Submissions

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

• The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
• The submission file format complies with the journal requirements (Microsoft Word or PDF).
• The manuscript strictly follows the official journal template, including font type and size, line spacing, margins, and overall layout. All figures, tables and references are properly numbered, titled, and cited in the text in the correct order.
• Where available, DOIs or accessible URLs have been provided for all references.
• The manuscript includes an abstract and keywords, and meets the journal’s word count and formatting requirements.
• For initial submission, an editable Word file is provided; for double-blind peer review, all author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and other identifying information have been removed from the manuscript and file properties (if applicable).
• A conflict of interest statement has been included, or the authors have explicitly declared that no conflicts of interest exist.
• For studies involving human participants, animals, or sensitive data, appropriate ethical approval and informed consent statements are provided (where applicable).
• All authors have read and approved the submitted version of the manuscript and agree to its submission to this journal.