Instructions for Authors

Thank you for deciding to submit your abstract to the SPACE International  Conferences. The SPACE Studies Journal of International Conference Proceedings is designed to publish the conference papers presented at mainly our Conferences. Please read the instructions below, which detail everything you need to submit your conference paper to this Journal, and please follow them closely in order to ensure your paper matches all the requirements of the Journal.

About the Journal

SPACE Studies Journal of International Conference Proceedings is an interdisciplinary, international academic, refereed journal designed to publish conference papers mainly presented at SPACE International Conferences. It is an online Open Access Journal puba year by SPACE Studies Publi twice a yearcations. All abstracts submitted to the SPACE International Conferences have undergone rigorous double-blind peer review by two referees based on initial editor’s screening. 

All articles published in the Journal have undergone a second rigorous double-blind peer review by two referees, usually by the initial reviewers of the abstract prior to the publication.

Open Access Publication

SPACE Studies Journal of International Conference Proceedings is an Open Access  Journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY) license. This Journal is published by SPACE Studies Publications, owned by SPACE STudies of Planning and Architecture through an Open Journal System as part of the Public Knowledge Project (PKP).

Peer Review

All articles published in the SPACE Studies Journal of International Conference Proceedings undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review. Please find more about Peer Review Policy, Peer Review Process and Peer Review Statement and Publication Ethics for Authors in our Editorial Policies.

Types of Contribution

SPACE Studies Journal of International Conference Proceedings accepts

  • Original Articles,
  • Policy Review Articles.

Structure of the Paper

Original articles and policy review articles need to have an order as follows:

  1. Title: The title of the Manuscript should ideally be 10-15 words but no more than 20 and should be informative.
  2. Abstract: There should be an abstract of no more than 250 words. It should include the problem and aim of the article, the originality of the research, the research question, the research method and the main conclusion.
  3. Keywords: There should be between 4 and 6 keywords which make the article more discoverable.
  4. Main text: The main text should include the following information and/or sections.
    o Introduction: The introduction should include a literature background related to the aim of the research. A detailed literature background is more than needed, and the summary of the research should be avoided.
    o Materials and methods: Sufficient detail should be provided in order to allow the work to be reproduced. If methods already published are used, then it should be indicated by a reference, and only modifications done during the research should be described.
    o Results: Results should be clear.
    o Discussion: The discussion should be about the results of the research and should underline the significance of the results of the research. Results and Discussion sections can be combined as well.
    o Conclusion: The main conclusions of the research should be stated in this section. Avoiding unnecessary extensions of the Conclusion section will help it stand alone.
  5. Acknowledgements (including funding): All the acknowledgements, including funding and funders, should be given in this section after the main text. Therefore, there should be no footnotes which are not allowed about the funding and funders of the research in the article. Acknowledgement should include any contribution such as conducting research, data analysing, writing assistance, technical editing, language editing, proofreading etc, as well as funding. So, the ones who do not qualify as authors but still contributed to the research should be acknowledged.
  6. Declaration of interest statement: This competing interest is also known as a conflict of interest. An author or their employer or sponsor may have relations that can be financial, commercial, legal, or professional with the organisations and/or with the employees of them, which could influence the author’s research. Therefore, full disclosure is required. Please read Conflict of Interest for more information.
  7. Biographical notes on authors: Each author should provide a short biographical note with no more than 150 words.
  8. ORCID numbers of authors: All authors and co-authors should have an ORCID number in order to submit a manuscript. If you do not have one, please obtain your ORCID Number.
  9.  Endnotes (footnotes are not allowed): Endnotes should include additional comments and/or related information but should not be included in the references. Footnotes are not allowed in this Journal. Therefore, please use endnotes if and when necessary.
  10. References: All manuscripts should be formatted using the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style. For more information about how to cite references in the article, please refer to the Guidelines for references.
  11. Appendices: If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as Appendix I, Appendix II, etc. Formulas and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: Eq. (I.A), Eq. (II.A), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (I.B) and so on. Tables and figures should be done in a similar way: Table I.A; Fig. I.A, etc. Appendices should come after References.

Word Limits

The word count of a paper in this Journal should be as follows.

  • An original article should be at least between 2500 and 4500 words, including main text, tables, references, captions, endnotes, figures, graphics, and photos, but excluding the abstract, acknowledgements and notes for author/s.
  • A policy review article should be at least between 2000 and 3000 words, including main text, tables, references, captions, endnotes, figures, graphics, and photos, but excluding the abstract, acknowledgements and notes for author/s.

Manuscript Layout and Formatting Guidelines

File format
Articles should be submitted as a Word file.

Language and spelling
The language of the Journal is English, and the spelling should be British English.

Font (throughout the Manuscript)

  • Times New Roman,
  • Size 12
  • Double-line spacing

Margins
A4 size page, 2.5 cm from all sides

Title

  • Times New Roman, size 12 with double-line spacing, bold, initial capital letter for each proper noun.
  • A title should be accurate and informative, which will enable the reader to understand the subject of the article.
  • It is better to have one or two keywords in the title, which will increase the discoverability of the article.
  • A good research title is generally between 10 and 12 words. Please try to stay within the limits where possible, as longer titles lose the attention of the reader.

Abstract

  • The abstract should be no more than 250 words.
  • Abstracts may be really short, but they are essential as they tell the reader what they might learn. Therefore, an abstract should cover what the research is about, what is the methodology of the research, and what has been found out. While writing your abstract, do remember that every abstract should stand on its own as it should be a concise summary of the research.
  • Do not use abbreviations, footnotes (forbidden in the whole Manuscript), endnotes and references, as well as images, background information and/or technical terms that will need further explanation to be understood.
  • Additionally, be aware that there is a difference between a research abstract and a policy review abstract. In a research abstract, you need to tell the methods of the research. On the other hand, in a policy review abstract, the primary objective of the review should be stated initially, together with the reasons for this choice, the main outcomes and results of your review, and the conclusions, which should also show their implications for further research.
  • In both article types, do not forget to include the keywords.

Keywords
Keywords are vital to help readers to find your article. There should be between 4 and 6 keywords. Remember that selecting the right keywords will enable you to have an effective title and an abstract.

Headings

  • There are three heading levels to be used in this Journal, which are 1., 1.1., 1.1.1.
  • All the headings should be written with an initial capital letter for all proper nouns.
  • First-level headings (1., 2. etc.), such as the introduction and conclusion, should be written in bold. Second-level headings (1.1., 2.2. etc.) should be in bold italics, and third-level headings (1.1.1., 1.2.1. etc) should be in italics.

Tables and figures

  • Tables and figures should be saved as separate files and should not be included in the article. Instead, the author/s should show clearly where the tables and figures would appear in the article by writing [Table 1 near here] or [Table 2 below this paragraph]
  • The information on the tables should not duplicate the information given in the text. The table should be understood easily and clearly, and the author/s should refer to each table in the text.
  • The text of the table should be written in Times New Roman, like the rest of the article.
  • If tables are reproduced from another source, please follow the Using Third-Party Material rules.
  • Tables, graphics etc., should be submitted as editable files such as Word, Excel, Photoshop etc.
  • Be sure you number your tables correspondingly. The table numbers will be Table 1, table 2, etc.
  • While preparing a table, think that the page size is A4 (210×297 mm) and the margins are 2.5 from all sides. Thus, you prepare your table with the sizes that will fit on a page and let it have its title.
  • If there are abbreviations on the table, and if you haven’t used them before in your text, please explain them while referring to the table in your text.
  • The referencing style should be consistent with the rest of the article.
  • Figures should be prepared with image resolutions given below.

    Colour photographic images:

                           300dpi

    Grayscale photographic images:

                           600dpi

    Line art or monochrome images:

                           1200dpi

    Combination images (photographs and labelling):

                           600dpi

  • Authors should avoid large file sizes. Therefore, please check Adobe Photoshop for more information on image size and resolution.
  • File formats accepted are JPEG and EPS.
  • While creating a jpeg file, be sure that you are exporting JPEG at maximum quality.
  • Be sure that you have been given permission to use any tables or figures you are using and/or reproducing from another source before you submit.
  • Figures must be saved separately to text and should not be embedded in the manuscript file as well as tables.
  • Captions and figure titles should not be included in the figure files.
  • Be sure that you number your figures correspondingly. The figures will be numbered as Figure 1, Figure 2 etc. If there are parts in your figures, then Figure 1a, Figure 2b etc.

Guidelines for References

Reference style
American Psychological Association (APA) citation style should be used in all the manuscripts submitted to the SPACE Studies Journal of International Conference Proceedings. Please refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020), ISBN 978-1-4338-3217-8 (spiral-bound); ISBN 978-1-4338-3215-4 (hardcover); ISBN 978-1-4338-3216-1 (paperback) which can be found at https://apastyle.apa.org/products/publication-manual-7th-edition. Please do use DOI links and any website links where applicable.

Citing references in the text

References and examples

SPACE Proofreading Services

SPACE Proofreading Services are mainly established for academic documents such as articles, journal papers, literature reviews, research papers, essays, thesis, reports, dissertations, academic books and so forth, written in English. We offer some pre-submission manuscript preparation services to help academics and students increase the impact of their research by improving the quality of the Manuscript in terms of proofreading and editing, plagiarism check, manuscript formatting, artwork formatting and pre-review service.

For more information, including pricing, please check SPACE Proofreading Services.

Checklist before Submission

Please be sure that you have all you need, which is listed below, before submitting your paper.

  1. Cover letter (refer to Submitting Paper Section on this page for details) 
  2. Author/s Details Page: Authors’ full names and affiliations should be listed on this page. Affiliation refers to the Institution where the author was working during the research of the Manuscript. If any of the authors or co-authors change their affiliation after the research phase, this will be written as an endnote. ORCID numbers of the authors should be given too. The corresponding author should also be identified with their email address. Please write Biographical notes on authors in this file. Please use the template for the author details page
  3. The main file should not include the author/s’s information. Please use the template
  4. Tables list (please list all the tables which you will separately upload in a Word file). Please use this tables list template.
  5. Figures list (please list all the tables which you will separately upload in a Word file). Please use this figures list template
  6. All the tables of your Manuscript have to be saved and uploaded separately. Each file has to be named as it is numbered in the paper, such as Table 1 or Table 2. Please upload editable files.
  7. All the figures of your Manuscript have to be saved and uploaded separately. Each file has to be named as it is numbered in the paper, such as Figure 1 or Figure 2a. 
  8. Declaration of interest statement: Please download and fill out the form. After you sign the statement, please upload a scanned copy. 
  9. References: All the references are listed in APA Seventh Addition and cited in the text, and they have an exact match. Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.

Using Third-Party Material

According to the Copyright Transfer Agreement you make with us, you should have all the written permission/s of the material/s you used or reproduced in your article, which a third party owns in terms of copyright. These materials can be– but are not limited to –texts, images, illustrations, graphics, tables, or other materials that include any kind of data, such as audio, video, film stills, screenshots, etc.

In academic publishing, the reproduction of some material, including texts, without having written permission can be allowed but on a very limited basis. This can be done only if:

  • It is necessary to use a quotation and that it can be evidenced that it is used scholarly for criticism or review,
  • the quotation is reproduced properly, which means it is produced either within quotation marks or as displayed text,
  • full attribution is given.

Still, any quotation from a poem or a novel does always require written permission from the copyright holder.

You need to admit in your cover letter that you have already obtained written permission/s from third parties (if any) for the reproduction of any content, including image/s, in your article. Additionally, you must acknowledge and attribute the third party in your article properly, even if the content is not copyrighted and is held in the public domain.

To reproduce and/or use content from any third-party material, please remember that;

  • You need non-exclusive rights. While asking permission for that, you need to name the Journal you target and its readership.
  • You need to have print and electronic rights for the full term of copyright, along with any extensions of copyright. We cannot and will not publish third-party material with a time-limited license.
  • If it is an image, 300 dpi minimum resolution.

If you need further information, please refer to Publisher Association Permission Guidelines and The Copyright Hub.

Submitting Paper

This Journal uses its own online system to manage the peer-review process. If you have not submitted a paper to this Journal or SPACE International Conferences before or haven’t signed up yet, you will need to create an account on the SPACE Studies website by signing up. Please be sure that you have everything ready listed in the checklist before you submit your paper. Please remember that if you are about to submit your article to this Journal, your abstract must have already been accepted to the SPACE International Conferences, and this Journal is the place to submit your final paper. 

The cover letter (maximum 300 words) is expected to point out the contribution the paper makes to which SPACE International Conference and the file names you are uploading. If the paper has a precursor publication, it should be specified and the difference between the paper you are submitting and how it was developed extensively should be given in detail in the 'Comments to the Editor' section during the submission process.

Publication Charges

This Journal does not have any publication charges.

Originality Check

SPACE International Journal of Conference Proceedings uses Crossref Similarity Check to check the originality of the papers. By submitting your article, you agree that we do originality checks during the peer-review and production processes in this Journal.

This check reveals whether the existing material was duplicated in the Manuscript and, if, where. It underlines the content adequately cited and the ones that were not.

Authorship Changes During Peer Review Process

The manuscript authors must agree on the names and sequence of the authors before the submission. 

Any authorship changes after submission create an undesirable situation. If there needs to be such kind of change/s after the submission, you need to send an email which includes your request of change to space@spacestudies.co.uk with the following information;

  1. the reason for the change you request,
  2. written confirmation of all authors, including the one/s removed and/or changed
  3. if the request is about re-arranging the sequence of the authors, the new sequence.

If the change request is made after acceptance, the publication date will be postponed until the Managing Editors investigate and approve the request. 

If the request for change reaches the Managing Editors after the publication, and if the Managing Editors approve the request, there will be an addendum and/or corrigendum. 

Copyright and Licensing

SPACE International Journal of Conference Proceedings is an Open Access Journal. The authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights for their published articles (all available versions, including PDFs, HTML, and XML) without restrictions and grant the publisher non-exclusive rights to publish their articles, to be cited as the original publisher in case of reuse, and to distribute it in all forms and media.

The license SPACE Studies Publications offers for the articles is 

                     

CC BY 4.0

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Others can distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.