Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part C
Brief Guidelines for Authors
Details regarding submissions to the Fast-Track Communications in Mechanical Engineering Science
Section of the journal are located at the end of these guidelines
Aims & Scope
The Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science publishes original papers which advance understanding
of both the fundamentals of engineering science and its application to the solution of problems in mechanical
engineering systems, machines and components. It is particularly concerned with the demonstration of
engineering science solutions to specific industrial problems. The Journal has an international reputation for
excellence and is regarded as core material for every engineering collection.
Principal Topics include:
• Materials: characterization and behaviour; manufacture; design considerations; applications; failure
mechanisms
• Metrology: modern measuring systems; surface representation and analysis
• Mechanisms: analysis; design; characteristics; operation
• Solid Mechanics: structural analysis; joints; contact stress analysis; stability; fatigue; creep
• Dynamic Systems: vibrations (rotating and reciprocating machinery); acoustics; robotics; control;
identification; optimization
• Thermofluid Mechanics: analysis and computational methods (eg. CFD); heat transfer; experimental
investigations; aerodynamics; combustion; rotating and reciprocating machinery
• Tribology: fundamental engineering science aspects of lubrication, friction and wear; rheology
• Reliability Engineering.
• Mechatronics: engineering science aspects of the integration of mechanical and electronic machine
systems; magnetic storage and retrieval devices
• Nano- and micro-mechanical engineering devices and systems.
• Design.
Length
1.
2.
3.
In general, Technical Papers, Review Papers and Case Studies should not normally exceed 5000 words
(with up to 10 illustrations). Longer articles will be considered, however, as our criterion is that the
content justifies the length of the article.
Technical Notes should not exceed 1500 words and 5 illustrations.
Discussions on papers already published should not exceed 500 words and 2 illustrations.
There are no page charges.
Preparation of manuscripts
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The language of the Proceedings is English and the preferred spellings are those of the Oxford
English Dictionary.
Papers should be written in the third person in an objective, formal and impersonal style.
SI units should be used wherever possible, as recommended in ISO 1000 and BS5555.
Symbols for physical quantities should be in italic (sloping) type. Mathematical operators and constants
(sin, e, d, log, π, . . .) and symbols for units (m, kg, s, . . .) should be in roman (upright) type. Vectors
should be in bold italic type (A) and matrices in bold upright type (A). If this is not possible then they
should be indicated by a wavy line. Further details are given in ISO 31 and BS 5775.
Manuscripts should be typed, with double spacing throughout (including references), on A4 size paper,
leaving ample margins. A list of captions for the illustrations and each table should be typed separately.
The preferred order of contents is as follows:
(a) Title of article.
(b) Author(s) name(s) and business address(es).
(c) Abstract of not more than 200 words: covering the aims of the work, methods used, results
obtained and conclusions reached; keywords for information retrieval purposes should be
indicated.
(d) List of notation, in alphabetical order, defining all the symbols used in the paper (see 4 above).
(e) Body of the paper: organized into logical sections, sequentially numbered with no more than two
grades of subheadings.
(f) Acknowledgements.
(g) References in the order to which they have been referred in the text [1, 2]. For example:
1 Weston, R.H. Integration infrastructure requirements for agile manufacturing systems.
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs, Part B, J. Engineering Manufacture, 1998, 212(B6), 423-437.
2 Hansford, E.W.W., Francis, R.J. and Broadbent, J.H. JASON decommissioning
project. In IMechE International Conference on Nuclear Decommissioning ’98, London, 23 December 1998, Conference Transactions 1998–12, paper C539/012/98, pp. 157-168
(Professional Engineering Publishing, Bury St Edmunds and London).
(h) Tables: these should be numbered consecutively throughout the text.
(i) List of captions for the illustrations which should also be numbered consecutively throughout the
text; both line drawings and photographs must be included in the same numbering sequence.
Illustrations
Illustrations should only be included if they are informative and add to the understanding of the reader. Each
illustration should be marked with the author's name and the figure number; the top of each illustration should
be indicated. No illustrations will be returned to the author unless specifically requested.
1.
Line drawings should be supplied as camera-ready originals or ready to be used on reduction. All
labelling/annotation should be of consistent size/style throughout. Symbols should be used to match
those used in the text (see 'Preparation of Manuscripts', above). Please avoid use of shading; use
hatching instead for clarity. Multicoloured line drawings are unsuitable for monochrome (black and
white) printing. Computer-generated drawings are only acceptable if the line thickness is adequate to
stand reduction.
2.
Photographs should be clear, sharp, black and white prints, with good contrast, on glossy paper; the
most suitable size is twice the final size. Cuttings from printed matter or photocopies are unsuitable for
reproduction.
3.
Colour illustrations may be included. This will only be considered where the use of colour is
unavoidable. Any author wishing to include colour illustrations must make this plain when submitting
the paper, as any colour must be agreed with the publisher prior to the paper being accepted. We have
recently introduced a standard charge for colour of £1600 per article, based on the author supplying
electronic files for the figures. If the author does not supply the electronic files, then the full (higher)
costs of reproduction will be payable.
Copyright
Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that they have not been submitted to any other
publisher. The work described must be original and, generally speaking, not previously published. The
Journal’s policy is to acquire copyright in all accepted papers. There are two reasons for this:
1.
2.
ownership of copyright by the Publisher ensures maximum international protection against infringement;
it also ensures that requests by third parties to reprint a contribution, or part of it, are handled efficiently
and centrally in accordance with our general policy which encourages dissemination of knowledge
inside the framework of copyright.
Authors who wish to reproduce illustrations that have already been published elsewhere must obtain the
permission of the copyright holder before submitting their work.
Submission of manuscripts
Postal Submission
Please send five copies of the manuscript together with photographs and line drawings to:
Journals Assistant
Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science
Professional Engineering Publishing Ltd.
Northgate Avenue
Bury St Edmunds IP32 6BW
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1284 718652
Fax: +44 (0) 1284 768219
Email: jmechengsci@pepublishing.com
In the case of joint authors it must be made clear to whom correspondence and proofs are to be directed.
We would also welcome suggestions of at least four appropriate referees. This will assist us in enhancing our
referee database and one or more of your suggestions may be asked to review your submission.
Electronic Submission
We provide authors with the option to submit their articles electronically (as PDF files) using the ESPERE
system. We would like to encourage this submission method in order to learn more about our authors’
requirements and to customize the service accordingly.
Electronic submissions must be readable on referees’ computers, and the format that most closely matches
this criterion at present is Adobe Acrobat PDF. For this reason, we are only considering electronic
submissions prepared as a single PDF file. When preparing the article for submission as a PDF file, please
ensure that
• all illustrations, tables etc are included in a single file with the text
• all illustrations are prepared with the lowest possible resolution that allows for a referee to assess the
content
• all fonts are embedded
• the size of the file is optimized (minimized). If the file size is large, referees may be discouraged from
accessing the paper!
Notes on how to create a PDF file are available from http://www.espere.org/pdffile.htm
To submit the article electronically, register/log on with the ESPERE server (http://www.subsespere.org/start.asp?journal=pi). When you register, you will receive a password by email. Use the same link
to log on to the server which takes you straight to the Proceedings section of the server; select New
Submission. Choose the relevant journal from the list 'Category' (all the Parts of the Proceedings are listed
under this heading). If you have already registered, the same username and password may be used for
different journals.
Review Process
Submissions to the journal are assessed by independent referees who make recommendations on the
suitability of the articles for publication. We are committed to providing timely assessment of articles
and authors are informed of the publication decision as soon as possible.
It should be noted that our refereeing process, common to many other publishers, is single-blind, that is, the
referees remain anonymous and their identities are not released to authors. The referees, however, are
informed of the authors’ names and affiliations.
Production
If an article is accepted for publication, we ask for electronic files to facilitate the production process. PDF
files are not appropriate for our production requirements. Disks should be retained until the paper is
accepted. Many types of software are acceptable, but MS Word is preferred. Separate files should be
created for each of: the text, the references, each appendix, each table, the figure captions. Illustrations
should be submitted on a separate disk. Do not merge the files into one electronic document. ASCII files
should be included if available.
Authors may choose either 25 free offprints of papers or a copy of the issue in which their work is published.
Further offprints can be ordered at a reasonable cost prior to printing.
FAST-TRACK COMMUNICATIONS IN MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING SCIENCE
Guidelines for authors
Aims & Scope
This new Section in the Journal provides an opportunity for the rapid dissemination of significant findings in
Mechanical Engineering Science. The contributions should be short and prepared in accordance with the
Guidelines for Authors. Fast-Track Communications should be of a high quality and worthy of rapid
publication. Items accepted for publication could include:
•
•
•
•
Early announcements of new and timely results and conclusions based upon theoretical analysis or
experimental investigations
New interpretations of basic concepts governing the performance of mechanical systems
The announcement of successful and innovative applications of Engineering Science to the solution of
problems in the design, manufacture and operation of mechanical systems
The development and application of new experimental techniques, analytical methods and numerical
procedures
Length
Fast-Track Communications should be brief (between 500 and 2000 words and a maximum of 4
illustrations). If a Fast-Track Communication exceeds this, the author(s) will be asked to shorten the
article
Preparation of manuscripts
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The language of the Proceedings is English and the preferred spellings are those of the Oxford
English Dictionary.
Papers should be written in the third person in an objective, formal and impersonal style.
SI units should be used wherever possible, as recommended in ISO 1000 and BS5555.
Symbols for physical quantities should be in italic (sloping) type. Mathematical operators and constants
(sin, e, d, log, π, . . .) and symbols for units (m, kg, s, . . .) should be in roman (upright) type. Vectors
should be in bold italic type (A) and matrices in bold upright type (A). If this is not possible then they
should be indicated by a wavy line. Further details are given in ISO 31 and BS 5775.
Manuscripts should be typed, with double spacing throughout (including references), on A4 size paper,
leaving ample margins. A list of captions for the illustrations and each table should be typed separately.
The preferred order of contents is as follows:
(a) Title of article.
(b) Author(s) name(s) and business address(es).
(c) Abstract of not more than 50 words: covering the aims of the work, methods used, results
obtained and conclusions reached; keywords for information retrieval purposes should be
indicated.
(d) List of notation, in alphabetical order, defining all the symbols used in the paper (see 4 above).
(e) Body of the paper: organized into logical sections, sequentially numbered with no more than two
grades of subheadings.
(f) Acknowledgements.
(g) References in the order to which they have been referred in the text [1, 2]. For example:
1
(h)
(i)
Weston, R.H. Integration infrastructure requirements for agile manufacturing systems.
Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs, Part B, J. Engineering Manufacture, 1998, 212(B6), 423-437.
2 Hansford, E.W.W., Francis, R.J. and Broadbent, J.H. JASON decommissioning
project. In IMechE International Conference on Nuclear Decommissioning ’98, London, 23 December 1998, Conference Transactions 1998–12, paper C539/012/98, pp. 157-168
(Professional Engineering Publishing, Bury St Edmunds and London).
Tables: these should be numbered consecutively throughout the text.
List of captions for the illustrations which should also be numbered consecutively throughout the
text; both line drawings and photographs must be included in the same numbering sequence.
Illustrations
Illustrations should only be included if they are informative and add to the understanding of the reader. Each
illustration should be marked with the author's name and the figure number; the top of each illustration should
be indicated. No illustrations will be returned to the author unless specifically requested.
1.
Line drawings should be supplied as camera-ready originals or ready to be used on reduction. All
labelling/annotation should be of consistent size/style throughout. Symbols should be used to match
those used in the text (see 'Preparation of Manuscripts', above). Please avoid use of shading; use
hatching instead for clarity. Multicoloured line drawings are unsuitable for monochrome (black and
white) printing. Computer-generated drawings are only acceptable if the line thickness is adequate to
stand reduction.
2.
Photographs should be clear, sharp, black and white prints, with good contrast, on glossy paper; the
most suitable size is twice the final size. Cuttings from printed matter or photocopies are unsuitable for
reproduction.
4.
Colour illustrations may be included. This will only be considered where the use of colour is
unavoidable. Any author wishing to include colour illustrations must make this plain when submitting
the paper, as any colour must be agreed with the publisher prior to the paper being accepted. We have
recently introduced a standard charge for colour of £1600 per article, based on the author supplying
electronic files for the figures. If the author does not supply the electronic files, then the full (higher)
costs of reproduction will be payable.
Copyright
Articles are considered for publication on the understanding that they have not been submitted to any other
publisher. The work described must be original and, generally speaking, not previously published. The
Journal’s policy is to acquire copyright in all accepted papers. There are two reasons for this:
1.
2.
ownership of copyright by the Publisher ensures maximum international protection against infringement;
it also ensures that requests by third parties to reprint a contribution, or part of it, are handled efficiently
and centrally in accordance with our general policy which encourages dissemination of knowledge
inside the framework of copyright.
Authors who wish to reproduce illustrations that have already been published elsewhere must obtain the
permission of the copyright holder before submitting their work.
Submission of manuscripts
Postal Submission
Please send three copies of the manuscript together with photographs and line drawings to:
Journals Assistant
Fast-Track Communications Section
Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science
Professional Engineering Publishing Ltd.
Northgate Avenue
Bury St Edmunds IP32 6BW
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1284 718652
Fax: +44 (0) 1284 768219
Email: jmechengsci@pepublishing.com
In the case of joint authors it must be made clear to whom correspondence and proofs are to be directed.
We would also welcome suggestions of at least four appropriate referees. This will assist us in enhancing our
referee database and one or more of your suggestions may be asked to review your submission.
Electronic Submission
We provide authors with the option to submit their articles electronically (as PDF files) using the ESPERE
system. We would like to encourage this submission method in order to learn more about our authors’
requirements and to customize the service accordingly.
Electronic submissions must be readable on referees’ computers, and the format that most closely matches
this criterion at present is Adobe Acrobat PDF. For this reason, we are only considering electronic
submissions prepared as a single PDF file. When preparing the article for submission as a PDF file, please
ensure that
• all illustrations, tables etc are included in a single file with the text
• all illustrations are prepared with the lowest possible resolution that allows for a referee to assess the
content
• all fonts are embedded
• the size of the file is optimized (minimized). If the file size is large, referees may be discouraged from
accessing the paper!
Notes on how to create a PDF file are available from http://www.espere.org/pdffile.htm
To submit the article electronically, register/log on with the ESPERE server (http://www.subsespere.org/start.asp?journal=pi). When you register, you will receive a password by email. Use the same link
to log on to the server which takes you straight to the Proceedings section of the server; select New
Submission. Choose ‘P IMechE C: Mechanical Engineering Science’ from the list 'Category' (all the Parts of
the Proceedings are listed under this heading) and ensure that you indicate that the submission is a Fast-Track
Communication in your Covering Message (it would also be helpful if you put Fast-Track Communication in
the Subject Category). If you have already registered, the same username and password may be used for
different journals.
Review Process
All Fast-Track Communications will be refereed to high standards and items for publication will be selected
by the Editor, supported by a new Fast-Track Communication Advisory Panel and the Editorial Board.
It should be noted that our refereeing process, common to many other publishers, is single-blind, that is, the
referees remain anonymous and their identities are not released to authors. The referees, however, are
informed of the authors’ names and affiliations.
Production
If an article is accepted for publication, we ask for electronic files to facilitate the production process. PDF
files are not appropriate for our production requirements. Disks should be retained until the paper is
accepted. Many types of software are acceptable, but MS Word is preferred. Separate files should be
created for each of: the text, the references, each appendix, each table, the figure captions. Illustrations
should be submitted on a separate disk. Do not merge the files into one electronic document. ASCII files
should be included if available.
Authors may choose either 25 free offprints of papers or a copy of the issue in which their work is published.
Further offprints can be ordered at a reasonable cost prior to printing.