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Author Guidelines

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Submit to the journal

Management of Environmental Quality now uses ScholarOne Manuscripts (formerly known as Manuscript Central) for online submission and tracking.  ScholarOne Manuscripts is an intuitive and author-friendly interface for submitting articles to Emerald journals over the Internet. Online submission facilitates a fast and efficient publication service and provides the author with the ability to track their paper through the review process. All Emerald journals are moving to online submission. 

To submit your paper online you must create an author account at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/meq then follow the on-screen guidance which takes you through the submission process.

Registering on ScholarOne Manuscripts

·         To register please follow the instructions below:

·         Log on to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/meq

·         Click on the create account link at the top right of the screen.

·         Follow the on-screen instructions, filling in the requested details before proceeding

·         Your username will be your email address and you have to input a password of at least 8 characters in length and containing two or more numbers

·         Click 'Finish' and your account has been created

Submitting an article on ScholarOne Manuscripts

·         Once Registered go to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/meq   with your username and password. This will take you through to the Welcome page.

·         (To consult the Author Guidelines for this journal, click on the Home Page link in the Resources column on the log in page).

·         Click on the Author Centre button.

·         Click on the submit a manuscript link which will take you through to the Manuscript Submission page.

·         Complete all fields and browse to upload your article.

·         You must upload a minimum of 2 files – your article file (with NO author details) and a separate title page (will all author contact details)

·         When all required sections are completed, preview your .pdf proof.

·         Submit your manuscript.

Guidance can be found on the Emerald ScholarOne Manuscripts Support Centre (http://msc.emeraldinsight.com).

If you are unable to find the answer you are looking for please e-mail manuscriptcentral@emeraldinsight.com  for assistance.

When your paper is successfully submitted you will receive an email indicating that your paper has been received together with its unique identity number. This means that the Editor, Publisher, and Reviewers will be able to process your paper in addition to you being able to track your paper at each stage of the publishing process.  If you do not receive an e-mail please first check that you have entered your e-mail address correctly. If that is correct and your paper is not in 'unsubmitted manuscripts' please e-mail manuscriptcentral@emeraldinsight.com Please quote the journal you are submitting to and your article title.

Editorial scope

To examine in a deep and objective manner the various environmental factors and their impact upon the overall quality of ecosystems and quality of life, to suggest possible remedies to environmental problems and to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to the problem of managing the environment and upkeeping good quality standards, with a view to reducing the deleterious effects of man's activities.

The reviewing process

Each paper submitted is subject to the following review procedure. The editor will review the paper for general suitability for the journal. If it is judged suitable two reviewers are selected and a double blind peer review process takes place. Based on the recommendations of the reviewers, the editor then decides whether the particular article should be accepted as it is, revised or rejected. 

The editor may make use of iThenticate software for checking the originality of submissions received.

Copyright

Articles submitted to the journal should be original contributions and should not be under consideration for any other publication at the same time. Please see Emerald’s policy on originality. Use this in conjunction with the points below about references, before submission i.e. always attribute clearly using either indented text or quote marks as well as making use of the preferred Harvard style of formatting. Authors submitting articles for publication warrant that the work is not an infringement of any existing copyright and will indemnify the publisher against any breach of such warranty. For ease of dissemination and to ensure proper policing of use, papers and contributions become the legal copyright of the publisher unless otherwise agreed.

The editor may make use of iThenticate software for checking the originality of submissions received. Please see our press release for further details.

Emerald Literati Network Editing Service

The Emerald Literati Network can recommend, via our Editing Service, a number of freelance copy editors, all themselves experienced authors, to contributors who wish to improve the standard of English in their paper before submission. This is particularly useful for those whose first language is not English.

Manuscript requirements

1. As a guide, articles should be between 3000 and 6000 words in length.
2. A title of not more than eight words should be provided.
3. A brief autobiographical note should be supplied including:
   • Full name
   • Affiliation
   • E-mail address
   • Full international contact details
   • Brief professional biography.
   NB This information should be provided on a separate sheet and authors should not be identified anywhere else in the article.
4. Authors must supply a structured abstract set out under 4-7 sub-headings (see our "How to... write an abstract" guide for practical help and guidance):
   • Purpose (mandatory)
   • Design/methodology/approach (mandatory)
   • Findings (mandatory)
   • Research limitations/implications (if applicable)
   • Practical implications (if applicable)
   • Social implications (if applicable)
   • Originality/value (mandatory).
   Maximum is 250 words in total.
5. Please provide up to six keywords which encapsulate the principal topics of the paper.
6. Categorize your paper under one of these classifications:
• Research paper
• Viewpoint
• Technical paper
• Conceptual paper
• Case study
• Literature review
• General review.
7. Headings must be short, with a clear indication of the distinction between the hierarchy of headings. The preferred format is for headings to be presented in bold format, with consecutive numbering.
8. Notes or Endnotes should be used only if absolutely necessary and must be identified in the text by consecutive numbers, enclosed in square brackets and listed at the end of the article.
9. All Figures (charts, diagrams and line drawings) and Plates (photographic images) should be submitted in both electronic form and as hard copy originals. They should be of clear quality, in black and white and numbered consecutively with arabic numerals.
      Figures created in MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, Illustrator and Freehand should be saved in their native formats.
      Electronic figures created in other applications should be copied from the origination software and pasted into a blank MS Word document or saved and imported into a MS Word document by choosing "Insert" from the menu bar, "Picture" from the drop-down menu and selecting "From File..." to select the graphic to be imported.
   For figures which cannot be supplied in MS Word, acceptable standard image formats are: .pdf, .ai, .wmf and .eps. If you are unable to supply graphics in these formats then please ensure they are .tif, .jpeg (.jpg) , or .bmp at a resolution of at least 300dpi and at least 10cm wide.
      To prepare screenshots, simultaneously press the "Alt" and "Print screen" keys on the keyboard, open a blank Microsoft Word document and simultaneously press "Ctrl" and "V" to paste the image. (Capture all the contents/windows on the computer screen to paste into MS Word, by simultaneously pressing "Ctrl" and "Print screen".)
      Plates (photographic images) should be saved as .tif or .jpeg (.jpg) files at a resolution of at least 300dpi and at least 10cm wide. Digital camera settings should be set at the highest possible resolution/quality.
      In the text of the paper the preferred position of all tables, figures and plates should be indicated by typing on a separate line the words "Take in Figure (No.)" or "Take in Plate (No.)".
10. Tables should be typed and included as part of the manuscript. They should not be submitted as graphic elements. Supply succinct and clear captions for all tables, figures and plates. Ensure that any superscripts or asterisks are shown next to the relevant items and have corresponding explanations displayed as footnotes to the table, figure or plate.
11. References to other publications must be in Harvard style and carefully checked for completeness, accuracy and consistency. This is very important in an electronic environment because it enables your readers to exploit the Reference Linking facility on the database and link back to the works you have cited through CrossRef.
       You should cite publications in the text: (Adams, 2006) using the first named author's name or (Adams and Brown, 2006) citing both names of two, or (Adams et al., 2006), when there are three or more authors. At the end of the paper a reference list in alphabetical order should be supplied:
• For books: Surname, Initials (year), Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication.
  e.g. Harrow, R. (2005), No Place to Hide, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.
• For book chapters: Surname, Initials (year), "Chapter title", Editor's Surname, Initials, Title of Book, Publisher, Place of publication, pages.
  e.g. Calabrese, F.A. (2005), "The early pathways: theory to practice – a continuum", in Stankosky, M. (Ed.), Creating the Discipline of Knowledge Management, Elsevier, New York, NY, pp. 15-20.
• For journals: Surname, Initials (year), "Title of article", Journal Name, volume, number, pages.
  e.g. Capizzi, M.T. and Ferguson, R. (2005), "Loyalty trends for the twenty-first century", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 72-80.
• For published conference proceedings: Surname, Initials (year of publication), "Title of paper", in Surname, Initials (Ed.), Title of published proceeding which may include place and date(s) held, Publisher, Place of publication, Page numbers.
  eg Jakkilinki, R., Georgievski, M. and Sharda, N. (2007), "Connecting destinations with an ontology-based e-tourism planner", in Information and communication technologies in tourism 2007 proceedings of the international conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2007, Springer-Verlag, Vienna, pp. 12-32.
• For unpublished conference proceedings: Surname, Initials (year), "Title of paper", paper presented at Name of Conference, date of conference, place of conference, available at: URL if freely available on the internet (accessed date).
  eg Aumueller, D. (2005), "Semantic authoring and retrieval within a wiki", paper presented at the European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC), 29 May-1 June, Heraklion, Crete, available at: http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de/file/aumueller05wiksar.pdf (accessed 20 February 2007).
• For working papers: Surname, Initials (year), "Title of article", working paper [number if available], Institution or organization, Place of organization, date.
  e.g. Moizer, P. (2003), "How published academic research can inform policy decisions: the case of mandatory rotation of audit appointments", working paper, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds, Leeds, 28 March.
• For encyclopedia entries (with no author or editor): Title of Encyclopedia (year) "Title of entry", volume, edition, Title of Encyclopedia, Publisher, Place of publication, pages.
  e.g. Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926) "Psychology of culture contact", Vol. 1, 13th ed., Encyclopaedia Britannica, London and New York, NY, pp. 765-71.
  (For authored entries please refer to book chapter guidelines above.)
• For newspaper articles (authored): Surname, Initials (year), "Article title", Newspaper, date, pages.
  e.g. Smith, A. (2008), "Money for old rope", Daily News, 21 January, pp. 1, 3-4.
• For newspaper articles (non-authored): Newspaper (year), "Article title", date, pages.
  e.g. Daily News (2008), "Small change", 2 February, p. 7.
• For electronic sources: if available online the full URL should be supplied at the end of the reference, as well as a date that the resource was accessed.
  e.g. Castle, B. (2005), "Introduction to web services for remote portlets", available at: http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/ws-wsrp/ (accessed 12 November 2007).
  Standalone URLs, i.e. without an author or date, should be included either within parentheses within the main text, or preferably set as a note (roman numeral within square brackets within text followed by the full URL address at the end of the paper).

Final submission of the article

Once accepted for publication, the editor may request the final version as an attached file to an e-mail or to be supplied on a CD-ROM labelled with author name(s); title of article; journal title; file name. Each article must be accompanied by a completed and signed Journal Article Record Form available online or from the Editor.

Authors should note that proofs are not supplied prior to publication. The manuscript will be considered to be the definitive version of the article. The author must ensure that it is complete, grammatically correct and without spelling or typographical errors.

The preferred file format is Word. For technical/maths content, Rich Text Format (.rtf) is acceptable.

Technical assistance is available by contacting Mike Massey at Emerald. E-mail: mmassey@emeraldinsight.com