Author guidelines

What do I need to know to prepare and submit my article?

In accordance with academic and professional protocols, Inderscience cannot accept an article if it is not the author's original work, has been published before (but see below regarding conference papers), or is currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. The article must not contain any libellous or unlawful statements or in any way infringe the rights of others. All authors must declare they have read and agreed to the content of the submitted article. A full statement of our Ethical Guidelines for Authors (PDF) is available.

An author may submit an article if that article (either the same or substantially similar) has previously been under consideration with another publisher or journal (including other Inderscience titles). However, the author must have formal written evidence of the rejection or withdrawal of the article from the original place of submission. Once the article has been submitted, the author must email this written evidence to submissions@inderscience.com, requesting that it be added to the submission and stating the Inderscience submission ID.

The author must be the owner of the copyright and be entitled to sign the Author Copyright Agreement. In submitting an article, the author complies with these conditions. In addition, the publisher reserves the right to re-referee and/or reject an accepted paper if the paper does not meet the criteria outlined in the review form or if the paper is in some other way deemed possibly unsuitable. If the author wishes to abandon the review process or remove his/her article from elsewhere in the system before publication, the article must be formally withdrawn in writing before it can be submitted to another journal. Non-compliance with any of the above conditions may result in sanctions.

The submission cannot have been previously published in English (but see below regarding conference papers), nor can it be before another journal for consideration.

If the submission is based on a conference paper, the conference paper requirements on our Preparing articles page must be met. Previous publication in another language should also be disclosed. Such statements, along with explanations for exceptions to the above rules, should be included in the "Notes for the Editor" section during online submission.

There are no charges for publishing with Inderscience, unless you require your article to be OA, or you are publishing in our Open Access-only journals, such as the International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms. OA articles accepted for publication are available online and freely accessible to all without any restriction except use for commercial purposes; a fee must be paid for an article to be made OA. You can find more information on OA here.

If you receive an email requesting payment in relation to your article (for example for editing or reviewing services), then you should ignore and delete the email - it is not a legitimate Inderscience email. If you are unsure, you can check with us at submissions@inderscience.com.

If you are publishing an Open Access article with us, remember that we will never request payment before your paper has been accepted, and that payment will only be organised and handled by the Inderscience Editorial Office.

The text must meet the formatting requirements outlined at Preparing articles.

You must provide the definitive list of all authors when you submit your article. Make sure you all agree on who the corresponding author will be and the order of co-authors, and check all affiliations and contact details before submitting.

Changes to the authorship are only permissible during the review process. You will need to get approval for any changes by contacting the journal's Editor in Chief with your change request and a clear reason for the change. This request must come from all the authors, including the person you are adding or removing and they must be copied into the email you send.

No changes are allowed after your article has been accepted.

You must identify four experts in the subject of your article, details of which will be requested during online submission. The experts must not be members of the editorial board of any Inderscience journal, must not be from your* institution, and at least two of them must be from a different country from you*.

The purpose of this request is ensure your familiarity with the latest research literature in the field and to identify suitable experts who could be invited to join our Experts Database and who may be asked if they are willing to review articles for Inderscience journals; we are unlikely to ask them to referee your article.

(*"you" refers to all authors of the paper)

In line with COPE guidelines, artificial intelligence tools (e.g. ChatGPT) cannot be listed as named authors on submitted articles. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their article, even those parts produced by any AI tool, and are thus liable for any inaccuracies or breach of publication ethics.

Authors who have used AI tools to develop their article must include a note in the article's Acknowledgements section describing the technologies usedand the purpose.

Please note that this does not apply to software such as spelling or grammar checkers or reference managers.

The names and email addresses entered anywhere on the Inderscience Publishers' site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the specified journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Use the Submissions checklist to double-check that all requirements have been complied with.

Articles must be submitted through Inderscience's Submissions and Peer-Review System.



What happens after I have submitted my article?

All journals published by Inderscience place great emphasis on the quality of the articles they publish. Therefore, submitted articles are put through a full double-blind refereeing process in which:

  • Articles are sent to 2-3 external experts for their peer review.
  • The reviewers' recommendations determine whether an article will be
  • accepted
  • accepted subject to minor changes
  • accepted subject to resubmission with significant changes
  • rejected.
    • For articles which require changes, the same reviewers will be used to ensure that the quality of the revised article is acceptable.

    The Editor in Chief reserves the right to refuse any article, whether invited or otherwise, and to make suggestions and/or modifications before publication. The publisher shall furnish authors of accepted articles with proofs for the correction of printing errors. The proofs shall be returned within 14 calendar days of submittal. The publishers shall not be held responsible for errors which are the result of authors' oversights.

    We would expect a "corresponding author" to be responsible for the article during the refereeing process after submission, and for the collection and provision of the copyright assignment from each author after acceptance (see details of copyright, author rights/responsibilities and privacy here).

    You will receive a free PDF of your article, the option to buy the issue at a special author's price, and will be permitted to use the article in the ways described here.

    Four pages to read