IGI Global Guidelines for Manuscript Submission

To download a copy of these guidelines, click here

MISSION

Prospective authors are invited to submit manuscripts for possible publication in IGI Global journals. All journals publish original material concerned with all aspects of emerging information technologies and applications.

TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS

• Empirical research
• Conceptual models
• Theory building
• Innovative methodologies and applications
• Case studies
• Book reviews on selected books, textbooks, or specific topics dealing with values, concepts, and applications of breakthrough information science and technology

ORIGINALITY AND COPYRIGHT

Please note that simultaneous submissions are not acceptable. Submission of a manuscript is interpreted as a statement of certification that no part of the manuscript is copyrighted by any other publication nor is it under review by any other formal publication. Please see the following important points regarding copyright:

1. Originality of manuscripts. Only ORIGINAL and PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED manuscripts will be accepted for publication. 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 copyrights, including translation of the published material into other languages, are reserved by the publisher, IGI Global. Upon transfer of the copyright to the publisher, no part of the manuscript may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.

2. Revised manuscripts. IGI Global will not publish a manuscript that is a “revised” version of a manuscript that you published elsewhere. While your manuscript may certainly be based on the same data and research as another manuscript published by you, the manuscript you submit to IGI Global must be a completely new and original work—in other words, it must not have the same wording or formatting as another manuscript previously published by you.

3. Acquiring permission for copyrighted images. It is YOUR responsibility to obtain written permission to include any copyrighted images (whether they be screenshots [e.g., a screenshot of a page from a company’s Web site, a screenshot of a scene from a video game, etc.], figures, tables, graphics, etc.) in your manuscript. The copyright holder must agree to and sign IGI Global’s permission form before IGI Global will agree to include the image in your manuscript. To obtain a copy of this permission form, please contact IGI Global (development@igi-global.com).

After you obtain permission, you are then responsible to indicate in the caption of the image the original source of the image and that it is being used in your manuscript with permission. Your caption should look something like this:

Figure 1. [insert caption here]. (© [insert copyright year here], [insert copyright holder’s name here]. Used with permission.).

Please note that, should you create an image that is loosely based on another copyrighted image, you must indicate in the image caption that your image is adapted from another copyrighted image and then provide the original source:

Figure 1. [insert caption here]. (Adapted from [insert source of copyrighted image here]).

As some publishers require that you obtain permission for use of even an image that you may have adapted from one of their images, it is YOUR responsibility to investigate as to whether or not permission is needed for your adapted image.

***Important Note: Since acquiring permission may take a significant amount of time, it is very important that you begin the process as soon as possible.

4. Permission fees. Subsequent to the previous point, if the copyright holder of an image is requiring a one-time permission fee, IGI Global will agree to publish the figure, provided that the author pays the fee. However, IGI Global will not agree to publish any copyrighted image for which a permission fee is required for each subsequent publication of the image.

5. Trademark use. All trademark use within your manuscript must be credited to its owner, or written permission to use the name must be granted.

STYLE

It is important that your paper use rigorous research supported by adequate reference citations (ideally, your manuscript should include 25-30 references). Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that all information in your manuscript that is paraphrased or quoted from another source is substantiated with an in-text reference citation.

Please also note that your manuscript and references must strictly follow APA (American Psychological Association) style (The publisher may return your manuscript to you for correction if you do not properly format your manuscript and references. Note that this will delay the production process, and ultimately, the release of the issue.). References should relate only to the material you actually cited within your manuscript (this is not a bibliography), and they should be listed in alphabetical order. Please do not include any abbreviations.

While some examples of references in APA style are included in the following pages, it is highly recommended that you reference an actual APA style manual (5th edition). If you do not own an APA style manual, you may either 1) consult your library or 2) visit APA’s Web site to order your own copy: http://www.apastyle.org/pubmanual.html. It may also benefit you to consult the following pages of APA’s Web site for frequently asked questions and other tips:

Properly formatting sources in your reference list

Book with one author:
Author, A. A. (2005). Title of work. Location/City, State: Publisher.

Book with two authors:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2005). Title of work. Location/City, State: Publisher.

Book with more than two authors:
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (2005). Title of work. Location/City, State: Publisher.

Journal article:
Sawyer, S., & Tapia, A. (2005). The sociotechnical nature of mobile computing work: Evidence from a study of policing in the United States. International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction, 1(3), 1-14.

A publication in press:
Junho, S. (in press). Roadmap for e-commerce standardization in Korea. International Journal of IT Standards and Standardization Research.

Edited book:
Zhao, F. (Ed.). (2006). Maximize business profits through e-partnerships. Hershey, PA: IRM Press.

Chapter in an edited book:
Jaques, P. A., & Viccari, R. M. (2006). Considering students’ emotions in computer-mediated learning environments. In Z. Ma (Ed.), Web-based intelligent e-learning systems: Technologies and applications (pp. 122-138). Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Report from a university:
Broadhurst, R. G., & Maller, R. A. (1991). Sex offending and recidivism (Tech. Rep. No. 3). Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia, Crime Research Centre.

Published proceedings:
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In R. Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 38. Perspectives on motivation (pp. 237-288). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Unpublished doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis:
Wilfley, D. (1989). Interpersonal analyses of bulimia: Normal-weight and obese. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri, Columbia.

A presented paper:
Lanktree, C., & Briere, J. (1991, January). Early data on the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C). Paper presented at the meeting of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, San Diego, CA.

Web site:
VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123. Retrieved October 13, 2001, from http://jbr.org/articles.html

Properly formatting in-text citations

When citing a source in your text, you will need to state the authors’ surnames along with the year of publication. Please note the following:

• If you have several references cited within the same parenthesis, the citations should be listed in alphabetical order. You’ll note that 1) each citation is separated by a semicolon, and 2) ampersands (&) are used instead of the word “and.”
  
  Example:In most organizations, data resources are considered to be a major resource (Brown, 2002; Krall & Johnson, 2005; Smith, 2001).

• If an author’s name is mentioned directly within the text of your manuscript as part of a sentence, please note that only the year is placed within parenthesis.
  
  Example:Brown (2002) states that the value of data is recognized by most organizations.

• If you directly quote another individual’s work, you must also provide the page of the source from which the quote was taken.
  
  Example:“In most organizations, data resources are considered to be a major organization asset” (Smith, 2001, pp. 35-36) and must be carefully monitored by the senior management.
  Example:Brown (2002) states that “the value of data is realized by most organizations” (p. 45).

• Under NO circumstances should in-text citations be numbered.
  
  Incorrect:In most organizations, data resources are considered to be a major resource [15; 30; 84].
  Correct:In most organizations, data resources are considered to be a major resource (Brown, 2002; Krall & Johnson, 2005; Smith, 2001).

• If a direct quote that you wish to include in your manuscript is more than 40 words long, please be sure to format your quote as a block quote (a block quote uses no quotation marks, and its margins are indented from the left; also, you’ll notice that the period at the end of the sentence comes before the parenthetical in-text citation):
  
  Example:As an ever-growing number of people around the world have gained access to e-mail and Internet facilities, it has become clear that the communicative environment provided by these tools can foster language learning. E-mail facilitates access to speakers of one's target language. (Vinagre & Lera, 2007, p. 35)

  NOTE: If you plan on including more than 2 paragraphs of quoted text, you must acquire permission from the copyright holder for use of the quote before IGI Global will agree to publish your manuscript.

  Editorial Issues:

  Please submit your manuscript for possible publication via e-mail as a file attachment in Microsoft® Word to the Editor-in-Chief of the particular journal to which you are submitting. The main body of the e-mail message should contain the title of the paper and the names and addresses of all authors. Manuscripts must be in English. Please note that neither your name nor the name of your co-authors should be included anywhere in the manuscript, except on the cover page. Manuscripts must also be accompanied by:

  • An Abstract. Your abstract should be between 100-150 words, precisely summarizing the mission and objective of the manuscript.

  • Keywords. As IGI Global’s online database is searched by keywords, it’s important that you assign a list of keywords (anywhere from 5 to 10) to your manuscript to assist database users in finding your article when doing a search on your article’s topic. If you need assistance, please feel free to visit http://www.igi-global.com/assets/keywords.asp, which provides several examples of keywords on a sampling of various topics. Do be sure to include not only keywords that appear in your article, but also other related words that you might not have mentioned in your manuscript but that you know an individual may use to search for a manuscript like yours on IGI Global’s database.

  Please see the following specific requirements regarding the submission of your manuscript. It is important that you carefully follow these guidelines:

  1. Length. The length of the submitted manuscript should fall between 5,500 to 8,000 words.

  2. Copy editing and proofreading. It is crucial that complete copy editing and proofreading of your manuscript be conducted PRIOR to submission to ensure proper use of the English language, proper grammatical structure, and correct spelling and punctuation. Attention to these details is imperative. IMPORTANT: Manuscripts that are submitted to the publisher are considered to be in their FINAL FORM and ready for publication as is. Please also keep in mind that the material you submit for production is final. Other than minor grammatical, typographical, spelling, and reference list corrections, major changes such as moving and/or deleting paragraphs, sections, etc., will not be permitted.

  3. LaTex. Unfortunately, LaTex files are currently NOT accepted by the publisher because these types of files are not compatible with IGI Global’s current typesetting program. As an alternative, it is recommended that you use MathType.

  4. Metafiles. If you include equations in your manuscript, it is important that you do NOT use metafiles for any mathematical symbols or letters unless absolutely necessary. For example, take into consideration the following equation: (a + b) – (c + d) = e. There is absolutely no need for the use of metafiles here since each of the symbols and letters in this equation appear on your keyboard.

  Additionally, it is extremely important that all symbols and letters are consistent in their formatting (i.e., if you italicize “x” in equation number one, please be sure to italicize “x” throughout the rest of your manuscript if it is used to represent the same item). Please note that the unnecessary use of metafiles and the inconsistent formatting of symbols and letters will have an adverse effect on the quality of your manuscript, as well as significantly slow down the production of the entire issue.

  5. Subhead divisions. Please note that, as per IGI Global’s house style, the subhead divisions in your manuscript should NOT be numbered. All subheadings should be designated simply by title, and the level of each heading should be clearly indicated by font size and the use of italicized, bolded, or underlined words.

  6. Images. IGI Global requests that images be submitted BOTH as:

  • Separate tif, jpeg, eps, gif, or bitmap files. (It is important that you CLEARLY indicate in the text where the images should be placed.)

  • As a camera-ready paper copy, even though the images already appear in the electronic version of your paper, for the simple reason that, sometimes, when being converted to IGI Global’s page layout program, images become distorted; thus, a camera-ready copy of your images for use by IGI Global’s Production Department is important.

  Please note that, currently, images published by IGI Global are black and white only; thus, for images of the best quality, it is important that you submit your images in black and white or gray scale.

  7. Endnotes. Please use only endnotes, if needed. If you include endnotes, they will be placed after the references at the end of your manuscript. Footnotes at the bottom of a page are not acceptable.

  8. APA and IGI Global House Style. Please be advised that due to APA and IGI Global house style rules, changes in regard to, among other things, capitalization, the appearance of block quotes and bulleted and numbered lists, as well as the placement of images on your pages may be adjusted accordingly during the typesetting phase.

  Review Process

  To ensure the high quality of published material, IGI Global journals utilize a group of experts to review submitted manuscripts. Upon receipt of a manuscript, five reviewers are selected from the Editorial Review Board of the journal to which you are submitting. 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.

  Correspondence

  An acknowledgment e-mail regarding the receipt of your manuscript will be promptly sent. The review process will take approximately 12-16 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 first author of multi-authored manuscripts. It is the responsibility of the first author to communicate with the other author(s).

  Should your manuscript be 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.

  Book Review (optional)

  Should you be submitting a review of a textbook or professional book for possible inclusion in an IGI Global journal, please ensure you focus on the following guidelines when developing your review: Book reviews must not exceed 1,500 words. Reviews should summarize the book and indicate the highlights, strengths, and weaknesses of the book. Reviews should evaluate the organizational and managerial applications of the material discussed in the book relevant to the topic area of the journal to which you are submitting. Reviews should critique and constructively evaluate the authors’ work and not merely list the chapters’ contents. The writing style, accuracy, relevance, and the need for such a work in the discipline should be analyzed. Reviews must include the title of the book, author, publishing company, publication date, number of pages, cost (if listed), and ISBN number. Each submission must be accompanied by a short biography of the reviewer.

  Case Studies (Optional)

  Should you be submitting a case study based on actual cases related to different issues and aspects of the topic area of the journal to which you are submitting, you must provide adequate information regarding the organization upon which the case is based, discussion of the issues involved, coverage of any experiments or trials of techniques or managerial approaches, and finally, discussion of any lessons learned or conclusions drawn from this study. IMPORTANT: You must ensure that the anonymity of any companies, organizations, etc., discussed in your case study is protected unless (1) written permission is provided by the company, organization, etc., to the publisher, or (2) the information presented in your case study is public information. In the case of (1) above, you must provide the publisher with the permission granted in hard copy format.

  All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief of the particular journal to which you are submitting.

  To download a copy of these guidelines, click here