Submission guidelines

Submissions

Information about the types of contributions of interest to the journal is contained in the Aims and scope page. If in doubt concerning the suitability of a particular manuscript, please contact the editor for further advice.

Submission implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint or working paper), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without citing the IJM as the original source of publication (see Authors rights below).

We strongly encourage recent PhD graduates to submit their work to the International Journal of Microsimulation. Our policy is to take into account the fact that recent graduates are less experienced in the process of writing and submitting papers.

Submission guidelines

• Language and style. Submissions must be in English, with a style adequate to a scientific journal. A submission may be rejected solely because typographical errors and imprecise definitions make it hard to understand.
• Length. Article types are listed in the Aims and scope page. We strongly recommend that research articles do not exceed 15,000 words, and that research notes do not exceed 5,000 words, excluding tables, figures, algorithms, and references, but including appendixes. Excessively long submissions may be summarily rejected, or authors requested to adjust them to the suggested length.
• Abstract. Research articles should contain an abstract of no more than 250 words, while the abstract for research notes should not exceed 100 words.
• Keywords. A maximum of four keywords, separated by comma, should be presented below the abstract, preceded by one blank line (or equivalent spacing).
• Font, spacing, margins. All manuscript should be 1.5 spaced and use Times New Roman font. Font size should be either 11 or 12 points. Margins should be 1.5 inches on the top, bottom, and sides.
• Structure. A standard structure for research articles is suggested but not enforced, with sections covering introduction, methods, data, results, discussion, and conclusions.
• Sections. Use a maximum of three orders of headings, consecutively numbered, with levels separated by dots (e.g. ‘1’, ‘1.1’, and 1.1.1’). Sections should be referred to in the text with a capital letter and the section number.
• Appendixes. Appendixes should be numbered as sections, but preceded by an “A” (e.g. A.1, A.2). Format title and text should as standard sections; continue page numbering; place at the end of the paper, after the section “References”.
• Footnotes. Footnotes should use the same font as the text, size 10. Endnotes should be avoided.
• Equations. Equations should be centre-aligned, consecutively numbered and referred to in the text as “Equation” with capital letter, followed by the equation number. Numbers should appear in parenthesis (brackets) on the right-hand margin.
• References. References should follow the APA refence style.
• Format. All manuscripts should be submitted in PDF format. Source code will be requested should the article be accepted for publication.

Tables, Figures and Algorithms

• Tables, figures and algorithms are the only accepted floats, to be referred as such in the text, with capital letter.
• Tables, figures and algorithms should be preceded by one blank line (or equivalent spacing).
• Labels should commence with word “Table/Figure/Algorithm”, followed by a sequential number (separate for the three floats), a colon, and the title. Labels should be placed on the line immediately preceding the float.
• Text and numbers in tables, figures, and algorithms - including axes labels and axes titles in figures - should use font Arial or similar, size 10.
• Tables, figures and algorithms should fit within specified page margins; if extra width required, present landscape.
• Avoid borders around tables, figures and algorithms.
• Colours can be used in figures and algorithms, but check before how they look like when printed in black-and-white or greyscale. Colours should be avoided for tables.
• Sources and notes for tables, figures and algorithms should be placed immediately below the float, using font Times New Roman or similar, size 10. The notes should make the float self-explanatory, without need to refer to the text.
• Tables, figures and algorithms should be followed by one blank line (or equivalent spacing).