be promptly sent. The review process will take approximately 2-10 weeks, and the corresponding author will be notified concerning the possibility of publication of the manuscript as soon as the review process is completed. All correspondence will be directed to the corresponding author. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to communicate with the other author(s). If your manuscript is accepted for publication, it will be submitted to the publisher where it will be typeset. After typesetting, you will be sent a proof of your manuscript to proofread. You will be required to return the proof within 48 hours to the publisher.

Review Process
To ensure the high quality of published material, this journal utilizes a group of experts to review submitted manuscripts. Upon receipt of a manuscript, two specialists are selected from the Editorial Review Board of the journal. The selection is based upon the particular area of expertise of the reviewers matched to the subject matter of the submission. Please note that return of a manuscript to the author(s) for revision does not guarantee acceptance of the manuscript for publication. The final decision will be based upon the comments of the reviewers upon their second review of the revised manuscript.

Offprints
The full PDF ready2print version of the published article is available for free to journal webpage. IJCS is an OPEN ACCESS journal.

While submitting, you warrant the following:

Neither the material submitted nor the modified form have been published before.
The manuscript is not in the process of being reviewed in any other journal.
A paper accepted for publication will not be published elsewhere (wholly or partly) without the written permission of the IJCS.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) was not involved in creating the article.
The Similitude Index is below 20%.
Submission of the manuscript has been approved by all authors.

[For other details see the Publication Ethics, Rights and Malpractice ]

Guidelines for Authors
1. Submitted papers must be entirely original work of the author(s).
2. The contents of papers submitted to IJCS are the sole responsibility of the authors – which are fully responsible for any kind of plagiarisms or errors.
3. IJCS does not publish papers that have been already published in other national or foreign journals. The rejected papers will not be returned to the authors.
4. If the papers have multiple authors, all listed authors should have a significant contribution to the work, all of them must approve the final version and all of them must approve the submission of the paper.
5. The Authors must declare any potential conflict of interest.
6. The Authors must confirm that all any studies involving human or animal subjects must have been carried out in accordance with EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments
7. The Authors must notify promptly IJCS about any significant error or inaccuracy in their papers.

Guidelines for Editors
1. Editors have the responsibility to accept the submitted papers for publication in IJCS free of any conflict of interest. The decision must be solely based on their academic and scientific value, importance, originality and quality of research.
2. Editors must cooperate with authors and reviewers in the publishing process.
3. Editors must protect the confidentiality of all submitted papers.
4. Correction and retraction of articles. Editors may authorize corrections (minor or major) to a published article. When necessary, retraction of articles will be done according to COPE retraction guidelines.

Guidelines for Reviewers
Basic principles to which peer reviewers should adhere, peer reviewers should:
1. Only agree to review papers for which they have the subject expertise required to carry out a proper assessment and which they can assess in a timely manner
2. Respect the confidentiality of peer review and not reveal any details of a paper or its review, during or after the peer-review process, beyond those that are released by the journal
3. Not use information obtained during the peer-review process for their own or any other personal or organizational advantage, or to disadvantage or discredit others
4. Declare all potential conflicting of interests, seeking advice from the journal if they are unsure whether something constitutes a relevant interest
5. Not allow their reviews to be influenced by the origins of a paper, by the nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender or other characteristics of the authors, or by commercial considerations
6. Be objective and constructive in their reviews, refraining from being hostile or inflammatory and from making libelous or derogatory personal comments
7. Acknowledge that peer review is largely a reciprocal endeavor and undertake to carry out their fair share of reviewing and in a timely manner
8. Provide journals with personal and professional information that is accurate and a true representation of their expertise
9. Recognize that impersonation of another individual during the review process is considered serious misconduct