Author Guide for ReView Submissions - Biosurface and Biotribology

Following our recent announcement about the IET’s partnership with Wiley, all of the IET’s journals have migrated to a new online peer-review management system, using ScholarOne.

The ScholarOne sites are open and authors of new submissions should follow the ScholarOne Author Guide available here.

Any papers that have been submitted to the journal prior to the system migration will continue to run in ReView and authors of these submissions should continue to use the Author Guide on this page.

If you are uncertain of which Author Guide to refer to, please contact [email protected]

1. Contact information
2. Manuscript submission
3. Multiple submission
4. Cover letter
5. Manuscript presentation
6. Publication options
7. Human and Animal Subjects
8. Colour reproduction
9. After acceptance
10. Open Access Licence
11. Pre-submission editing services

1. Contact information

1.1. If you cannot find the information you are looking for on this page, please contact the journal's editorial assistant by following the Editorial Contact link on the relevant journal homepage. For general enquiries please contact [email protected].
Back to the top

2. Manuscript submission

2.1. There is no charge for submitting to our journals.

2.2. Contributions falling into the following categories will be considered for publication: original research papers, reviews and short communication. Please ensure that you select the appropriate article type from the list of options when making your submission. All submissions to IET Research Journals should be uploaded using the peer review system. Original papers should be submitted as a single PDF or Word file that includes all figures and tables.

2.3. If the paper is intended for a specific special issue, please make this clear when uploading your paper.

2.3.1. Revised papers should be submitted in their source file format (.doc, docx or .tex files for text and .eps, .jpeg, .tif or .pdf files for figures). If your paper has been prepared using LaTeX, please also upload a single .pdf file of the paper together with the LaTeX source file and the figures.

2.4. All papers are pre-screened to ensure that only the most significant are sent for review. Please ensure that your manuscript satisfies the following points:

2.4.1. Originality: is the work scientifically rigorous, accurate and novel? Does the work contain significant additional material to that already published? Has its value been demonstrated?

2.4.2. Please be aware that all submissions to IET publications will now go through Ithenticate’s CrossCheck software which is a multi-publisher initiative to screen published and submitted content for originality. We use CrossCheck to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts. Click here to find out more about CrossCheck.

2.4.3. Our policy is to reject manuscripts found to contain duplication of previously published work. For further information, please see the IET Policy in Relation to Plagiarism, Infringement of Copyright and Infringement of Moral Rights and Submission to Multiple Publications .

2.4.4. Motivation: does the problem considered have a sound motivation? Does the paper clearly demonstrate the scientific interest of the results?

2.4.5. Referencing: has reference been made to the most recent and most appropriate work? Is the present work set in the context of the previous work?

2.4.6. Clarity: is the English clear and well written? Poorly written English may obscure the scientific merit of your paper. Are the ideas expressed clearly and concisely? Are the concepts understandable?

3. Multiple submission

3.1. Your manuscript must not be under consideration for any other publication while it is being considered by the IET. Please read the IET Policy in Relation to Plagiarism, Infringement of Copyright and Infringement of Moral Rights and Submission to Multiple Publications carefully, or contact the relevant editorial assistant if you are in any doubt.

3.2. If your manuscript has been considered and rejected by any other publication, it is imperative that this is stated in the cover letter.
Back to the top

4. Cover Letter

4.1. Cover letters are required for all submissions.

4.2. Cover letters must include a statement of originality and confirmation that this paper has not been submitted to any other journals.

4.3. If your manuscript has previously been submitted to this or any other journal (including other IET journals) and subsequently rejected, you must provide copies of all correspondence involving the earlier submission, including the final decision letter. You must also include an additional document detailing how you have improved your paper from the previous rejected version. Please upload this document alongside both your submitted manuscript file and your cover letter. Failure to do so may cause delays or interruptions to paper processing and will result in the rejection of your manuscript.

4.4. If your manuscript was previously a conference paper, please attach the paper and details of how the manuscript has been expanded.
Back to the top

5. Manuscript presentation

5.1. Submission template: for our Microsoft Word submission template, please download the file here. For our LaTeX template, please download the zipped file here. These templates contain specific information regarding the formatting, layout and policies for submissions to IET Research Journals. Additional information regarding submissions can also be found in the following subsections.

5.2. Length: original research articles, case studies and brief papers submitted to IET Research Journals should conform to a maximum length of 12 pages when formatted using our double column template provided in section 5.1. Review articles, which summarise current research in a particular area, have a maximum length limit of 18 pages. Comment papers, that critique already published papers, should be no more than 4 pages in length. These guidelines include all content such as the abstract, figures, references and the appendices..

5.3. Format: papers must be typed in a font size no smaller than 10 pt and should be in standardised fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial. All pages should be numbered. Authors should not copy the format of the published journal. All accepted papers will be edited into the IET Research Journals house style. Please put your paper in a single column when submitting.

5.4. Language, spelling and grammar: all papers must be written in UK English. If English is not your first language, you should ask an English-speaking colleague to proofread your paper. Papers that fail to meet basic standards of literacy are likely to be unsubmitted by the Editorial Office.

5.5. Author affiliations: these should immediately follow the title. For multiple-authored articles, list the full names of all the authors, followed by the full postal and email addresses, using identifiers to link an author with an address where necessary. If an author's present address is different from the address at which the work was carried out, this should be given as a footnote. All co-authors must be listed on the manuscript submission and peer review site as part of the submission process.

5.6. Abstract: this should be informative and suitable for direct inclusion in abstracting services as a self-contained article. It should not exceed 200 words. It should indicate the general scope and also state the main results obtained, methods used, the value of the work and the conclusions drawn. No figure numbers, table numbers, references or displayed mathematical expressions should be included. The abstract should be included in both the manuscript submission and peer review site submission steps and in the submitted paper.

5.7. Figures and figure captions

5.7.1. Figures will be reproduced exactly as supplied, with no redrawing or relabelling. It is therefore imperative that the supplied figures are of the highest possible quality. The preferred format is encapsulated postscript (.eps) for line figures and .tif for halftone figures with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch).

5.7.2. Each figure should be explicitly referred to in numerical order and should be embedded within the text at the appropriate point.

5.7.3. A maximum of four subfigures will be allowed per figure.

5.7.4. Colour figures may be used online at the request of the author (see Colour Reproduction section below).

5.8. Tables

5.8.1. Tables should be referred to explicitly in the text. Tables should be referred to in numerical order.

5.9. Mathematics and equations

5.9.1. When writing mathematics, avoid confusion between characters that could be mistaken for one another, e.g. the letter 'l' and the figure one.

5.9.2. Equations should be capable of fitting into a two-column print format.

5.9.3. Vectors and matrices should be in bold italic and variables in italic.

5.9.4. If your paper contains superscripts or subscripts, take special care to ensure that the positioning of the characters is unambiguous.

5.9.5. Exponential expressions should be written using superscript notation, i.e. 5x10³ not 5E03. A multiplication sign should be used, not a dot.

5.9.6. Refer to equations using round brackets, e.g. (1)

5.10. Footnotes

Please be aware that it is the IET house style not to include footnotes in the text. If footnotes are included in a paper, they will be moved into the main body of text during the typesetting. 

5.11. References

5.11.1. You should number your references sequentially through the text, and each reference should be individually numbered and enclosed in square brackets (e.g. [1]).

5.11.2. Please ensure that all references in the reference list are cited in the text and vice versa. Failure to do so may cause delays in the production of your article.

5.11.3. Please also ensure that you provide as much information as possible to allow the reader to locate the article concerned. This is particularly important for articles appearing in conferences, workshops and books that may not appear in journal databases.

5.11.4. Do not include references for papers that have been submitted and not accepted for publication. Papers that have been accepted for publication are allowed as long as all information is provided.

5.11.5. Please provide all author name(s) and initials, title of the paper, date published, title of the journal or book, volume number, editors (if any), and finally the page range. For books and conferences, the town of publication and publisher (in parentheses) should also be given.

5.11.6. If the number of authors on a reference is greater than 6 please list the first 3 authors followed by et al.

5.11.7. An average research paper should reference between 20 and 30 works, the bulk of which should be recently published (i.e. within the last 5 years) leading-edge articles in the field, preferably from top journals or conferences. You should compare your own findings to this recent research and demonstrate how your work improves on it in order to demonstrate that your work shows a significant advance over the state of the art - a pre-requisite for publication in IET Research Journals.

5.12. Examples of the ways in which references should be cited are given below:

Journal article

• Smith, T., Jones, M.: 'The title of the paper', IET Syst. Biol., 2007, 1, (2), pp. 1–7
• Borwn, L., Thomas, H., James, C., et al.:'The title of the paper, IET Communications, 2012, 6, (5), pp 125-138

Conference paper

• Jones, L., Brown, D.: 'The title of the conference paper'. Proc. Int. Conf. Systems Biology, Stockholm, Sweden, May 2006, pp. 1–7

Book, book chapter and manual

• Hodges, A., Smith, N.: 'The title of the book chapter', in Brown, S. (Ed.): 'Handbook of Systems Biology' (IEE Press, London, 2004, 1st edn.), pp. 1– 7
• Harrison, E.A., and Abbott, C.: 'The title of the book' (XYZ Press, New York, 2005, 2nd edn. 2006)

Report

• IET., 'Report Title' (Publisher, 2013), pp. 1-5

Patent

• Brown, F.: 'The title of the patent (if available)'. British Patent 123456, July 2004
• Smith, D., Hodges, J.: British Patent Application 98765, 1925

Thesis

• Abbott, N.L.: 'The title of the thesis'. PhD thesis, XYZ University, 2005

Standard

• BS1234: 'The title of the standard', 2006

Website

• 'Research Journals', http://www.theiet.org/resources/journals/research/index.cfm, accessed April 2006

5.13. Appendices and supplementary material

5.13.1. Additional material, e.g. mathematical derivations, that may interrupt the flow of your paper's argument should form a separate Appendix section. Do not, however, use appendices to lengthen your article unnecessarily. If the material can be found in another work, cite this work rather than reproduce it.
Back to the top

6. Publication options

IET Open Journals are gold open access journals. This means that the author retains the copyright and the published papers are freely available to everybody that wishes to read and use them. Please check the “About” tab of each journal for up-to-date details of Article Processing Charge (APC) waivers. The standard article processing charge will be $2,000, payable on acceptance of the paper. IET members are eligible for a 15% discount on their fees. The IET also offers fee waivers for researchers in developing countries, determined using the criteria set by Research4Life, which provides free or low-cost access to scientific journals, books and databases for scientists, practitioners, students and faculty in the developing world.

Back to the top

7. Human and Animal Subjects

Biosurface and Biotribology follows the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

When reporting research involving human data, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed have been assessed by the responsible review committee (institutional and national), or if no formal ethics committee is available, were in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration as revised in 2013. If doubt exists as to whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. Approval by a responsible review committee does not preclude editors from forming their own judgment as to whether the conduct of the research was appropriate. Manuscripts relying on clinical trials should quote the trial registration number at the end of the abstract.

Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed. Identifying information, including names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that an identifiable patient be shown the manuscript to be published. Informed consent should be obtained if there is any doubt that anonymity can be maintained. For example, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate protection of anonymity. If identifying characteristics are de-identified, authors should provide assurance that such changes do not distort scientific meaning.

For all manuscripts reporting experiments on animals, the corresponding author must confirm that all experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. The manuscript must include a statement identifying the institutional and/or licensing committee approving the experiments, including any relevant details.
Back to the top

8. Colour reproduction

8.1. Colour reproduction is only available online at the request of the author.

8.2. If you would like your paper to appear in colour in the online version, please contact the Editorial Office once you have received your proof for corrections.

8.3. When you supply source files at the submission of a revised paper, please ensure that your figures are appropriate for print in black and white as well as online in colour.

8.4. Colour online is a free service.
Back to the top

9. After acceptance

9.1. Publishing on acceptance

Once we have received the licence form and your paper is ready to move into production it will be published on our Digital Library platform as part of our publishing on acceptance service.

The paper that is published at this stage will be an exact copy of the paper submitted for the last round of review. In order to ensure that the published version of the paper is an acceptable standard, you may wish to upload a clean version of your paper without your response to previous reviewer comments. Also, the title and author names will be based on your manuscript submission and peer review site submission questions and accounts; please make sure these are up-to-date before completing the submission of your paper.

Please be aware that changes cannot be made to the published accepted version of your paper at any stage. The accepted version will be replaced on the Digital Library with the typeset e-First version upon completion of production of your article.

9.2. Proof correction

9.2.1. You will receive an email with your typeset proof attached for correction purposes. We ask you to return your corrections within 3 working days of receiving the email. Note that your paper will be published online in advance of printed publication and it is therefore in your interest to return your corrections to us as soon as possible. Major revisions, e.g. rewriting of whole sections, or the addition of figures, are not permitted at this stage. Also, changes with regards to authors or co-authors (additions or removals) cannot be made after the paper has been accepted.

9.2.2. Do not supply an original manuscript, an updated manuscript nor an edited proof at the corrections stage. Corrections should be indicated in list form by giving the precise location of each correction (page and line number). This should be limited to 1 A4 page.

9.2.3. We will send out two chase emails, one to the corresponding author and one to all authors. If we do not receive corrections within this time, due to a tight production schedule, your paper will be published as it stands. No changes or erratum will be made after this.

9.2.4. You will not be able to view the final proof after your corrections have been submitted.

9.3 E-First

The IET have now introduced an e-First publication service for our authors and readers where, once papers are ready for publication, they will appear online on the IET Digital Library (https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals) in advance of print publication.

E-First articles that have not yet been published in a print issue should be cited in this format:

Wu, Y., Liu, W.: 'Title of paper', IET Wirel. Sens. Syst., 2014, doi:10.1049/iet-wss.2013.0065 

9.4. Complimentary copies

When all corrections have been made, we will send the corresponding author a PDF copy of their paper. No further changes can be made after this time. Please note that this is subject to the terms and conditions of our author self-archiving policy.
Back to the top

10. Copyright and Open Access Licence

10.1. Right to publish

An author submitting a paper should ensure that he or she has the right to publish the paper and that it contains nothing defamatory. The IET will assume that all co-authors have agreed to the submission of any paper received.

10.2. Creative Commons Licences

Authors will be asked to sign a Creative Commons Licence. These licences allow the author to retain the copyright to their work. As we offer a number of different licence options for authors, it is advised that authors take some time to consider which licence they would like to use when they submit their paper so as not to delay the publication of the paper on acceptance. Authors whose work is funded by the Wellcome Trust or Research Councils UK must sign the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY). Other licences available are: Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND), Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) and Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND). For more information on these options please see below.

Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) This licence lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licences offered and is recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licenced materials. (If your work is funded by The Wellcome Trust or Research Councils UK you must use this licence.)
Preview licence

Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs (CC BY-ND) This licence allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.
Preview licence

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) This licence lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don't have to licence their derivative works on the same terms.
Preview licence

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) This licence is the most restrictive licence we offer, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.
Preview licence

10.3 Permissions to reproduce

The source of the material must be acknowledged in full.

Please note, all authors have to obtain their own permissions for re-used text, figures and tables which do not belong to the IET in their submitted papers.
Back to the top

11. Pre-submission editing services

The IET has partnered with Editage to provide editorial services to authors submitting to IET Journals. The services will help authors craft well-written manuscripts for submission to the journal of their choice. Prior to submitting your manuscript, you may wish to have it edited for correct use of English, particularly if English is not your first language. This is not compulsory but it may assist the journal editors and reviewers to fully understand the content of your paper.
NB: Use of the Editage service does not guarantee that your manuscript will be sent out for peer review or accepted for publication.

If you would like more information on the language editing facility offered by Editage, an independent editorial service, please visit their IET microsite where you will receive a 15% discount on the services available.

There are a large number of language-editing services available and you would be free to use any of these. Note that authors are liable for all costs associated with language editing and the IET does not accept any responsibility for the level of service provided.