Form of Manuscripts

General

1. Manuscripts submitted for review should be sent in as a single, complete Microsoft Word for Windows document, attached to the e-mail. The title should be followed by the abstract and the keywords. To enable double-blind review, the authors should not be identified anywhere in the manuscript.

2. The other attachment to the submission should be a letter identifying all the authors, with full contact information. The corresponding author should be named. Brief biographical statements of all authors should be included.

3. At the discretion of the authors, potential reviewers may be suggested, with the proviso that there is no conflict of interest. IJEC relies on a team of expert reviewers and this step is optional.

4. The text should be double-spaced in the 8.5 x 11 format and 12 point type, allowing ample margins. All figures and tables should be placed on separate pages at the end of the file and be in common Microsoft formats. Their approximate placement should be indicated in the text. Figures and tables should have numbers and meaningful captions. Manuscript pages should be numbered.

5. Acknowledgment of any funding sources should be included.

6. If the work relies on the use of questionnaires or similar research instruments that are not included in the text, the instrument should be submitted as an additional file in Microsoft Word. The authors and their institutions should not be identified.

7. If the manuscript includes any figure, table, or a long citation from previously published material, the author must obtain a written permission from the copyright holder and enclose it with the final submission, if the work is accepted.

8. All resubmissions should follow the above format. Authors are requested to attach a file explaining the revisions.

9. The final submission of an accepted paper should be made by postal mail to the address above. It should include three paper copies of the manuscript and a diskette with the complete text, including the full contact information and the biographical statements of all the authors. The submission of a manuscript for review in IJEC certifies that the paper is not copyrighted, has not been submitted or accepted for publication else-where, and will not be submitted elsewhere until the IJEC review is completed. If the work is accepted for publication, the authors will sign the formal copyright transfer form. See separate instructions regarding preparation of your electronic materials for publication after it has been accepted.

References

The reference list should be provided at the end of the paper. The references should be arranged alphabetically according to the name of the first author or editor, and numbered. Citations in the text, referring to this list, should be made as numbers in square brackets, e.g., [9]. References to unpublished works should be avoided. References should be provided as follows.

References to Items in Periodicals

These should take the form: author(s), title, journal (italicized or underlined), volume and issue numbers, date, inclusive pages. For all authors, last names are given first; likewise for editors, with the names followed by “(ed. or eds.)”. Given names are abbreviated to initials. The name of the last author ends with a period. More than two authors (but not editors) are separated by semicolons. The title has only the first word and proper names (or their derivatives) in upper case, and it ends with the period. The date is given in parentheses. For example:

17. Grover, V., and Davenport, T.H. General perspectives on knowledge management: fostering a research agenda. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18, 1 (Summer 2001), 5-21.

References to Books, Chapters, and Conference Proceedings

Author(s) are specified in the same style as for periodicals. In the title, all principal words are capitalized and the title is italicized or underlined. The title ends with a period and is followed by city, “:”, publisher, year. For example:

33. Nohria, N.; Dyer, D.; and Dalzell, F. Changing Fortunes: Remaking the Industrial Corporation. New York: Wiley, 2002.

References to book chapters take this form: authors, title, “In,” names of the editors, “(ed./eds.)”, title of the book (all principal words capitalized and the entire title italicized or underlined), city, “:”, publisher, year, “pp.” inclusive pages. Note the need to include page numbers.

Publications in conference proceedings should be referred to in a similar fashion, with the full name of the conference italicized. Page numbers and publication details are necessary.

References to Web pages

References to Web pages should begin with the authors (if known) and title of the content (as above), followed by the URL, and by the date of the most recent access (“accessed <date>…”).

Figures and Tables

In preparing an accepted manuscript for publication, high-quality figures and tables should be produced. All lettering and figure elements should be large enough to be readable when the figure has been reduced to fit the journal page. All figures and tables must be specifically referred to in the text. All figures and tables should have numbers, and brief, descriptive captions. (See separate disk preparation guidelines.)

Proofs, Complimentary Copies, and Offprints/Reprints

Authors will receive page proofs of their papers, which should be returned to the publisher within three working days. Each author will receive a complimentary copy of the issue in which his or her paper appears. Additional copies of the journal and/or reprints may be ordered at the time the proofs are returned.

JOURNAL ARTICLE INTERNET-POSTING POLICY

The abstract of an Author's article, with standard bibliographic information about the place and date of publication, may be posted anywhere at any time. Posting of the Author's own pre-published version of the article on a secure, restricted-access network within the Author’s employing institution is also permitted at any time, as long as the standard bibliographic information is provided. After an embargo period of 18 months from the date of publication, Authors may, at their own discretion, post their pre-published text on their own website or open-access institutional website. In all cases, full bibliographic information for the final, published version with a link to the Publisher's website, www.mesharpe.com/journals.asp, must be included with a note that the posted version is not the final, published version.