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Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines are based on CSE’s White Paper on Promotion Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications, 2012 Update.

(ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, December 2016).

The main goal of the journal is to focus on new achievements of Russian and foreign researchers in the field of automobile transport, mechanical and civil engineering, building materials. The journal is to promote advanced knowledge and up-to-date information as well as to provide communication environment to exchange views on novel approaches in these spheres. The key objective of the journal is emphasizing practical aspects of new technologies and introduction scientific advances into practice.

Among the primary goals are:

• communicating scientific findings and professional knowledge among researchers and experts in the fields related to the scope of the journal;
• enhancing the quality of published papers;
• promoting most advanced and promising research within the scope of the journal;
• developing relations between research communities;
• stimulating consistent and increasing interest of scientific community in the journal.

Guidelines for authors

Manuscripts are submitted within the scope of the Journal:  transport, transport and technological machinery, construction, construction materials and products. Considered for publication are all types of original research articles which meet the following requirements: 8-10 pages in length of written text (one-spaced), in Arial font, 5-8 illustrations (figures, tables). It is recommended to include from 20 to 40 references to publications in journals, primarily those with international citation indexes. At least 15 references should be within the last three years, with minimum 10 of citations being from foreign research journals. The reference list should include only peer-reviewed journal articles as sources. For review articles (i.e. critical analysis of existing research literature on a particular topic) the following recommendations should be followed: the appropriate length of the article is minimum 10 pages, 5 and more figures, up to 80 references may be included. 

Contributions are accepted from post-graduate students, applicants for doctoral degrees, and experts in the relevant fields.

When submitting a manuscript the authors agree to the provisions of the publishing agreement (public offer) attached.

Please indicate the UDC (Universal Decimal Classification) index.

Author Guidelines are based on CSE's White Paper on Promotion Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications, 2012 Update and ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (December 2016).

I. Before Submitting a Manuscript

 Submission of an article implies that:

-  the work described has not been published previously in other journals;

- the manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere;

- the publication is approved by all co-authors.

Before the contribution is sent, make sure you have included all the information in Russian and in English in the file; you have indicated all the sources of information presented in the figures or tables; you have made all references correctly.  

We encourage the authors to provide high quality translation. It is not permitted to use machine translation programs. The text should be translated by a professional translator, or by a native English speaker. Do not forget that translations are recognized by copyright law as well as original texts. Translation is a derivative work which requires a certain level of creativity, thus making the translator a co-author of a new original work.

Make sure your title page contains the following information (in Russian and in English):

I. The name(s) of the author(s)

Authors are individuals identified by the research group to have made substantial contributions to the reported work and agree to be accountable for these contributions. In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work he or she has done, an author should be able to identify which of their co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work.

Authorship should be based on the following criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Final approval of the version to be published.

All other contributors who are not authors should be named in the Acknowledgments, and what they did should be described.

When writing the authors of the article in Russian, the last name should be indicated after the initials of the first name and patronymic (P. S. Ivanov, S.I. Petrov, I.P. Sidorov).

In English, the format “First name, Patronymic Initial, Surname” should be followed (Ivan I. Ivanov). Indicate the last names in English as given in the foreign passports or in previously published articles.

If the author has no foreign passport and/or publications, the BSI standard must be used to transliterate his/her last and first names.

 II. Author information

This section lists the names of the authors (their last name, first name, patronymic), their academic titles, positions and other honorifics. In addition, the ORCID ID of the author(s), Scopus Author ID, Researcher ID, and e-mail address of the corresponding author are indicated.

III. Author affiliation(s)

The affiliation includes university, or organizational affiliation and its location, including zip-code, city, and country. Affiliations should represent the institution(s) at which the research was conducted and/or supported and/or approved.

If the paper has two or more authors with different affiliations superscript should be used to indicate their relevance.

Please give official English names of the institution(s).

 IV. Title

The title (max. 10-12 words) should be informative, concise, and of a typical scientific style. Keywords in the title assist in effective literature retrieval.

The title is written in two languages (Russian and English).

When choosing a title please avoid the following:

- redundant words to indicate research process (such as “analysis”, “investigation”, “study”, “use”, “determination”, “evaluating”, etc.);

- words indicating the novelty (such as “new”, “modern”, etc.);

- words assessing the quality (such as “best”, “advantageous”, “optimal”, etc.);

- abbreviations.

V. Abstract

The abstract should summarize the major aspects of the manuscript, particularly, the overall purpose of the study, the research problem, methods, major findings as a result of your analysis and conclusions. In this section (from 200 to 250 words) the novelty should be highlighted compared to the relevant works in this field. 

Structure

The abstract must be structured into separate sections:

Introduction – the context and purpose of the study;

Materials and methods – methodology/a brief description of how you did your research/research topic;

Conclusions – results/your interpretation of your findings;

Flaws or limitations to the study/ author’s views on the implications of the study - practical or theoretical applications from your findings or implications for future research;

Practical implications of your study (if applicable) – outcomes for practice/prospects;

Originality/value of paper – Who are the main stakeholders of your research? What is new in the paper?

The abstract should be written last since it will summarize the contents of your entire paper. A good strategy to begin composing a structured abstract for a structured paper is to take key information from each section of the paper and put it in a sequence that summarizes the contents and allows readers to quickly find the article due to the key words included in the abstract (as well as in the title and in the key words list). References and abbreviations should be avoided in an abstract. Abbreviations and acronyms should be spelled out. The abstract is presented in two languages, Russian and English.

VI. Key words

Key words facilitate on-line searching for your article by those who may be interested in your results. So, the key words should accurately reflect the main subject of your research (research area), the title, topic, and the aim of your study.

The recommended number of key words is from 10 to 12, which may include phrases with no more than 3 words. The key words list should be presented in two languages, Russian and English.

VII. Acknowledgements

In this section are mentioned all sources  of  funding and all  people  who contributed  substantially  to  the  study  but  cannot be regarded as co-authors. Non-author contributors may include all those who have provided indirect assistance (topical discussions, recommendations regarding research), facilities, administrative support, funding, direct technical help (supply of reagents/patients/animal subjects/data manipulation/analytical techniques/materials).

VIII. Conflict of interest

Conflict of interest has been defined as a set of conditions in which people have competing interests that could interfere with editorial decision-making. A conflict of interest can be actual, potential or perceived. Among factors contributing to conflicts of interest there are personal relationships, political or religious issues, financial ties, or academic commitments.

You should include a relevant disclosure statement about the actual or potential COI with the text of your article.

In case there is no COI regarding the publication of the manuscript the author also discloses that, like in the following example: “The author declares that there is no conflict of interest”.

IX. Manuscript Body

The IMRAD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) is adopted by the Journal.

The main body of the paper (in Russian or in English) is structured as follows:

Introduction (1-4 pages) This section establishes the scope, practical and theoretical significance of the research, states the aim and objectives, summarizes background information about the topic by highlighting most important and relevant works, and outlining an explicit research “gap”. In this section you should make a clear and cogent argument that your particular piece of research is important and possesses value. When structuring the Introduction section use the general-to-specific pattern, which suggests moving from general to specific details.    

As a rule, the Introduction includes 4 subsections:

Establishing the problem leading to the study. You should establish your subject area by presenting it as a part of a broad research field.

A brief overview of current research on the subject. Ensure you summarize previous work on your chosen topic (what has been done, and how). Focus on providing statements about the current state of knowledge and reviewing items of prior research published in research papers or books (including your own) in case you address them in your study. It is recommended to include from 20 to 40 sources to provide an exhaustive comparison of different ideas. Make sure you have included sources published in English.

Revealing a gap in existing research, or aspects which have not been previously addressed. At this point you will lead your readers from the literature review to identifying the research niche. You may indicate:

new aspects never studied before due to being overlooked, or neglected;

contradictory results from different works, critical points in regard to hypotheses or conclusions;

deficiencies in the literature about the problem resulting in the need to provide an in-depth discussion.

Stating research aim and objectives. When writing about your key aim and objectives keep it mind that your language in these phrases may change as the following sections of your manuscript are written, particularly, Results and Discussion sections. 

In addition, you may highlight the key characteristics and importance of your study and give a brief overview of your paper structure.

Materials and Methods (2 and more pages) This section should include a concise description of your research methods. Usually, it starts with information about research/experiment design, and then it should give enough detail to evaluate and, if needed, to repeat the experiments reported in the article.

If you use a standard method or procedure published elsewhere, refer to it and cite it. Do not forget to describe modifications of standard methods. Be sure to mention any modifications you may have made to the standard procedure at the source you cited. If you use a new method which had not been published before, give all the details of your method. If your method has been previously published in a leading journal, you should cite it.

In a pure theory manuscript mathematical calculations are presented in the Theoretical Basis section. This section should provide readers with enough detail to replicate the study and verify the results obtained. Include all the data, formula, equations, and all your transformations. If your mathematical apparatus is too bulky include it in the Appendix section of the manuscript. 

Statistical procedures should be briefly presented in the manuscript as they are usually standard statistical methods, or their modifications. You should mention your statistical procedures, and in the case of new or modified methods you are to cite the sources. 

Results. The Results section is to objectively present your major empirical or theoretical findings. Your results may be reported in tables, graphs, equations, photos, figures. In this section, just tell the reader the facts. In the case you have obtained multiple similar correlations summarized in graphs you should report most typical graph. Include all the essential details in the table.     

The main core of the result section consists of:

- text (verbal presentation),

- tables (tabular form),

- graphics (tables, graphs, charts, illustrations, etc.).

When reporting the results of quantitative research make sure your figures or tables are connected to the text, they are complementary and don’t duplicate one another, but express the results more efficiently. You may structure your textual information around tables or figures into three parts. First, state what is presented in the graph, and indicate the part of the article it refers to. Second, describe the significant details it represents, and then add important comments. As a rule, a verbal description of figures includes three elements.

Discussion and Conclusion. The purpose of the Discussion section is to interpret your findings, explain their meaning, compare your results with the findings from other studies. Organize the Discussion from the specific information of Methods and Results sections to a more general interpretation of your results:

- list your major findings, regardless of the fact that they prove or fail to support your hypothesis, or agree with the data from other studies;

-  summarize your key results;

- compare and contextualize your findings within previous research;

- discuss reasons for similarities and differences between yours and others' findings; 

- relate your results with the aim and hypothesis of your research;

- identify potential limitations and weaknesses of your study, summarize the principal implications;

- make recommendations for practical implementation or further research.

Conclusion section provides the most general claims or key points derived from the findings of your study. It would be desirable to compare your results with those expected, as well as to highlight their novelty and important implications applied to practice. You could also claim here the limitations of your study. Finally, your main points should be described and your recommendations addressing the specific problem should be given. Besides, make sure the opportunities for future research are also indicated.

 X. Figures

It is essential that your figures are of the best possible quality.

Figures must all be labeled with numbered captions. Figure captions are generally placed below the figures.

Figure captions should be translated into English.

Number all figures with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are first mentioned in text. In case you have one figure in the manuscript you do not have to number it. 

When referring to a figure in the text, the word "Figure" is abbreviated as "fig." like in the following examples: “Fig. 3 shows that …”, “It is shown that … (fig. 3)”.

Figure captions must be centre aligned and contain the number and the title: “Fig. 2. Description of vital processes”.

Do not use a period after figure captions.

Figure captions in English should be given after those in Russian.

XI. Tables

It is essential that your tables are of the best possible quality.

Editable tables are preferred to scanned ones or images.

Tables must all be labeled with numbered captions.

All table captions should be translated into English.

Number all tables with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. In case you have one table in the manuscript you do not have to number it. 

Please, refer to a table in the text as follows: “As shown in table 3 …”, or “It is shown that … (see table 3)”.

The caption for a table must be left aligned and should include its number and title (legend): “Table 2. Description of vital processes”.

Do not use a period after table captions.

Translated captions for tables are placed after their Russian version.

XII. Screenshots and photographs

 You should convert the images (photographs, screenshots) to one of the following formats: *.jpeg, *.bmp, *.gif (*.doc и *.docx – in case supplementary marks have been added to the image).  The resolution should higher than 300 dpi. Besides inserting figures into your manuscript, you must also upload appropriate files during paper submission. Ensure that each file name matches the figure number. In the file description, you should separately provide a caption, which should correspond to the name of the photograph from the text.

When you reprint or adapt a table or figure from another source, the latter should be acknowledged below the image. When using statistics from other sources in your graphs or tables, make sure you indicate those sources.

XIII. Footnotes

Footnotes are numbered in Arabic numerals continuously throughout the document. Footnotes may include links to anonymous sources on the Internet, links to textbooks, manuals, state standard specifications, statistical reports, articles in socio-political newspapers and magazines, abstracts, dissertations (in case you can not cite the articles published the research results), comments by the author.

XIV. List of References

Vancouver Citation Style is used in the Journal, which means that in-text citations, numbered in square brackets, refer to the sources numbered in the order they are cited. Give the page number after the source number followed by a by a comma and a space: [6, p. 8].

The list of references includes peer-reviewed sources only (papers from scientific journals and monographs) referred to in the text of the paper. It is not appropriate to include abstracts, dissertations, textbooks, teaching aids, state standard specifications (including GOST), information from websites, statistical reports, articles in socio-political newspapers, websites, and blogs in the list of references. If you need to refer to such information, you should put the source information in a footnote.

When describing a source, its DOI should be indicated if it can be found (the probability of 95 per cent is for foreign sources).

References to accepted but not yet published papers should be marked with the words “in print”; authors must obtain written permission to link to such documents and confirmation that they are accepted for publication. Information from unpublished sources should be marked with the words “unpublished data/documents”, authors should also receive written confirmation of the use of such materials.

The publication year, volume, issue of the journal, and page numbers must be indicated in references to papers from journals.

You must include the names of all authors in the reference.

Authors should verify references on the official sites of journals and/or publishers.

The self-citation level should not exceed 15% for authors.

When describing a source written in Russian, please indicate it at the end by adding: (In Russ).

The BSI standard must be used to transliterate the surnames and names of the authors.

Some examples:

Referencing foreign language material (articles)

1. Last Name Initials, 2. Last Name Initials. Article title. Journal name. Year; Volume (Number): 00-00. DOI: 10.13655/1.6.1234567.

Referencing foreign-language monographs

1. Last Name Initials, 2. Last Name Initials. Title. Edition. City published: Publisher; Year of publication.

Indicating editor (compiler)

1. Last Name Initials, 2. Last Name Initials, 3. Last Name Initials, editors. Title. Edition. City published: Publisher; Year of publication.

Chapters in monographs or collections of articles

1. Last Name Initials. 1 Title. In: 2 Last Name Initials., editor. 2 Title. Edition. City published: Publisher; Year of publication.

The journal/ monograph/articles collection titles are italicized. Use periods after initials. No comma is placed between author’s last and first names.

Referencing translated works

Use the following structure

Article

Authors (transliteration). [Translated title in square brackets]. Title in Russian  (transliteration). Referencing details in English. Language (in Russ.)

Monograph

Authors (transliteration). [Translated title in square brackets]. Referencing details: Publisher (in English for organization name)/(transliteration for Publishing company’s name, indicate that this is the name of the Publisher in English).Number of pages. 

1Familia I.O., 2Familia I.O. [Translated title]. Transliteration of the journal title=Official title in English. Year; Volume(Number): 00-00. DOI: 0000-0000 (In Russ.)

1Familia I.O. [Translated title of the monograph]. Gorod: Izdatelstvo; 2000. (In Russ.)

Websites

Please note that it is better to provide a link to the material from the webpage which is mentioned in the manuscript. The link to the home age of a website is not informative and makes it difficult to verify information.

The heading on the webpage [site]. Site name;2016 [updated 19 October 2016; cited 30 October 2016]. Accessed: http://www.example.ru. 

I. How to submit a paper

The manuscript of the paper is sent to the editor through an online form. The loaded file with the manuscript should be presented in Microsoft Word format (have the extension * .doc, * .docx, * .rtf).

Please follow the instructions below to format your paper layout.

The page size adopted for the papers is A4 with single line spacing and the following margin sizes: 3.5 cm upper margin; 2.5 cm lower margin; 2.5  cm left side margin and 2.5 cm right side margin.

All paragraphs should have the first line indented by 0.5 cm.

Abbreviations should be defined at first mention (except for widely used abbreviations and mathematics terms).

All equations should be created in Microsoft Word's Equation Editor. “Breaking” formulas is allowed at a plus or minus sign, less often at a multiplication sign. These signs are repeated, i. e. they should begin the next line of the equation. Formulas should be numbered (the numbering sequence should be continuous throughout the paper, use Arabic numbers). Enclose the number in parentheses near the right edge of the page.

Figures, images and graphs with captions should be included in the manuscript text in standard graphic formats and should be uploaded as separate files (JPEG, GIF, BMP). All tables and figures should be numbered (Table 1 – Caption, Figure 1 – Caption). Table captions must be left aligned. Figure captions must be centre aligned. Provide textual references to all figures and tables: “Figure 1 …”.

Any figure or image you present must be sufficiently clear, and of the best possible quality. Make sure their size may be adequately reduced when editing.  

The color drawings must be of sufficient quality such that all details in the drawings are reproducible in black and white in the printed version.

Tables should be provided in an editable Word format. No scanned images, tables or formulas are allowed.

All captions should be given in two languages, Russian and English.

II. Communication with the Journal

The corresponding author has primary responsibility for correspondence with the Journal; though keeping all co-authors informed is also possible via e-mail addresses indicated.

All manuscripts are reviewed initially by the Assistant Editor and only those papers that meet the standards of the Journal, and fit within its aims and scope, are sent out for peer review. At this stage, the article may be returned to the author(s) for revision. You might be asked to correct mistakes or to include the missing data. At this stage, a manuscript may be rejected due to its either being inconsistent with the scope of the Journal, insufficiently novel or original.

Manuscripts that passed the pre-check are sent to a subject matter expert for in-depth review within a particular period, the author(s) being notified. 

In some cases several experts, as well as the EIC, may be involved in the review process. Once the positive decision of the reviewer is received, the manuscript is sent to the Editor for publication procedures.

If the decision is to revise the manuscript, the author is given two months to revise it in accordance with the reviewer comments. In case the author did not notify the Editorial Board of his actions within this period, the manuscript will be removed from consideration in the Journal.

Once the decision is to reject the manuscript, the author is notified of this decision of the Editorial Board.

If the manuscript is accepted, the final version is sent to the corresponding author for approval. The answer should be sent within 2 days. If no reply is received from the author, the final version is considered accepted.

III. Complaints and appeals guidelines

In case of the author’s disagreement over rejection or recommendations of peer reviewers, the author may appeal the decision. The author should:

- correct the manuscript addressing all the reasonable comments of editors and reviewers;

- explain clearly the basis for an appeal.

We encourage resubmission of manuscripts which are potentially of interest, but were rejected due to extensive conceptual and/or structural changes required for consideration. We are ready to provide all necessary details on revising the manuscripts.

IV. Policy on Publishing Integrity (plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification)

The Editorial Board adheres to the COPE standards if facts of plagiarism, falsifications or fabrications and other violations by the authors of publication ethics are revealed.

Research Misconduct can be characterized as any actions or research practices that include improper handling of research subjects or materials, manipulating research data such that the research is not accurately represented, or any misbehavior of the author that violates ethical requirements and the fundamental principles of responsible science.

Research Misconduct does not include honest errors, scientific disagreement or inadvertent mistakes in methods, analysis or misinterpretation of data/results, or misbehavior unrelated to the research.

V. Article Correction and Retraction Policy

If errors in the article are detected which affect its interpretation but don’t compromise its academic credibility, it is possible to correct the original article by replacing the pdf-file and detailing the nature of the mistakes in this file and on the web page of the article.

Retractions are used when there is clear evidence of unethical research, including data fabrications/ falsifications. A retraction may be initiated by the editors of the Journal, or by the author(s) of the paper (or their institution), or the third parties.

The retracted article is marked as “retracted” with details given as to the reasons of the withdrawal.

Information about article retraction is sent to the databases where the Journal is indexed.

VI. Publication process

Manuscripts which meet high quality standards set by the Journal are submitted in print and digital format.

On registration, the article number and the date when the manuscript was submitted are assigned. Registration is free and can be completed online.

Pre-check. During the editorial pre-check phase, the academic editor will assess the suitability of the registered manuscripts with respect to the scope of the Journal. The pre-check starts immediately after submission. The Editors reserve the right to return manuscripts

Once a positive pre-evaluation report is received, which means that the submission complies with the requirements, the manuscript has a status “accepted for consideration”. At this stage the date of submitting the manuscript is registered.

Peer-Review. All submitted manuscripts are subject to blind peer-review process, when their scientific quality is assessed by several experts in the specific field, and by the editorial staff. Peer reviewing is free of charge.

The Editor will take into account the expert reviewers' opinions to make an informed decision on submissions. If the decision is made to “Accept after revisions”, the author will be asked to make changes and corrections to improve the article.

Revised manuscripts are sent for review again. 

Rejected manuscripts are not considered for review again. The decision letter is delivered to the author stating the reasons for rejection.

Editing. Accepted manuscripts will be checked before publication and undergo processing steps, such as language editing, data processing, proofreading, formatting.

Editorial review of accepted manuscripts usually takes up to 2 months depending on the publication frequency and production planning. Revised proofs are not sent to the authors. The latter may, however, be ask for approval.

The publisher’s final version is sent to the author for approval vie e-mail. The answer should be sent within 2 days. If no reply is received from the author, the final version of the article will be forwarded for publication.

Publication. Once the formatted version is ready, the article is published open access online on the Journal website. The same publication date is set for all articles in an issue.

Issue and article metadata are exported to RSCI (Russian Science Citation Index), bibliographic reference databases within the period set out in the publishing agreement, and are delivered to subscriptions.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The manuscripts are accepted if has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.

2. The materials should be prepared in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or World Perfect.

3. Internet links are provided as a complete URL. 

4. Text should follow the stylistic and bibliography requirements as stated in Regulations located in the Part "About "

5. If you submit the manuscript to the peer-reviewed journal, then the requirements of the document providing double-blind reviewing are met.

6. Text should be typed with an interval of one line spacing, 12 pt; to highlight the accents it is recommended to use italics rather than underlining (except Internet links). All illustrations, graphics and tables are placed within the text according to the meaning of the particular part of the text (and not at the end of the manuscript).

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish in the journal agree to the following terms:

1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the manuscript with an acknowledgement of the authorship and initial publication in the journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the manuscript (post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their manuscript online (in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of the published manuscript (see The Effect of Open Access).

Privacy Statement

Names and email addresses entered on the website of this journal will be used solely for the purposes indicated by this journal and will not be used for any other purposes or provided to other individuals and organizations.