Guide for Authors

Authors are invited to submit original manuscripts to Civil and Geoengineering Letters. Submissions must comply with the following guidelines to ensure smooth processing and publication.

Manuscript Structure

  • Title Page: The title page must include the manuscript title (maximum two lines), full names of all authors, their institutional affiliations, ORCID iDs, and contact details of the corresponding author. Authors are also required to include funding information, a declaration of conflicts of interest, and an author contribution statement in accordance with international standards (see CRediT taxonomy).
  • Abstract: Authors are required to provide a structured abstract of 100 to 250 words that briefly summarises the study’s objectives, methods, results, and conclusions.
  • Keywords: Provide 4–6 keywords that best describe the subject matter of the manuscript.
  • Highlights: Authors must provide exactly three concise highlights summarising the principal contributions of the manuscript. Each highlight should be a clear, self-contained statement and must not exceed 140 characters (excluding spaces). Highlights should emphasise originality, key findings, and practical relevance, and must not include abbreviations, citations, or undefined terms.
  • Main Text: Manuscripts should be written in clear English, in a single-column format. The recommended font is Times New Roman, size 12, with double line spacing.
  • Conclusion: A distinct conclusion section of up to 350 words must highlight the key findings, implications, and potential future directions.
  • Figures and Tables: Figures, tables, and illustrations must be numbered consecutively and placed separately at the end of the manuscript. Each figure and table must include a clear caption. Figures must be high resolution (minimum 350 dpi).
  • Data Availability: Data Availability Statement: Authors are encouraged to include a statement describing the availability of the data supporting the findings of the study (e.g., repository link), or to state that data are available on reasonable request, or that no new data were created.
  • Ethics Approval: Where applicable, authors must confirm that the research complies with relevant ethical standards and approvals (e.g., studies involving human participants, sensitive data, or fieldwork permissions).
  • Conflict of Interest: Authors must declare any potential conflicts of interest. If none exist, authors should state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”.
  • References: References must follow the APA style (author–year system). In-text citations should appear as (Author, Year), and the full list of references must be included at the end of the manuscript in alphabetical order.

Cover Letter

A cover letter is required for all submissions. It should briefly outline the relevance of the manuscript to the journal’s aims and scope and summarise the main contribution of the work.

The cover letter should also confirm that all authors have approved the submission and identify the corresponding author for editorial correspondence.

Language Editing Recommendation

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are written in clear, accurate, and grammatically correct English prior to submission. Where authors consider it appropriate, independent professional language-editing services may be used at the authors’ own discretion to improve clarity and presentation.

In line with common international publishing practice, including that adopted by academic publishers such as Elsevier, Springer Nature and Linguaproofing, authors may, at their own discretion, consult independent third-party language-editing services prior to submission.

Use of any language-editing service is entirely optional, does not constitute endorsement by the journal, and does not imply any association with the journal or its publisher.

The use of professional language editing does not guarantee acceptance for publication and has no influence on the peer-review or editorial decision-making process. Full responsibility for the scientific content, originality, and integrity of the manuscript remains with the authors.

Graphical Abstract

Authors may optionally submit a Graphical Abstract to accompany their article. A graphical abstract provides a concise visual summary of the main findings and supports clear and effective communication of the research to a broad readership.

  • File format: The graphical abstract should be submitted as a single image file in PNG (.png) format.
  • Content: The image should clearly illustrate the central concept, methodology, or principal result of the study and be understandable without reference to the full text.
  • Quality and style: The graphical abstract should be of high resolution, contain minimal and clearly legible text, and maintain a professional, scholarly appearance. All text must be in English.
  • Accuracy and ethics: The content must accurately reflect the results presented in the manuscript and comply with applicable ethical standards. Promotional material, commercial logos, or misleading elements are not permitted.
  • Copyright: Authors are responsible for ensuring that the graphical abstract is original or that appropriate permissions and acknowledgements have been obtained for any reused material.

Submission of a graphical abstract is entirely optional and has no influence on editorial assessment, peer review, or acceptance decisions. If a graphical abstract is not provided, the journal may, at its discretion, select a suitable figure from the article to be used as a representative visual.

Author Information and Ethics

  • Author affiliations: Each author must provide their full institutional affiliation, including department or unit, institution, city, and country. Affiliations should reflect where the research was primarily conducted. The corresponding author must also provide a valid institutional or professional email address.
  • Author names and ORCID: Authors must provide their names consistently with their previous publications and include a valid ORCID iD for accurate author identification.
  • Research ethics: Research involving human participants, human data, or animals must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements. Where ethical approval is required, the approving body and approval reference should be stated in the manuscript.
  • Publication ethics: Authors must follow recognised standards of responsible research and publication practice. Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, and other forms of research misconduct are not permitted. The journal follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
  • Conflicts of interest: Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence the research or its interpretation. If no such interests exist, this should be stated in the manuscript.

Copyright and Permissions

Copyright in articles published in Civil and Geoengineering Letters is retained by the author(s). All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.

  • Third-party material: Authors are responsible for obtaining any necessary permission to reproduce or adapt copyrighted material, including figures, tables, photographs, maps, and illustrations.
  • Attribution: All reproduced or adapted material must be appropriately cited and acknowledged, with the relevant copyright or licence information clearly stated where required.
  • Permissions: Authors must retain evidence of any permissions obtained and provide it to the Editorial Office upon request.

Responsibility for securing the necessary permissions and complying with applicable copyright and licensing requirements rests with the author(s).

Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Authors may use generative artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted tools solely to improve the language, grammar, readability, and clarity of text originally prepared by the authors.

  • Language enhancement: AI tools may be used for limited language editing and proofreading but must not replace the authors’ intellectual contribution or scientific judgement.
  • Grammar improvement: Disclosure is not required when AI tools are used solely for basic language editing, such as grammar, spelling, and proofreading, without altering the scientific content.
  • Content generation: AI tools must not be used to generate or fabricate scientific content, data, results, analyses, conclusions, references, or citations.
  • AI as a source: Generative AI tools must not be cited or referenced as sources of scientific information. Authors are responsible for consulting, verifying, and citing the original and authoritative sources supporting the content of their manuscripts.
  • Authorship and disclosure: AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Any permitted use of generative AI beyond routine language editing and proofreading must be appropriately disclosed.
  • Reference verification: AI tools may inadvertently alter references or citations; therefore, authors must carefully verify all bibliographic information against the original sources.
  • Further guidance: Authors are encouraged to consult the Elsevier Generative AI Policies for Journals and Springer Nature guidance on AI in publishing for further guidance on the responsible use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in scholarly publishing.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scientific content of the submitted manuscript, including any AI-assisted language revisions. The use of AI tools does not influence the peer-review process or editorial decision and does not guarantee acceptance for publication.

Additional Requirements

  • Formatting and Compliance: Manuscripts must be prepared in accordance with the journal’s formatting, ethical, and submission requirements. Only compliant submissions will be considered for peer review.
  • File Format: Manuscripts should be submitted as a single Word file (.doc or .docx). Figures and tables must be placed separately at the end of the manuscript and clearly cited within the text.
  • Cover Letter: A cover letter is required for all submissions. It should briefly explain the relevance of the manuscript to the journal’s scope, highlight its main contribution, and identify the corresponding author for editorial communication.
  • Title Page: A separate title page should be included as the first page of the manuscript Word file, including full author names, institutional affiliations, corresponding author contact details, funding information, author contributions, and declarations.
  • Funding Disclosure: All sources of financial support must be clearly disclosed. If no external funding was received, this should be explicitly stated.
  • Ethical Approval: Where applicable, authors must confirm that the research complies with relevant ethical standards and that necessary approvals or permissions have been obtained.
  • Acknowledgements: Acknowledgements should be limited to individuals or organisations that contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship.
  • Plagiarism Screening: All submissions are subject to plagiarism and similarity checks as part of the editorial assessment process.
  • DOI Assignment: All accepted articles are assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to ensure permanent identification, citability, and long-term accessibility.

By following these guidelines, authors help ensure an efficient review process and contribute to the journal’s mission of publishing high-quality, accessible scholarship in civil and geoengineering sciences.