Guide for Authors

Author Information Pack 5 Consortium Journals • CC-BY 4.0 Diamond OA
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Guide for Authors — Manuscript Preparation

Welcome to the Deep Science and Technology Consortium (DSTC) author guidelines across our portfolio of 5 peer-reviewed open access journals. All manuscripts must comply with our strict formatting standards and plagiarism thresholds prior to peer review.

Mandatory Policy

Plagiarism & Similarity Threshold: 0% to 10% Maximum Approved

DSTC maintains zero tolerance for uncredited textual reuse, self-plagiarism, or data duplication. Every submitted manuscript undergoes rigorous automated screening via Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate).

  • 0% – 10% Similarity: Fully approved for editorial triage and double-blind peer review.
  • 11% – 20% Similarity: Returned to authors immediately for mandatory rewriting before review.
  • > 20% Similarity: Automatically rejected outright without peer review.
  • Self-plagiarism of the authors' own previously published conference papers or dissertations must be cited explicitly and not exceed the 10% aggregate ceiling.

1. Article Types, Word Counts & Limits

Article Type Total Word Limit Abstract Structure References Max Figures
Original Research Article 5,000–8,500 words Structured (200–300 words) 30–60 refs Max 8
Systematic Review 6,500–11,000 words Structured (250–350 words) 60–120 refs Max 10
Short Communication / Letter 2,500–4,000 words Unstructured (150–200 words) 15–25 refs Max 4
Methodology / Technical Note 3,500–6,000 words Structured (200–250 words) 25–40 refs Max 6

2. Exact Section-by-Section Manuscript Specifications

1. Title & Authorship Page (Separate File for Double-Blind Review)

• Title: Maximum 20 words. Must be concise, descriptive, and avoid non-standard acronyms.
• Author Details: Full name, institutional affiliation, department, city, country, institutional email, and active ORCID iD for each author.
• Corresponding Author: Must be marked with active contact email.

2. Abstract & Keywords (200 – 300 Words)

Must follow the structured 4-part schema:
• Background: The core research gap and scientific objective (40–60 words).
• Methods: Key experimental setup, model architecture, dataset, or mathematical approach (60–80 words).
• Results: Quantifiable findings, metrics, accuracies, or physical outcomes (70–100 words).
• Conclusions: Significance and direct scientific translation (30–50 words).
• Keywords: Exactly 4 to 6 indexing terms separated by semicolons.

3. Introduction (600 – 1,000 Words)

State the research context, summarize existing state-of-the-art literature from the last 3–5 years, identify the unresolved scientific problem, and explicitly state the unique contributions of the paper in bullet points.

4. Materials & Methods (1,000 – 2,000 Words)

Provide full reproducibility details. Describe materials, reagents, experimental protocols, mathematical equations, computational algorithms, and datasets. Include software versions, hyperparameters, and ethical approval numbers where applicable.

5. Results (1,200 – 2,500 Words)

Present findings systematically with high-resolution figures (≥ 300 DPI) and self-explanatory tables. Present statistical significance tests, error bars, confidence intervals, and comparison baselines.

6. Discussion (1,000 – 1,800 Words) & Conclusion (300 – 500 Words)

Interpret findings relative to prior literature, elucidate mechanisms, address limitations, and summarize principal conclusions with actionable future research directions.

7. Mandatory Declarations (Required at the End of Every Manuscript)

• Data Availability Statement: Provide public repository URL (e.g., Zenodo, GitHub, Figshare) or data access condition.
• Funding Statement: Declare funding agency and grant numbers (or "This research received no external funding").
• Conflicts of Interest: State "The authors declare no conflict of interest" or disclose commercial ties.
• CRediT Authorship: Define specific roles (Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Writing).
• References: APA 7th Edition style in Roman script with clickable DOIs (https://doi.org/...).

3. Artwork, Figures & Table Specifications

Figure Resolution & Formats:
  • Photographs / Halftones: Minimum 300 DPI
  • Vector Line Graphs: Minimum 600 – 1200 DPI
  • Accepted Formats: TIFF, EPS, PNG, high-res PDF
  • Font: Arial or Helvetica (≥ 8pt after scaling)
Table Standards:
  • Must be editable Word/LaTeX tables (no pasted images)
  • Numbered consecutively (Table 1, Table 2)
  • Explicit column headers with units in parentheses
  • Footnotes below table defining all abbreviations

Author Pre-Submission Checklist

  • ✓ Plagiarism Pre-Check: Similarity is strictly verified to be between 0% and 10%.
  • ✓ Double-Blind File: Author names, emails, affiliations, and acknowledgments are removed from the main manuscript text.
  • ✓ Title Page File: Separate title page uploaded with all co-author ORCIDs and affiliations.
  • ✓ Declarations: Data availability, ethical approvals, funding, and CRediT statements included.
  • ✓ File Format: Manuscript uploaded in Microsoft Word (.docx) or LaTeX (.pdf with .zip source).