All the submitted papers to the Journal of Remote Sensing and GIS in Environmental Sciences (RSGISES) are evaluated for suitability by the editor. The appropriate papers will then go through a swift peer-review process by independent, anonymous expert referees. Submissions with the following listed issues may be subject to rejection:
- Submissions that are out of the scope of the journal and lack scientific novelty.
- Submissions with overwhelming spelling and grammatical mistakes.
- Submissions with insufficient up-to-date literature review.
- Unclear mathematical relations.
- Low quality and ambiguous figures/graphs.
Types of paper
Types of contributions: Original paper, review papers, and Short communication.
Research articles should be succinct, high-quality research results that improve the state of the art of the topics treated by the journal. The work reported should be technically sound and sufficiently unique, with the conceptual foundations of models or ideas properly documented. It is important to report on model or concept performance against data and other considerations and the relevance to user needs.
Review papers provide an extensive overview of recent developments in specific areas that fall within the scope of the journal. These kinds of papers are expected to have an extensive literature review followed by an in-depth analysis of the subject matter and identify challenges for future research.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Conflict of interest
All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest including any financial, personal, or other relationships with other people or organizations within four months of submission that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.
Submission declaration
Submission of an article means 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), 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and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere including electronically in the same form, in English or any other language, without the written consent of the copyright holder.
Changes in authorship
This policy concerns the addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship of accepted manuscripts and only before online publication:
Requests to add or remove an author, or to rearrange the author names, must be sent to the Journal Manager from the corresponding author of the accepted manuscript and must include: (a) the reason the name should be added or removed, or the author names rearranged and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, fax, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. Requests that are not sent by the corresponding author will not be considered.
Copyright
Upon acceptance of an article, authors will be asked to complete a 'Journal Publishing Agreement. Acceptance of the agreement will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author confirming receipt of the manuscript together with a 'Journal Publishing Agreement form.
Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles, including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the Publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution and for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. If excerpts from other copyrighted works are included, the author(s) must obtain written permission from the copyright owners and credit the source(s) in the article.
Role of the funding source
You are responsible to acknowledge the role of the funding body in your paper.
Language and language services
Manuscripts should be written in pure Persian (Abstract in American or British accent is mandatory).
Submission
Submission to this journal proceeds online and you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of your files. The system accepts only the Word file of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by email.
Referees
All manuscripts are sent to at least two independent reviewers to ensure both accuracy and relevance to the journal. Authors should, therefore, provide the names of up to 2 potential reviewers upon submission.
PREPARATION
Use of word processing software
The file must be saved in the native format of the word processor used. The text should be in single-column format. Keep the layout of the text as simple as possible. Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article. In particular, do not use the wordprocessor's options to justify text or to hyphenate words. However, do use boldface, italics, subscripts, superscripts, etc. When preparing tables, if you are using a table grid, use only one grid for each table and not a grid for each row. If no grid is used, use tabs, not spaces, to align columns. Note that source files of figures, tables, and text graphics will be required whether or not you embed your figures in the text.
Article structure
Subdivision
Divide your article into clearly defined sections. Any subsection may be given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its separate line. Do not use more than three subdivisions.
Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate and focused background, avoiding a detailed or irrelevant literature survey or a summary of the results.
Material and methods
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methods already published should be indicated by a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.
Results
Results should be clear and to the point.
Discussion and Conclusions
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. A combined Results and Discussion section is often appropriate. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature, but the justification of the significance of the results in light of other studies is encouraged. The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion section.
Appendices
If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulae and equations in appendices should be given separate numbering: [1], [2], etc.; in a subsequent appendix, [1], and so on. Similarly for tables and figures: Table.1; Figure.1, etc.
Essential title page information
• Title
Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information-retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae.
• Author names and affiliations
Present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name, and, if available, the e-mail address of each author.
• Corresponding author
Indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that telephone and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address
If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address.
Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results, and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, references should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). Also, non-standard or uncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must be defined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Figures and Images
Please provide an image and figure with a minimum of 10 × 13 cm (h × w) or proportionally more. The image should be readable at a size of 10 × 13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 300 dpi. Preferred file types: JPG, or TIFF, …files.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a maximum of 6 keywords, avoiding general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, 'and, 'of'). Be sparing with abbreviations: only abbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible.
Abbreviations
Define abbreviations that are not standard in this field in a footnote to be placed on the inclusion in the text in the parentheses of the article. Ensure consistency of abbreviations throughout the article.
Acknowledgments
Place acknowledgments in a separate section at the end of the article before the references. List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proofreading the article, etc.).
Math formulae
Present simple formulae in the line of normal text where possible and use the solidus (/) instead of a horizontal line for small fractional terms, e.g., X/Y. In principle, variables are to be presented in italics. Powers of e are often more conveniently denoted by exp. Number consecutively any equations that have to be displayed separately from the text (if referred to explicitly in the text).
Electronic Artwork
General points
• Make sure you use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork.
• Save text in illustrations as "graphics" or enclose the font.
• Only use the following fonts in your illustrations:
B Lotus, and Times New Roman.
• Number the illustrations according to their sequence in the text.
• Use a logical naming convention for your artwork files.
• Provide captions to illustrations separately.
• Produce images near the desired size of the printed version.
• Submit each figure and chart as a separate file.
Formats
Regardless of the application used, when your electronic artwork is finalized, please "save as" or convert the images to one of the following formats (note the resolution requirements for line drawings, halftones, and line/halftone combinations given below):
JPG: color photographs (halftones): always use a minimum of 300 dpi.
Please do not:
• Supply files that are optimized for screen use (like GIF, BMP, PICT, WPG); the resolution is too low;
• Supply files that are too low in resolution;
• Submit graphics that are disproportionately large for the content.
Color artwork
Please make sure that artwork files are in an acceptable format (JPG, or MS Office files) and with the correct resolution. If, together with your accepted article, you submit usable color figures.
Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration. Keep text in the illustrations themselves to a minimum, but explain all symbols and abbreviations used.
Tables
Number tables consecutively in accordance with their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Avoid vertical rules. Be sparing in the use of tables and ensure that the data presented in tables do not duplicate results described elsewhere in the article.
References
Citation in text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa). Any references cited in the abstract must be given in full. Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended in the reference list but may be mentioned in the text. If these references are included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style of the journal and should include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication'. Citation of a reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for publication.
Web references
As a minimum, the full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed. Any further information, if known (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.), should also be given.
Reference style
Text: All citations in the text should refer to:
1. Single author: the author's name (without initials, unless there is ambiguity) and the reference number (sorted alphabetically in the Bibliography); Example, Amiri (10).
2. Two authors: both authors' names and the reference number; Example, Amiri and Tabatabaie (10).
3. Three or more authors: first author's name followed by 'et al.' and the reference number. Example, Amiri et al. (10)
Groups of references should be listed first alphabetically, then chronologically.
List: References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.
Examples:
Reference to a journal publication:
Chen H, Zhang W, Gao H, Nie N. 2018. Climate change and anthropogenic impacts on wetland and agriculture in the Songnen and Sanjiang Plain, northeast China. Remote Sensing, 10(3): 356-381.
Reference to a book:
Eastman J. 2003. IDRISI for windows users guide version Kilimanjaro. Clark Labs for Cartographic Technology and Geographic Analysis Clark University. pp 203.
Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Mettam GR, Adams LB. 2009. How to prepare an electronic version of your article, in: Jones, B.S., Smith, R.Z. (Eds.), Introduction to the Electronic Age. E-Publishing Inc., New York, pp. 281–304.
Submission checklist
The following list will be useful during the final checking of an article before sending it to the journal for review. Please consult this Guide for Authors, for further details of any item.
Ensure that the following items are present:
One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details:
• E-mail address
• Full postal address
• Telephone and fax numbers
All necessary files have been uploaded, and counting:
• Keywords
• All figure captions
• All tables (including title, description, footnotes)
Further considerations
• Manuscript has been 'grammar-checked ‘with Virastyar software
• References are in the correct format for this journal
• All references mentioned in the Reference list are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Permission has been obtained for use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Web)
• Color figures are marked as being intended for color reproduction on the Web (free of charge) and in print, or to be reproduced in color on the Web (free of charge) and in color in the print
AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Proofs
One set of page proofs (as PDF files) will be sent by e-mail to the corresponding author. If you do not wish to use the PDF annotations function, you may list the corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return them to us in an e-mail. Please list your corrections quoting line number. If, for any reason, this is not possible, then mark the corrections and any other comments (including replies to the Query Form) on a printout of your proof and return by scanning the pages and e-mail. Please use this proof only for checking the typesetting, editing, completeness, and correctness of the text, tables, and figures. Significant changes to the article as accepted for publication will not be considered at this stage. We will do everything possible to get your article published quickly and accurately – please let us have all your corrections within 5 days. It is important to ensure that all corrections are sent back to us in one communication: please check carefully before replying, as the inclusion of any subsequent corrections cannot be guaranteed. Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that the Journal of RS and GIS in Environmental Sciences may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.
Offprints
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form which is sent once the article is accepted for publication. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.
AUTHOR INQUIRIES
For inquiries relating to the submission of articles (including electronic submission) please visit this journal's homepage. Contact details for questions arising after acceptance of an article, especially those relating to proofs, will be provided by the publisher.