Author Guidelines

These guidelines set out the principal requirements for preparing and submitting manuscripts to the Journal of Engineering Systems and Applications (JESA). Authors should review the journal's article categories, manuscript preparation standards, submission procedures, and publication-ethics requirements before submitting their work.

JESA welcomes original, technically sound, and scholarly contributions within its aims and scope. All submissions are subject to editorial screening, and manuscripts selected for external evaluation undergo double-blind peer review. Compliance with these guidelines facilitates editorial assessment but does not guarantee acceptance.

Article Types

Authors should select the article category that best reflects the purpose, scope, methodological approach, and contribution of their manuscript. JESA considers the following categories:

Research Articles

Original studies presenting substantive theoretical, experimental, computational, methodological, or applied research findings. Research Articles should clearly explain their objectives, methods, results, significance, and limitations.

Recommended length: 5,000–8,000 words, excluding references and figure or table captions.

Review Articles

Critical, structured examinations of existing scholarship, scientific developments, engineering methods, or technological applications. Reviews should provide a coherent synthesis, identify relevant research gaps, and explain their contribution to understanding the field.

Case Studies and Applications

Analyses of engineering practice, system implementation, technical applications, operational challenges, or real-world cases. Submissions should explain the case context, methods or implementation approach, supporting evidence, outcomes, and implications for research or practice.

Interdisciplinary Insights

Scholarly contributions integrating engineering concepts, methods, evidence, or applications with other scientific and technological disciplines. Manuscripts should demonstrate the substantive value of the interdisciplinary approach and its relevance to JESA's scope.

Short Communications

Concise reports of original findings, focused technical developments, preliminary but sufficiently supported results, or significant methodological observations. Submissions should present a clearly defined contribution supported by appropriate evidence.

Maximum manuscript length: 3,000 words. Maximum abstract length: 150 words.

Special Issue Contributions

Manuscripts submitted to an officially announced special issue or themed collection must address the scope of the relevant call for papers and comply with the applicable article-type requirements and the journal's general submission policies.

Authors should identify the intended collection in their cover letter or comments to the editor and follow any additional instructions stated in the call. Guest editors, where appointed, coordinate the collection under the oversight of the journal's editorial leadership.

Manuscripts involving a guest editor or another relevant editorial conflict of interest must be handled by an appropriate independent editor. Final publication decisions remain with the journal's authorized editors. Invitations to contribute do not imply acceptance or exemption from normal peer-review standards.

Except where a specific limit is stated, manuscript length should be proportionate to the article's purpose and the detail necessary for scholarly evaluation. Authors should avoid unnecessary repetition while providing sufficient information to support their findings and conclusions.

Manuscript Preparation

Language and File Format

Manuscripts must be written in clear, professional English. Authors should use terminology consistently, define specialized abbreviations when first introduced, and ensure that the manuscript is understandable to its intended scholarly audience.

Manuscripts must be prepared in Microsoft Word or LaTeX format. Authors should consult the journal's Manuscript Templates and ensure that all submitted files are complete, readable, and appropriately formatted.

Title, Abstract, and Keywords

  • Title: Provide a concise and informative title that accurately represents the subject and principal contribution of the manuscript.
  • General abstract: Provide an abstract of no more than 300 words, summarizing the research purpose, methods or approach, principal findings, and significance.
  • Short Communications: The abstract must not exceed 150 words.
  • Case Studies and Applications: An abstract is optional. Where an abstract is provided, it must not exceed 300 words.
  • Keywords: Provide three to six relevant keywords that accurately describe the manuscript's subject, methods, or applications.

Where an abstract is provided, the text entered in the journal's submission system must match the abstract in the manuscript. Authors should avoid unsupported claims, undefined abbreviations, and unnecessary citations in the abstract.

Manuscript Structure

Manuscripts should follow a coherent structure appropriate to their article type. For original research, the main text should ordinarily address:

  • The research problem, objectives, background, and scholarly contribution.
  • Relevant literature, theoretical foundations, or technical context.
  • Materials, methods, experimental procedures, system design, or analytical approach.
  • Results, technical evaluation, or other supporting evidence.
  • Discussion of findings, uncertainty, limitations, and implications.
  • Conclusions, references, and supplementary information where applicable.

Review Articles, Case Studies and Applications, Interdisciplinary Insights, and Short Communications may use structures more appropriate to their research objectives, provided that their arguments, evidence, and conclusions remain clear and sufficiently documented.

Figures, Tables, and Supplementary Material

  • Figures and tables must be numbered consistently, cited in the main text, and accompanied by descriptive captions.
  • Raster figures should normally be supplied at a resolution of at least 300 dpi at their intended reproduction size.
  • Labels, symbols, legends, measurement units, and technical annotations must remain legible.
  • Sources and permissions must be identified for reproduced or adapted figures, tables, and other third-party materials.
  • Supplementary data, code, technical documentation, or other supporting files should be identified clearly in the manuscript and submitted separately where appropriate.

References and Citation Style

JESA requires references to follow the IEEE citation and reference style. Citations should be numbered in the order in which they first appear in the text, with corresponding numbered entries in the reference list.

Every cited source must appear in the reference list, and reference details should be accurate and sufficiently complete for identification and retrieval. Authors should provide DOIs where available and verify bibliographic information against the original sources.

Submission and Peer Review

Authors must prepare an anonymized manuscript for JESA's double-blind peer-review process. Identifying details should be supplied separately through the journal's submission system or in a separate title-page file where requested.

Preparing Files for Double-Blind Review

  • Remove author names, institutional affiliations, and other directly identifying information from the review manuscript.
  • Place author contact details, affiliations, and relevant identifying declarations in the separate title page or submission metadata as instructed.
  • Check acknowledgments, self-references, file properties, comments, and supplementary materials for information that may compromise anonymity.
  • Ensure that the manuscript and the accompanying metadata are accurate, complete, and consistent.

Editorial Screening and Review

Following submission, the editorial office assesses manuscripts for relevance to the journal's scope, completeness, originality, formatting, ethical compliance, and general scholarly suitability. Plagiarism screening may be conducted before peer review and before publication.

Manuscripts that pass initial screening are normally evaluated through double-blind peer review by at least two qualified experts. Reviewers assess the work's originality, technical and methodological quality, supporting evidence, clarity, and contribution to its field.

The external peer-review stage normally takes approximately 8–12 weeks. Actual timelines may vary depending on manuscript complexity, reviewer availability, and the need for further evaluation or revision.

When revisions are requested, authors should submit an updated manuscript together with a point-by-point response addressing the reviewers' and editors' comments. Editorial decisions are based on the scholarly record and the journal's published criteria.

Originality, Authorship, and Research Ethics

Submissions must represent original scholarly work and must not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their research, appropriate attribution of sources, compliance with relevant ethical requirements, and disclosure of information necessary for editorial assessment.

  • Originality: Manuscripts must not contain plagiarism, fabricated or falsified information, or inappropriate unattributed reuse of previously published material.
  • Authorship: All listed authors must have approved the submitted manuscript and agreed to its submission.
  • Competing interests: Relevant financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that may influence the research or its assessment must be disclosed.
  • Funding: Relevant financial support, sponsorship, and funding information should be accurately identified.
  • Ethical approval: Studies involving human participants, animals, personal information, or other ethically sensitive materials must describe applicable approvals, consent procedures, and safeguards.
  • Permissions: Authors must obtain permission where required for third-party material and provide appropriate acknowledgment.
  • Research transparency: Authors should describe relevant data, methods, limitations, and supporting materials accurately, including any legal, ethical, or confidentiality restrictions affecting their availability.

Authors should promptly inform the editorial office if a significant error, authorship dispute, ethical concern, or other issue affecting the reliability or integrity of the submission is identified.

Pre-Submission Checklist

Before submitting a manuscript, authors should confirm that the following requirements have been satisfied.

  • The manuscript is original, falls within JESA's aims and scope, and is not under consideration elsewhere.
  • The selected article type and manuscript length comply with the applicable requirements.
  • The manuscript is written in clear English and prepared in an accepted file format.
  • The title, abstract where required, and three to six keywords are complete and consistent with the submission metadata.
  • The review manuscript has been anonymized and author information is provided separately as required.
  • Tables, figures, captions, and supplementary files are complete and properly identified.
  • References and citations follow IEEE style and have been checked for accuracy.
  • All authors have approved the manuscript and agreed to its submission.
  • Funding, competing interests, permissions, and relevant ethical declarations have been provided.
  • Any special issue designation and applicable collection-specific instructions have been addressed.

Related Guidelines and Policies

Authors should consult the following journal resources for additional requirements relating to manuscript preparation, editorial procedures, licensing, and publication.

  • Submission Guidelines — General submission requirements, manuscript components, and editorial screening.
  • Manuscript Templates — Available manuscript preparation templates and related instructions.
  • Peer Review Process — Editorial assessment, external review, author revisions, and editorial decisions.
  • Copyright & Licensing — Copyright retention, publication rights, and the CC BY-NC 4.0 licence.
  • Article Processing Charges — Applicable publication charges, invoicing, and waiver or discount information.

JESA Editorial Office

Authors requiring clarification of manuscript requirements, article categories, or submission procedures may contact the editorial office before submission.

Email: [email protected]